The coaching carousel may be moving slowly right now, but two Power Four jobs are already drawing serious attention for all the wrong reasons.
South Carolina is one of them. CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello said Shane Beamer is “trending” toward being fired after the season, and he didn’t soften the picture when he broke it down on the Sept. 28 episode of "The College Football Insiders."
"But at this point, he's just going to have to start winning a lot of games and winning them convincingly to start turning those boosters and other people around to get back on his side," Marcello detailed in a Sept. 28, episode of "The College Football Insiders." "I think this one is very much trending to being an open job here at the end of the season.
"And once again, I think the biggest catalyst to that potential move is that people inside that building just don't believe Shane Beamer has the respect of his top stars on that roster."
The money tied to the situation is massive. Per USA Today, Beamer is owed more than $42 million on a contract that runs through 2030. His salary is set at $8.2 million for 2026 and stays above $8 million through 2030.
If South Carolina were to move on before Dec. 1, the school would owe Beamer $22.55 million. His buyout equals 65% of the remaining contract at the time of firing.
On the field, the pressure has only grown. South Carolina is coming off a 4-8 season in 2025 and opened SEC play this year with an 0-2 record.
Maryland is in a similarly uneasy spot. Mike Locksley is also being widely viewed as a coach on the way out, with On3’s Pete Nakos reporting that his dismissal is a matter of “when, not if.”
"Sources close to the situation have told On3 it has turned into a matter of when, not if, Locksley is fired," Nakos detailed on Sept. 27.
"The Terrapins are 39-51 under Locksley and 17-49 in Big Ten play. Locksley found success in College Park from 2021 to 2023, posting three consecutive winning seasons and bowl wins.
"... Maryland has to travel to Nebraska next week, then visit Ohio State on Oct. 10 and host Rutgers on Oct.
- The Terrapins are on a bye the week of Oct. 24, which would be a potential date to watch if Maryland fires Locksley midseason and names an interim."
In Other News...
Beamers Response To DQ Smith Question Says Plenty About South Carolinas Secondary
South Carolinas issues in the passing game have been hard to ignore this season, and that has naturally brought extra attention to the back end of the defense. With the Gamecocks giving up plenty of yardage and touchdowns through the air, questions about the safety group have only grown louder, especially with former starter DQ Smith now elsewhere after four years in the program.
Smiths departure had left room for speculation about whether a return could ever be possible, but Shane Beamers response made the current view of the secondary pretty clear. The coach said he has confidence in the safeties on the roster and shut the door on the idea of Smith coming back, a stance that says as much about South Carolinas present plans as it does about how the staff wants to handle a defense still searching for answers. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolina Faces A Dylan Stewart Tension Fans Can't Ignore
The spotlight on South Carolinas defense has shifted abruptly to Dylan Stewart, whose status changed after coach Shane Beamer suspended the sophomore defensive end indefinitely following incidents during the trip to Alabama. The SEC added its own discipline with a one-game suspension after what it described as egregious contact, turning a road game into a much bigger conversation about one of the Gamecocks most talented young players.
Inside the locker room, teammates have backed Stewart while also making clear that accountability still matters to the group. For South Carolina, the situation now sits in the hands of the coaching staff, with the immediate focus on how the Gamecocks handle a player who clearly matters on the field but now has to work his way through a delicate team issue off it. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Faces One Huge Test After Its Cross-Country Win
Clemsons trip to Berkeley ended with a 24-10 win over Cal, and Dabo Swinney was quick to credit the way his team handled the long haul from coast to coast. The Tigers were back in South Carolina immediately afterward, then resumed practice on September 28 as they turned the page from a tough travel week and started focusing on what comes next.
Miami is next, and the timing makes the Tigers response to that cross-country business trip worth watching closely. ACC teams have not always looked the same after making that kind of journey, and Clemson now gets No. 4 Miami on October 3 in a matchup that will say plenty about whether the energy from Berkeley carries over or the long flight starts to show. [Read more 🡒]