Much like a scary movie, there’s no where to run and no where to hide when you are a struggling college football coach.
South Carolina Head Coach Shane Beamer has certainly figured that out as he’s literally limped his way to 2 wins and 6 losses so far this season. Beamer is facing criticism from every angle, whether it be those involved in college athletics, fans of the sport, and even his own family.
If you read that and did a double take, let me assure you that you understood it correctly. Even Beamer’s family isn’t giving him a break for his rough start, and his youngest son Hunter decided not to invite his father to his school Halloween celebration because of it.
In his weekly press conference with the media, Beamer explained:
“I can take criticism because I get it from my own family. (I) leave every morning before my wife and kids even wake up.
So, I FaceTime at 7:30 on their way into school, and today they were telling me Hunter, my son, has a Halloween parade at his school where all the kids at school dress up in their Halloween costumes and they walk around the track for however many minutes. And, the parents come and they video and all that.”
Seems like the typical football coaching experience, as strange as that might sound. And as important as college football can be (or may seem that it is), Beamer definitely didn’t want to miss out on the family moment.
He continued:
“I was there for it last year because it was on a Monday. My wife was telling me that he had that today and I said, ‘Why didn’t you guys tell me about it?’ And Emily said, ‘I knew you had practice and meetings, and I didn’t think you’d be able to come.
And then Hunter, my son, said, ‘It’s also because you’re 2-6 and need to be in the office working.’”
Yikes…
I don’t have any actual statistics backing this up, but it’s probably safe to say that if your young son doesn’t even believe in your coaching ability, you aren’t going to make it through the season as head coach.
The silver lining of it all though? If Beamer does get fired, he’ll be able to spend time with his family. Even if he makes it through the season, he’ll probably be able to go ahead and RSVP for next year’s school Halloween event.
You can view his comments about his family giving him a hard time a little after the 29 minute mark of the video:
