Shane Beamer goes off on media report from spring practice: ‘That’s horse crap’

College football coaches are understandably protective of the inner-workings within their teams, especially as it pertains to where players may or may not sit on the depth chart. It’s one of the many reasons most Power Conference coaches limit how much practice media are able to monitor, be it during the regular season or offseason practices.

Shane Beamer is no different. Which is why the 48-year-old South Carolina head coach was so up-in-arms about a recent media report that apparently implied an established pecking order along the Gamecocks offensive line — in the middle of Spring practice.

Beamer kicked off Tuesday’s press conference by unleashing a four-minute rant directed at the assembled media, imploring them to be more discriminating with what they report as it related to any perceived set-in-stone positional rankings regarding the Gamecocks’ roster.

“I’ve got great respect for all of you and know that you have a job to do and I try to give you all the access that we possibly can while also understanding that there’s a competitive aspect of it as well. Our practices are closed for a reason, but I also understand you have a job to do to report things,” Beamer said. “But it is frustrating for me as the head coach when … an article comes out that says here is the first-team offensive line, second-team offensive line and third-team offensive line. That’s horsecrap guys! We don’t have a first-team, second-team, third-team right now. We don’t. It’s freaking April. So for a reporter to come out there and say, ‘Here’s the third-team offensive guard,’ I mean, what are we doing?”

Shane Beamer frustrated by erroneous reports from recent scrimmages, practices

It’s unclear which reporter Beamer was talking about, but it’s not unusual for the beat reporters to use information they’ve gathered through reporting — be it practice viewing and/or sourced information — and provide occassional updates on where particular players may stand on a still-yet-to-be-determined depth chart.

For Beamer, it was the implication that South Carolina coaches have already made some of those decisions that bothered him the most — especially with games still roughly five months away.

“It’s disappointing and frustrating for me when we’re talking to our players, I’ve not used the words all Spring — first group, second group, third group — with our players,” Beamer continued. “We’ve got an A group, B group, C group and guys that might be redshirting this year are getting work with the A group. … So (it’s troubling when) an article comes out (reporting) here’s the third-team offensive guard when I’m telling the players we don’t even have that, because we don’t. … I try to give y’all access and make your jobs easy, but also just make sure we’re smart with what we’re reporting as well.”

Beamer also seemed to take issue with another recent report that indicated three-star freshman receiver Jayden Sellers — the younger brother of South Carolina starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers — impressed during a recent scrimmage when he was out sick and didn’t even participate.

“Plus I love all the insider reports from our scrimmage last weekend about Jayden Sellers — he didn’t even scrimmage! … He was sick! He didn’t scrimmage,” Beamer concluded. “Again, If you come out there to practice, and it’s your job — I’m not telling you what to report or what not to report — but be smart about reporting here’s the first-team, second-team, and third-team based on what you saw of 17 offensive linemen doing a drill by themselves.”