Dawn Staley supports South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer after apology for Title IX incident

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer apologized Sunday after cameras caught the second-year head coach shouting at female students who were being celebrated on the field for the 50th anniversary of Title IX during Saturday’s game against No. 1 Georgia. 

The students were slow getting off the field between the first and the second quarter against Georgia, forcing the South Carolina offense to wait for the 275 female athletes to leave the field as they prepared for a 4th-and-9 play.

Beamer could be seen shouting “Get off the field” as the students exited the end zone. 

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He apologized on Sunday, saying that he’s an “advocate” for women’s athletics. 

“I apologize to anyone that I offended,” Beamer said Sunday, according to ESPN.

“I hope people know me well enough to know what an advocate I am for women’s sports,” Beamer said. “I’ve got two daughters of my own that play sports. I’m at as many women’s athletic events at Carolina as I can possibly be because I believe in them and support them, and anyone that thinks otherwise surely doesn’t know me.”

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Beamer explained that he was upset with the delay as it allowed Georgia’s defense to get a good look at South Carolina’s offensive formation. 

“We send our offense out there to go for it,” Beamer said. “They’re on the line of scrimmage. Georgia is able to see the formation that we’re in. We did what we were asked to do and we were not able to snap the football. I look down in the end zone and I see why. My first initial reaction was to yell, ‘Get off the field.’ I had no idea who was down there.”

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley hopped on social media Monday night to express her support for Beamer. 

“Hey [Shane Beamer] sorry I’ve been under a rock the last few days but we know you have done nothing but support our programs since the day you became [Gamecocks football] head coach!” Staley posted to Twitter. “All hands on deck to get a win on Saturday!”

Staley, whose Gamecocks won the 2022 women’s college basketball championship, has been in the spotlight over the past several weeks after canceling a two-game series against BYU following allegations that a BYU fan yelled racial slurs at a Duke player throughout a volleyball match.

After BYU’s internal investigation did not find “any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs” at the volleyball game, Staley stood by her decision to cancel the home-and-home series with the Cougars.