Sterling Lucas
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer doesn’t seem too pleased on how the recent departure of an assistant coach went down.
Gamecocks defensive end/edge coach Sterling Lucas left USC just before Christmas to work for SEC foe LSU and new coach Lane Kiffin. Beamer on Friday — as the USC coach introduced Lucas’ replacement, Deion Barnes from Penn State — shared with local reporters how he found out about Lucas’ departure.
Beamer didn’t mention LSU, Lucas or Kiffin by name during his comments, but said he got a phone call from the “previous coach that was here” one day at 11 p.m. to say he was offered the job. By 9 a.m. the next day, Lucas was leaving the program.
There’s an unwritten rule, Beamer said, that another team’s head coach contacts the other school to tell them they’re interested in interviewing that school’s assistant coach.
“That didn’t happen,” Beamer said. “There is no rule that it has to happen, but there is an unspoken rule. … Wasn’t a very thorough interview process where you have a few days to plan or think that it might be coming down the track.”
Lucas had been with USC since 2022 and was regarded as one of the Gamecocks’ top recruiters.
This isn’t first time Beamer has taken an issue with Kiffin, who was previously at Ole Miss before LSU. After USC’s 27-3 loss to Ole Miss in 2024, Beamer talked about the Rebels and the timing of their in-game injuries, which many SEC teams debated the validity of during games that season.
Since then, the Southeastern Conference has implemented a rule this season to fine teams that fake injuries as a means to slow the game down or create an artificial timeout.
“Again, I’ve got my own problems on our own team right now,” Beamer said in 2024. “I think if it’s … the timing of some of the injuries, it’s a really bad look for college football. And, it’s not what this game’s about … if what it looks like is accurate.”
Beamer also praised Kiffin before the 2025 matchup against Ole Miss and talked about how lively he makes the group text that other SEC coaches are in together.
“I think it’s great,” Beamer said in October. “He is who he is, which I appreciate. He’s very genuine. It’s not an act. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
Lou Bezjak is the High School Sports Prep Coordinator for The (Columbia) State and (Hilton Head) Island Packet. He previously worked at the Florence Morning News and had covered high school sports in South Carolina since 2002. Lou is a two-time South Carolina Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
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