Shane Beamer found himself in the crosshairs of social media criticism over the weekend following a situation he has now addressed and cleared up.
Between the first and second quarter of South Carolina's blowout 48-7 loss to Georgia at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, the Gamecocks were paying tribute to 50 years of Title IX by having all of the school's female athletes on the field to be recognized and honored.
When it came time to exit the field, the line spilled out onto the field a bit, prompting officials to pause the game.
The issue? Shane Beamer and South Carolina had opted to go for it on fourth down, and were reportedly told by the officials to go out and line up so they'd could signal the ready to play.
However, with the game paused to allow the female athletes to safely exit, Kirby Smart and Georgia were given an elongated look at the formation and personnel South Carolina planned to use, and that's what had Beamer upset.
Cameras caught an upset Beamer screaming "GET OFF THE FIELD!" at the ladies, and that led to a fair amount of criticism directed at the leader of the Gamecocks over the next 24 hours.
The moment really took off following this tweet from female Gamecocks soccer player Jyllissa Harris.
All female student athletes were ~asked~ to come to the game to recognize 50 years of Title IX. We were on the field for maybe 15 seconds then screamed at to get off. If you want to honor female student athletes, then do that, not this. https://t.co/WIPaZAAxTx
— Jyllissa Harris (@jyllissa_harris) September 18, 2022
Yesterday, to open his Sunday teleconference, Beamer attempted to clear the air by sharing his perspective, admitting he hadn't been paying attention to what was going on in the end zone during the media timeout leading into the fourth down decision.
"We had a critical, critical fourth-down decision to make. The whole time I'm not even paying attention to what's going on down in the end zone."
"We were so immersed in trying to make a decision on what we were going to do. I was worried about what was going on in our own offensive huddle."
"I apologize to anyone that I offended. That was just my initial reaction."
It seems that the moment being criticized was simply a poorly timed snapshot of an SEC head coach who was caught up coaching his guys with no clue of agenda during the media timeouts. That seems like a simple, plausible explanation here.
"I hope people know me well enough to know what an advocate I am for women's sports. I've got two daughters of my own that play sports and I'm at as many women's athletic events here at Carolina as I possibly can be, because I believe them and support them. Anyone who thinks otherwise surely doesn't know me."
Hear more from Beamer below, and stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.