Swinney, Beamer, Beck advocate for S.C. NIL bill
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer and Coastal Carolina football coach Tim Beck all came together at the Statehouse to urge lawmakers to pass a law allowing their schools to directly compensate their athletes.
The call for name, image and likeness legislation came Tuesday in a South Carolina House education committee hearing. It passed unanimously after the committee started the meeting with a group photo — coaches in the front and lawmakers in the back. The bill now goes to the House floor; the Senate hasn’t taken up the matter yet.
The three football coaches were joined by more than a dozen from other sports. They packed the hearing room, and South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and men’s basketball coach Lamont Paris prowled the halls of the House’s office building to meet with legislators before the meeting started.
The bill would overhaul a law passed a few years ago when name, image and likeness laws were just starting. It would allow universities to work with companies or others who want to make NIL offers. The school could also evaluate the deals and give advice to athletes. It is similar to proposals in other states that also are trying to go around the NCAA.
“We have been limited in our NIL involvement through the ever-changing guidance from the NCAA, and that has left our student-athletes trying to figure out much of this on their own — navigating complex NIL opportunities without trained guidance,” Swinney told the committee.
Beamer thanked lawmakers for their consideration, saying passing the bill was vital to keep teams in the state competitive. Republican House Education and Public Works Committee chair Shannon Erickson, of Beaufort, rattled off the nearly dozen national titles won by coaches at the meeting or seen earlier in the day in football, women’s basketball, men’s soccer, equestrian and baseball.
“It is something we deal with daily. It is also ever-changing, daily. This law would give us stability and flexibility,” Beamer said.
The bill is also needed for lesser-known, smaller teams, Coastal Carolina women’s basketball coach Kevin Pederson said.
On his team, one player gets a few smoothies through her deal and a second gets bathing suits. The law would allow the school to work for better deals for all.
“They need an advocate who loves them the way I love them. They need an advocate who will push for them the way I push for them,” Pederson said.
The outcome was certain before the gavel came down to open the meeting. Republican Rep. April Cromer from Anderson walked up to Swinney and shook his hand.
“This might not have been necessary. We were going to pass it anyway,” she said as Swinney, Beamer and Beck all laughed.
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Adam Rittenberg
BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he feels “healthy and vibrant” after returning to the field for preseason practices after undergoing surgery to remove his bladder after a cancerous tumor was found.
Sanders, 57, said he has been walking at least a mile around campus following Colorado’s practices, which began last week. He was away from the team for the late spring and early summer following the surgery in May. Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, said July 30 that Sanders, who lost about 25 pounds during his recovery, is “cured of cancer.”
“I’m healthy, I’m vibrant, I’m my old self,” Sanders said. “I’m loving life right now. I’m trying my best to live to the fullest, considering what transpired.”
Sanders credited Colorado’s assistant coaches and support staff for overseeing the program during his absence. The Pro Football Hall of Famer enters his third season as Buffaloes coach this fall.
“They’ve given me tremendous comfort,” Sanders said. “I never had to call 100 times and check on the house, because I felt like the house is going to be OK. That’s why you try your best to hire correct, so you don’t have to check on the house night and day. They did a good job, especially strength and conditioning.”
Colorado improved from four to nine wins in Sanders’ second season, but the team loses Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, the No. 2 pick in April’s NFL draft, as well as record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of Deion Sanders. The Buffaloes have an influx of new players, including quarterbacks Kaidon Salter and Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis, who are competing for the starting job, as well as new staff members such as Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, who is coaching the Buffaloes’ running backs.
Despite the changes and his own health challenges, Deion Sanders expects Colorado to continue ascending. The Buffaloes open the season Aug. 29 when they host Georgia Tech.
“The next phase is we’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” Sanders said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the Hail Mary’s at the end of the game, but it’s going to be hell during the game, because we want to be physical and we want to run the heck out of the football.”
Sanders said it will feel “a little weird, a little strange” to not be coaching Shedeur when the quarterback starts his first NFL preseason game for the Cleveland Browns on Friday night at Carolina. Deion Sanders said he and Shedeur had spoken several times Friday morning. Despite being projected as a top quarterback in the draft, Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round.
“A lot of people are approaching it like a preseason game, he’s approaching like a game, and that’s how he’s always approached everything, to prepare and approach it like this is it,” Deion Sanders said. “He’s thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. He don’t get covered in, you know, all the rhetoric in the media.
“Some of the stuff is just ignorant. Some of it is really adolescent, he far surpasses that, and I can’t wait to see him play.”
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Adam Rittenberg
LSU starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier aggravated the patellar tendinitis he has been dealing with in his knee but will not miss any significant time, coach Brian Kelly said Friday.
Kelly dropped in ahead of a news conference Friday with offensive coordinator Joe Sloan to tell reporters that Nussmeier did not suffer a severe knee injury or even a new one. According to Kelly, Nussmeier has chronic tendinitis in his knee and “probably just planted the wrong way” during Wednesday’s practice.
Nussmeier ranked fifth nationally in passing yards (4,052) last season, his first as LSU’s starter, and projects as an NFL first-round draft pick in 2026.
“It’s not torn, there’s no fraying, there’s none of that,” Kelly said. “This is preexisting. … There’s nothing to really see on film with it, but it pissed it off. He aggravated it a little bit, but he’s good to go.”
Kelly said Nussmeier’s injury ranks 1.5 out of 10 in terms of severity. Asked whether it’s the right or left knee, Kelly said he didn’t know, adding, “It’s not a serious injury. Guys are dealing with tendinitis virtually every day in life.”
LSU opens the season Aug. 30 at Clemson.
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