You might think a coach who is coming from the Big Ten Conference wouldn’t have crossed paths with an SEC coach, at least significantly. For Will Stein, that is not the case, he has quite a history with South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer.

South Carolina fans are not happy with Beamer; after a 2-2 start and losing his seventh straight SEC game, many are saying he is on the hot seat. Stein took the time to give Beamer his flowers as a person during his Tuesday press conference, a relationship that dates back to when the Kentucky head coach was at Lake Travis High School. It all started when Beamer was on a recruiting stop.

“I have a ton of respect for Coach Beamer. Shane recruited Lake Travis when I was there. He was actually at Oklahoma at the time, and I just felt like he was genuine, he was authentic. He took the time for me as a high school coach to sit in my office and really talk about my players at Lake Travis. He knew other players within the district, he was able to talk football. It didn’t feel like he was in a rush to leave the school. He was real. So I’ve always had a ton of respect for Shane because of that. And I think he’s a really good football coach.”

Shane Beamer then shared the same type of praise for Stein in his press conference before the matchup.

“I would go in as a recruiter and got to know their offensive coordinator at the time. That was Will Stein, and every time I went by Lake Travis, I just would gravitate towards him and spend a lot of time sitting in his office and was really just blown away by his knowledge of football, offensive football schemes, all that, and just a really good person that I enjoyed visiting with.”

Now, the two will face off in a pivotal game for both programs. For Kentucky, they’re looking to get one step closer to becoming bowl-eligible, and with South Carolina, Beamer’s job security may be on the line.

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