South Carolina coach Shane Beamer announced Sunday after the Alabama game that defensive end Dylan Stewart has been suspended from the team indefinitely. The junior defensive end will not play against Kentucky.
“I’ll make the decision on what his future looks like beyond this week here in the next few days. I still have a few meetings and talking with him, but he won’t play his week against Kentucky. There’s a standard to how we do things in our program and that wasn’t the case last night,” Beamer said. “This goes beyond the punch. The punch is unacceptable. He’s not the first person to throw a punch in a football game and he won’t be the last. But there are other things. That’s not how we do things in this program. Accountability is a core value of this program and we are all responsible for upholding the standards, so we’ll see what that looks like in the future.”
Beamer was asked to clarify “the other elements” regarding Stewart’s suspension. Is this all related to the game or are there other details?
“It’s between us,” he said.
During the game in Tuscaloosa, Jordan Kaye of The State posted video of Stewart refusing to leave the game, when Julian Walker was sent to the field.
“It’s getting heated out there. Dylan and a coach – players and coaches – there are intense conversations and things that happen during games,” Beamer said. “And you know you’re in a hostile competitive environment. … We’re going to hold guys accountable for certain things. That’s what we do here. That’s what we do with all of our players. Dylan and South Carolina aren’t the first place where there’s been heated interactions on the sidelines. It’s a competitive environment and I’ve seen a lot of that over the years, whether it’s Georgia or Tennessee or Oklahoma or anywhere else I’ve coached over the years.”
Stewart missed the first two games of the season as he continued to recover from a back injury suffered in 2025. According to Pro Football Focus, Stewart played 43 snaps, including 29 at Alabama. He was credited with one tackle and five quarterback hurries.
During the postgame press conference, Beamer was asked about a first-half confrontation with Stewart that was captured by ESPN cameras during the broadcast.
“We’re both feisty guys and it’s a fierce, competitive environment,” Beamer said. “This is what being in the arena is like.”
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