DALLAS — Flanked by three veteran players, his son Hunter, and various South Carolina personnel, Shane Beamer stepped in front of a couple cameras and a small throng of media members Monday before going on the main stage at SEC Media Days restrained, but focused. There might not be a coach in the SEC this summer who’s more anxious to bring national relevance back to his program than the leader of the Gamecocks.
“You guys probably know better than I do, but we’re going to be picked low when you guys do preseason projections … 12th, 13th, 14th or 15th,” Beamer said. “I get it. We lost a high-draft pick in Spencer Rattler at quarterback. We lost Xavier Legette, a first-round draft pick. It’s easy to look and see, ‘well they struggled last year in some ways and they lost their best quarterback and receiver. They’re not going to be very good.’ I think it’s a very lazy way of thinking in my opinion. No one talks about the players we do return and the experience we have.
“It is what it is. We worry about what we can control. I’m not going to go into the first team meeting this year and talk about y’all’s projections. There was a national columnist that said the ceiling of this team in 2021 was two wins and we tripled that. I just know we’ve got some great young men on this team who are extremely hungry.”
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Beamer called South Carolina’s 2023 finish unacceptable earlier this offseason and is intent on getting the Gamecocks back to a bowl game in his fourth campaign. Beamer holds high expectations for this season’s team and believes veteran leadership and several transfer portal additions — along with a first-year freshman or two — will help carry the Gamecocks to where they want to go.