Man in the Hat media

Frank Martin is coming back for his 10th year as South Carolina men's basketball head coach. The news comes after two weeks of conflicting reports. LINK: Beamer hire has more questions LINK: Gamecock coaching staff young, unproven Martin is coming off the worst season under his leadership, going 6-15 and marred by arguably the worst defense of the era.  The bad year can be attributed to COVID 19, which Martin contracted twice, and the start-stop-start protocoals in place. Martin has earned one more year. Historically, Martin is one of the best coaches to march the sidelines. He is third in all-time wins with 153 (behind Frank Johnson and all-time wins leader Frank McGuire). He was also the third longest tenured coach in school history, again behind Johnson and McGuire.  Under Martin, this has been one of the best eras for Gamecock basketball. You could argue the Eddie Fogler era, with a pair of NCAA tournament appearances and a regular season conference title, or the Dave Odom...

It is no secret college athletics is a big business. By their own numbers, the industry had a revenue of nearly $19 billion . That line between amateurism and professionalism got a bit blurrier on March 11, when Michigan State announced its basketball team signed a five-year partnership with national lending company Rocket Mortgage. The agreement makes the Detroit-based company a "presenting partner" of the basketball team, and includes sponsorship tie-ins across the athletic department.  Sponsorship deals are nothing new in college athletics: uniforms, signage around stadiums, drink and beverage vendors and stadium naming rights have become common place. This is the first timeI can recall a team name being effected. According to the release, the men's basketball team will be called the MSU Spartans presented by Rocket Morgtage.  "Michigan State Athletics couldn't compete at the highest levels without the support of our corporate partners like Rocket Mortgage,...

The start of March featured the next big shot across the bow in America's long-running culture war when it was announced six books by Dr. Seuss would no longer be published for "racist imagery." The six titles are: -And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street -If I Ran the Zoo -McElligot's Pool -On Beyond Zebra! -Scrambled Eggs Super! -The Cat's Quizzer “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” the company released in a statement. “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong." As expected, online backlash was quick, labeling Dr. Seuss Enterprises a victim of cancel culture and the continued trampling of the First Amendment.  The logic behind that being once you ban books, it is a slippery slope to what is decent, and further reinforced a world view that "Big Brother is coming." It is a sentiment I can...

Shane Beamer has put the final touches on his inagural coaching staff at South Carolina. Assuming Auburn hasn't hired away any more holdovers from the Will Muschamp era between now and hitting the publish button, the new group of coaches are a departure from Carolina's usual model from the last 20 years. Or nearly 60 years.  LINK: Bobo, Friend head to Auburn LINK: Rocker to Auburn There is not a proven head coach, and when I say proven, I mean a proven track record of what you are likely to expect. With Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier, you got two men that elevated a program, before holding on for one year too long and setting things back. With Muschamp, you got a guy who could do well with other coach's talent before the program bottoming out two years later when he had to worry about more than just the defense and punching white boards.   Now, the head coach has no proven track record as a head coach. All that is known about Beamer is his ability to recruit. The overall st...

South Carolina has hitched it future on Shane Beamer. The first time head coach was officially announced Sunday by the school  LINK: Questions abound with Beamer hire As mentioned yesterday, this hire leaves a lot of questions. While special teams is an affinity that comes with the Beamer name, the new coach has never been an offensive or defensive coordinator. Expect the school to open the pocket book and pay both coordinators between $800,000 and $1 million salaries. That puts extra emphasis on Beamer getting these hires right. News broke late Sunday that South Carolina defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson was not being retained.  Here are some names to keep an eye on for defensive coordinator. Jay Bateman, DC, North Carolina Bateman is in his second year with Mack Brown in Chapel Hill. In his first year he engineered a major  turnaround for the unit, going from allowing 34.5 points per game to 23.7. That number has increased to roughly 28 this year, but in this era ...

South Carolina has its next football coach, and its Shane Beamer. Reports began trickling in late Saturday of the hire and the move was confirmed by multiple news outlets Sunday morning. The news has yet to be made official with a press conference by the school.  Beamer takes over for Will Muschamp, who was fired mid-November after a 59-42 loss to Ole Miss. The loss marked a third straight poor performance for the defense, which gave up 159 points in that stretch.  Muschamp finished with a 28-30 career mark in Columbia, but went 8-13 the final two years. He finished tied ninth, with Warren Giese, in wins among coaches but 12th in win percentage at 48.3 percent.  LINK: Will Muschamp fired at South Carolina. Who should Gamecocks look to replace him? LINK: Gamecock coach records  LINK: College coaches must win now, or else The hiring marks a return to Columbia for Beamer, 43, who was an assistant coach from 2007-2010 under Steve Spurrier. Since leaving Columbia he made...

 Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is in the news again. The previous weekend Swinney's Tigers were scheduled to travel to Talahassee to play Florida State. On the day of the game, it was called off.  According to an ESPN report , Clemson traveled with a player who had tested positive for COVID 19. In short, testing was conducted Friday on both teams, per policy, but Clemson did not get the results back until they were already en route.  The player, an unnamed offensive lineman, was reportedly quarantined and had arrangements to be sent home. That Saturday morning, the teams were informed of the postponement after Florida State reportedly was not comfortable going forward. Clemson-FSU was not the only game affected.  "The ACC also announced a number of schedule changes on Saturday. The Louisville at Boston College game that was moved to Dec. 12 will now be played Nov. 28 and Wake Forest at Louisville has been moved to Dec. 19. The Wake Forest at Duke game will not be r...