Drown your March Madness sorrows with some war of words (and possibly hands) between SEC coaches. Since his arrival in Columbia, it is clear that Shane Beamer and Kentucky's Mark Stoops are not friends by any stretch. At the 2022 SEC Media days, Gamecock nation took offence to a statement from Stoops regarding culture vs climate in the locker room.
“It’s easy to change the climate, you just change a uniform, talk a little game, dance around, put on some stupid sunglasses, you can change a climate,” Stoops said. “But to change a culture is at the core, and I’m quite certain we’ve changed our culture. Just who we are and how we’re perceived. Walk around with some of the greatest coaches and that respect you get, and the respect our players carry with them.”
This quote came right on the heels of a video being released showing Beamer dancing in a pair of sunglasses.
Beamer clearly took this quote to heart and had it on his mind. Despite Stoops saying this in July, the South Carolina coach made sure to bring it back up in October. While celebrating their 24-14 victory over Kentucky in Lexington, the South Carolina head coach addressed his team by saying "Make sure we're classy in the postgame with the media. At SEC Media Days, he talked about stupid sunglasses and dancing." He then proceeded to throw on a pair of sunglasses and dance.
Fast forward to current day. While most coaches are deep in their spring practice, the head man at South Carolina appeared on the 'Bussin With The Boys' podcast where he was asked a hypothetical question about what SEC coaches he would fight. After blowing the question off, he returned to it and dropped this bomb. “My wife and I literally just had that conversation this morning about a team in the SEC. That goes back to who I would want to fight. There’s one in particular right now that I am not really high on. My wife literally just said, 'We need — this year when we play them — yadda, yadda, yadda.'”
Given their jabs at each other in the past, there is no way this quote is not directed at Mark Stoops. In the past, this staff has not taken very kindly to remarks like this. There is zero doubt that this soundbite has already made it into the Joe Craft Football Training Facility and on someone's front desk. When Kentucky and South Carolina take the field in the fall, there will be no love lost between the two head coaches.