SEC coaches offer differing views on NIL, as Mark Stoops laments 'Does me no good to whine or cry or complain' about SEC rivals

Shane Beamer’s positivity isn’t for everyone.

Mark Stoops' candor might not be, either.

Beamer, South Carolina’s second-year head coach, has been ‘meme-d’ for his enthusiastic in-game reactions to positive moments for his Gamecocks, even in contests already long over. (See: South Carolina at Tennessee, 2021).

Still, Beamer is unyieldingly positive and is building an admirable culture – despite what another SEC coach seems to have implied – in taking over for a South Carolina program that was left cratered upon the firing of Will Muschamp.

It wasn’t surprising, then, Wednesday on the Southeastern Conference coaches’ teleconference when Beamer was asked to evaluate the ongoing impact of the Name, Image and Likeness era on college athletics – particularly football – and Beamer leaned into the community impact some of his players supplied last Christmas from NIL.

“I think it’s been a positive,” Beamer said. “I think about guys on our team and there hasn’t been an issue that’s caused anything negative to any point [for the Gamecocks].

“I think about some of our guys who used NIL last Christmas, they used money brought in from NIL opportunities to take underprivileged youth from here in Columbia on a shopping spree for Christmas.

“From our standpoint, we choose to focus on great things like that that some of our guys have done also.”

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, who’s waged a somewhat public NIL war that Bluegrass insiders believe is aimed against an athletics administration allegedly hesitant to embrace the new reality of college athletes – and prospective ones --- earning money from their individual personal brands, seemed to fire a shot on the SEC call against some league rivals; one of those presumably being Tennessee, which has made a national splash with its ambitious NIL approach and last week saw UT Athletics Director Dr. Danny White publicly endorse multiple NIL collectives to which White encouraged Vols’ fans to contribute and support.

“That’s hard to say whether it’s been a positive thing for my squad this year,” Stoops said, “as we are knee-deep in coaching and practicing and playing and things of that nature.

“So our concentration is on the things that I just touched on as far as us improving and playing. It is what it is. We do the very best we can. That’s all I’ve ever done, is try to concentrate on Kentucky. As I mentioned [when Stoops discussed Clark Lea’s ongoing attempt to rebuild Vanderbilt], I’ve been here a while and had to overcome a lot of things and this is another thing that you have to battle and compete and fight.”

Then, Stoops offered this parting salvo.

“It does me no good to whine or cry or complain about anybody else,” Stoops said. “I can’t control anybody else. But I can control our program and we’re doing the very best we can and yes, I think just like most people we need the support.

“We need more. We need to get this collective rolling or we’re gonna fall way behind in this league because you know and I know the way things are going with some others here in our league.”

See the Vols' White wholly endorse a trio of collectives supporting UT Athletics below: