When coach Dowell Loggains left South Carolina in December, Shane Beamer promoted Mike Shula, his senior offensive assistant, to offensive coordinator. However, the HC’s roadmap did not go as planned. After six losses, including a four-game losing streak, Shula faced the heat. Loss against the Ole Miss Rebels struck the final nail, and Shula was fired.

After that, Beamer announced that play-calling will be a group effort by all the coaches, with wide receivers coach Mike Furrey serving as the primary play-caller for the next three games. However, with the latest development, it appears that Furrey might be inching closer to the OC gig.

As reported by On3 Sports’ Jack Veltri, Beamer said that he is not “closing the door on anything” and has a lot of confidence in Furrey. His dedication to remain with the Gamecocks, after receiving numerous offers, is another factor that Beamer has high regard for.

“There’s two open positions on our offensive staff that I’ve got to fill, and having the bye week allows you to do some things from that standpoint,” head coach added. Coach Furrey has the chance to land the OC job, but it all depends on his performance in the next three weeks. “The next three weeks are his offensively, so we’ll see what happens,” Coach Beamer said. The Aggies are coming off strong. Undefeated and will pose a dominant threat at Kyle Field.

According to FanDuel, South Carolina is coming off as 18.5-point underdogs against Texas A&M. Can Coach Furrey make a turnaround to LaNorris Sellers’ offense this weekend?

Coach Furrey’s previous achievements speak for themselves. A former NFL wide receiver, he played for the St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions, and Cleveland Browns. Over his pro league career, he set an NFL record for most receptions in 2006, after chipping in 98 receptions for 1,086 yards. Before coming to South Carolina, he was the head coach at Limestone University, leading his program to consecutive 8-4 campaigns, including playoff berths, each season.

Coach Furrey is likely looking at his chances, converting his play-calling duties to a permanent role. However, questions still persisted regarding Mike Shula.

Why Shane Beamer did not demote Mike Shula

During the press brief, the question of demotion was also raised. Recently, Deion Sanders demoted the then-offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to quarterbacks coach after a 7-53 upset against the Utah Utes. Naturally, a similar question arose for Beamer’s coaching staff.

“It wasn’t something that I necessarily considered.” Shane Beamer stated. With a $1.1 million contract, Shula couldn’t improve Gamecock’s offensive struggles. Instead of seeing an improvement, fans witnessed a dip in performance. The offense that had recorded an average of more than 400 yards last campaign went sluggish, averaging 294.1 yards.

One of the glaring issues that plagues LaNorris Sellers was the number of sacks. Over the weeks, he has been sacked 27 times. The QB himself admitted that “We know how good we can be, and it’s just like we’re just not getting it done.”

Coach Beamer added to his point, “I don’t know if demoted is the word, but I just think that’s hard.” Didn’t fans observe a hot-headed Beamer yelling into his headset, with a presumable receiver in Mike Shula, at the sidelines of the Ole Miss matchup? Analyst Brad Crawford did not mince his words, saying, “worst offense in college football.”