Add South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer to the injury report for the Gamecocks’ game Saturday at No. 20 Missouri.
Beamer acknowledged after limping into his press conference Tuesday that he had broken a bone in his right foot after kicking an inanimate object following the team’s 41-39 home loss to Florida last Saturday in Columbia.
The Gators rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win the Southeastern Conference contest.
“It was after the game, and certainly that was a gut-wrenching and emotional loss,” Beamer told reporters Tuesday. “I was frustrated and kicked something that I shouldn’t have kicked and thought I was OK, but then the adrenaline of the game wore off.”
South Carolina is 2-4, 1-3 in the SEC — a slow start for the third-year coach now 17-15 overall, 8-12 in conference since his arrival. Wasting a 37-27 lead with 9:11 remaining set Beamer off — at himself.
“Before anybody starts the narrative like the head football coach is frustrated and lost his poise and all that — no, I care,” Beamer said. “I care about these kids, and I was really upset on Saturday night because I didn’t do enough to help them get over the hump and win the football game.
“It hurts like you-know-what, but I’ve got to show toughness and fight through it. Been one of those years.”
He informed athletic director Ray Tanner of the off-field injury to keep him ahead of the news.
“(Tanner) died laughing when I told him,” Beamer said. “Obviously, there’s not a lot of empathy from him.”
He also was transparent with his players and his family.
“It’s like I told the players. I don’t condone it and not saying it’s OK to kick things after the game,” Beamer said. “I feel bad as a dad. My kids saw me, and they were like, ‘What the heck?’ So, lesson learned. Stupid on my part.”
Beamer, the son of Hall of Fame coach Frank Beamer, played as a wide receiver and long snapper for his father at Virginia Tech from 1995-99 and served on his coaching staff from 2011-15.
The former player, now 46, joked that he was “very probable” to coach Saturday against Missouri (6-1, 2-1).
“The problem will be not being on any kind of pain medication — we’ll be like faking punts from the 2-yard-line on fourth-and-30 because I’ll be loopy if I’m on pain medicine,” Beamer quipped, “so we’ve got to make sure that I fight through with no pain medicine and can make calls.”
