SC coach shows off after win
The most popular video of Shane Beamer no longer should be of the South Carolina coach having a cooler full of mayonnaise poured on him to keep a promise after the Gamecocks beat North Carolina 38-21 in last year’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Beamer topped the mayo bath by donning sunglasses and dancing in the visiting locker room with his players after South Carolina won 24-14 at No. 13 Kentucky last Saturday night.
It was in reaction to comments made by Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops at SEC Media Days in July, about coaches celebrating with “sunglasses and stupid dancing.”
Speaking on the “Marty & McGee” show on the SEC Network, Stoops said, “It’s easy to change a climate. You can change a uniform, talk a little game, dance around, put on some stupid sunglasses.
“But to change a culture is at the core and I’m quite certain that we’ve changed our culture.”
Beamer released a TikTik video when he spoke at media days — the day before Stoops’ appearance — that featured him wearing sunglasses and dancing.
So Beamer understandably believed Stoops’ comments were directed at him, though the 10-year Kentucky coach never mentioned anyone by name.
“Make sure we’re classy in our postgame with the media,” Beamer told his team in the locker room after the Kentucky game in a video posted on Twitter. “At SEC Media Days, he talked about stupid sunglasses and dancing.”
Beamer then put on sunglasses and began dancing to rapper Soulja Boy’s “Turn My Swag On.”
Soulija Boy got into the act as well by retweeting the video.
Stoops was asked during Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference about Beamer’s postgame dancing.
“Been around 10 years and I like to keep my head down,” Stoops said. “I don’t say anything about anybody for 10 years, you know what I mean? I kind of stay in my lane and kind of do my job.
“But you asked me [about Beamer], so I’m answering … If I have something to say about Shane Beamer, I’ll say it.”
Stoops said he had talked twice with Beamer, presumably about what was said at SEC Media Days.
“I have a lot of respect for him,” Stoops said. “They kicked our butt. As far as dancing and enjoying themselves in the locker room, they should.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into it. It’s a hard job we have. The players and the coaches work and prepare. They came on the road, beat a ranked opponent, beat our butt. They should enjoy it.”
Beamer spoke earlier on the SEC coaches teleconference and had kind words for Stoops. He said they had “a great conversation” during warmups of last Saturday night’s game.
“My respect level for Mark and that program couldn’t be higher,” Beamer said. “As a head coach, you’re always looking for ways to find extra motivation for your guys each week, and we really had never even talked about that interview from SEC Media Days as a team.
“SEC Network is on in our building all the time, every day, so I’m sure our guys were aware of it. But I never even brought it up until [last week]. Just mentioned it in a team meeting. And it was more about, whether he’s talking about us or not, let’s make sure that our culture and what this program is about shows on Saturday night, with the way that we play.
“Our guys are certainly motivated to go play, regardless. That clip from after the game, that was a joyous locker room, and we had a lot of fun in there at that time.”