The South Carolina Gamecocks are heading into the fourth year of the Shane Beamer era. With how recruiting cycles typically work, a new head coach is given some grace in the first two years as they aren’t usually dealing with their own recruits. Struggles in years three, four and beyond, though, increase the chance of that coach getting axed.
Despite last year’s rampant re-alignment, South Carolina stood strong in the SEC. With how much money they make from being in the conference, it’s not shocking that they didn’t even consider jumping ship. Conference membership isn’t just about football, but with the struggles the Gamecocks have had the last few seasons, plus the additions of Oklahoma and Texas, the path toward an SEC Championship gets that much more daunting. Coming off a 5-7 season (3-5 SEC), doubt is building that Beamer is the guy who can get South Carolina to the top of the SEC. Let’s look at how hot his coaching seat is heading into 2024.
Beamer Ball Recap
Beamer was hired as the replacement for former head coach Will Muschamp following a 2-8 season in 2020. It was his return to South Carolina, where he served as the team’s outside linebackers coach, cornerbacks, safeties and special teams coach from 2007-2010. He joined his dad Frank at Virginia Tech as the running backs coach from 2011-2015. When the senior Beamer retired, Shane became the tight ends and special teams coach at Georgia in 2016-2017 and then the Assistant Head Coach and tight ends coach at Oklahoma from 2018-2020.
When Beamer came to South Carolina, the Gamecocks had only two winning seasons in the last five years. The three straight 11-2 finishes under Steve Spurrier from 2011-2013 felt like a fever dream. His 7-6 record with a win over North Carolina in the 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl inspired hope, despite his being doused in mayonnaise after the win. The Gamecocks got a boost as Spencer Rattler transferred in, following his old coach, and he was able to get the team through an 8-5 season for their most wins since 2017. Hopes were high for 2023, but then things started crumbling.
Just how bad was South Carolina in 2023?
Spencer Rattler was draft-eligible but decided to return to the Gamecocks. It was a brutal offseason, as Josh Vann graduated, and Marshawn Lloyd, Jordan Burch and Jaheim Bell all transferred. In total, 17 players transferred out, with only 11 coming in. The 27th-ranked transfer class joined the 16th-best recruiting class.
South Carolina was ranked No. 23 entering the season against North Carolina and it became evident very quickly they weren’t deserving. The Gamecocks lost 31-17 and went on to finish 5-7, while going 3-5 in the SEC.
They allowed the sixth-most points on defense in the SEC (26.3) while averaging the third-fewest points per game on offense (26.0). The Gamecocks were allergic to running the ball and never came close to establishing any sort of run game. Their 85.1 rushing yards per game were not only the fewest in the SEC but the fifth-fewest across the Power 5 and Group of 5 conferences. Of 133 FBS teams, South Carolina’s offensive line allowed the 10th-most sacks per game (3.42). The Gamecocks couldn’t extend drives, averaging 28:18.17 minutes of possession per game, which was 22nd fewest in the FBS.
Whether deserved or not, a winning record was a yearly expectation from when Steve Spurrier took over in 2005. He didn’t have a losing record until he retired after starting the 2015 season 2-4. Muschamp went 6-7 in his first full season and followed it up with a 9-4 campaign in 2017. A slight step back with a 7-6 2018 led to a full landslide into a 4-8 2019 and 2-8 2020. Beamer is right at that peak of Year 4, where he needs to sink or swim despite being under contract through the 2027 season.
2024 Outlook
More Losses
South Carolina feels like it’s starting behind the 8-ball before even getting to their first game at the end of August. Spencer Rattler technically had another year of eligibility left thanks to COVID-19, but rightly decided not to use it and was selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. Wide receiver Xavier Legette was selected in the first round by the Carolina Panthers. He had 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns a season ago, while the team’s second-best receiver, Ahmarean Brown, had 265 yards and a score.
New Faces in the Backfield
South Carolina attempted to address its running back problem through the transfer portal. Mario Anderson led the team with 707 yards and three touchdowns last season and transferred to Memphis. The Gamecocks brought in former Arkansas Razorback Raheim “Rocket” Sanders along with North Texas RB Oscar Adaway III and South Carolina State RB Jawarn Howell to replace him. Sanders is coming off a torn labrum but is expected to be ready for the season.
The biggest question is who will be the starting quarterback. In addition to Rattler going to the draft, Tanner Bailey entered the transfer portal, and Colten Gauthier transferred to Gardner-Webb. Three-star quarterbacks Davis Beville (Oklahoma) and Robby Ashford (Auburn) both transferred to South Carolina, but redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers heads into the summer as the likeliest option under center.
So Sellers is the QB; Who is he throwing to?
As if replacements under center and at running back weren’t enough, the Gamecocks will have to find some new pass-catchers. Legette was drafted, tight end Trey Knox and Ahmarean Brown both signed with NFL teams as undrafted free agents and O’Mega Blake (East Carolina) and Antwane “Juice” Wells (Ole Miss) both transferred. The top receiving option from a year ago returning is senior tight end Joshua Simon, who had 256 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Nyck Harbor finished with 195 yards and a touchdown as a freshman and is expected to be asked to take a big step forward.
Five of the 22 incoming transfers to South Carolina are wide receivers — Vandrevius Jacobs (Florida State, Dalevon Campbell (Nevada), Ahmari Huggins-Bruce (Louisville), Gage Larvadain (Miami (OH)) and Jared Brown (Coastal Carolina).
Schedule
With the addition of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, longtime fans of South Carolina may be disappointed by the schedule. Now that the conference has 16 teams, it has decided to go division-less for the first time since 1991 when South Carolina joined the SEC. This means that the Gamecocks aren’t required to play certain teams every season, and as a result, they don’t play longtime rivals Georgia, Tennessee or Florida this year. While this could seem like good news, South Carolina plays LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M at home but has to go on the road to play Alabama and Oklahoma. For a team that is largely rebuilding its already bad offense, this is going to be a tough schedule, even with getting to play Old Dominion, Akron, Vanderbilt and Wofford.
Forget About 2010-2013
It may be pessimistic thinking, but Gamecock fans need to retrain their brains for how they approach the season. Since joining the SEC in 1992, South Carolina has won the SEC East only once, in 2010. The Gamecocks faced Cam Newton and the #2 Auburn Tigers in the SEC Championship Game and got absolutely embarrassed 56-17. In the 13 seasons since South Carolina has finished second in the SEC only three times. Even the arguable three best seasons in program history — three straight 11-2 seasons from 2011-2013 — didn’t see South Carolina get back to the SEC title game. Now, the Gamecocks couldn’t just finish as the top of seven teams in the SEC East but have to finish as a top two team among all 16 teams to make the SEC title game.
To Beamer, or not to Beamer
Obviously, no school is going to come out and say that they don’t want to win championships and are content with just competing, but that’s kind of where South Carolina projects to be for the foreseeable future. Beamer is charged with taking a 5-win team to the mountaintop, and it truly doesn’t feel, with the state of where the program is heading into the new-look SEC, that there is a chance of that happening.
I think there is a difference between Beamer’s hot seat temperature and what it should be. If the school’s true goals are to win the SEC championship and be a national competitor, Beamer’s seat needs to be hot heading into the year and lava hot coming out of it if he has another losing season. In actuality, I think his seat is lukewarm and is heating up. I don’t know what his buyout would cost, but I’d bet that another bad season would get Beamer on the warm seat, and he would have 2025 to show that he can win in the new-look SEC.