Five years ago, as a rookie head coach, Shane Beamer stood in front of the media for the first time at SEC Media Days and vowed to make the South Carolina Gamecocks a consistent winner.
“I talked about two things: There was no ceiling on the football program at South Carolina, and nothing has changed. I said that this was my dream job when I got hired back then, and nothing has changed. I’m more convicted about that than ever,” he said.
Though the Gamecocks have not reached the level of consistency Beamer wants his football program to be, they have been consistent in one area. They are a team that no one likes to play.
USC has stood toe-to-toe with the top teams in the SEC. They had Alabama on the ropes in each of the last two seasons and had Texas A&M beat at College Station last year before the Aggies had a comeback for the ages. They also won at Oklahoma and beat Ole Miss and Texas A&M in 2024.
South Carolina has taken on the image of their head coach – hardnosed, tough and with a will to never give up even when everyone is telling them to do so.
“The expectation always has been since I’ve been the head coach, and always will be at South Carolina, to compete for championships and to compete for a spot in the 12-team playoff. That’s what we are still working towards each and every day,” Beamer said.
In Beamer’s first five seasons, the Gamecocks are 34-29. In 2021, they went 7-6 and improved to 8-5 in 2022, which included a win at No. 10 Clemson. After going 5-7 in 2023, USC bounced back with a 9-4 record, including a 5-3 mark in the SEC.
The Gamecocks won six straight games to close the regular season, which included another victory at Clemson.
Though South Carolina was a preseason pick to contend for an SEC Championship and the College Football Playoff, it took a step back in 2025, going 4-8 in an injury-plagued campaign.
“Certainly, last season was a difficult season, to say the least. There were high expectations, and we fell woefully short, and that’s on me,” Beamer said. “We had six losses last season that were one-score games going into the fourth quarter. We certainly have to play better in the fourth quarter, but we don’t seek comfort from that with how close we were.
“I’m accountable for everything that goes on in our program. Made changes that I felt like we needed to make. We’ve gotten better because of it. I’m a big believer that in life that you have to go through some uncomfortable moments in order to grow, and we went through some really uncomfortable moments last season, but we have absolutely grown from that.”
To fix the issues from 2025, Beamer brought in five new coaches, including new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles. He also went and got a new offensive line coach in Randy Clements and a new running backs coach in Stan Drayton. He brought in Deion Barnes to coach his defensive ends and outside linebackers after Sterling Lucas left for LSU, and Matthew Smiley as his new special teams coordinator after Joe DeCamillis left to take a job with the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL.
“They chose to come because they believe in what we’re about,” Beamer said. “They believe in what we’ve done, what we’re doing, but more importantly, where we’re going as a program. I can’t wait to start practice in August.”
The Gamecocks open the season at home on Sept. 5 against Kent State before hosting Towson and Mississippi State in Weeks 2 and 3. They then head to Alabama in Week 4, host Kentucky in Week 5 and travel to Florida in Week 6.
In each of the last two years, USC started 3-3. They won six straight in 2024 after that, but won only one game in their last seven to end 2025.
“I think for us, we’ve got to start better, period,” Beamer said. “You mentioned that start in ’24. You’re right. I mean, we were, I think, 3-3 at one point. We didn’t play great. We had two close losses, but then we had a lopsided loss to Ole Miss as one of those three. So. We’ve got to play better in September and October. Particularly September and early October, getting started.
“We look at that every season, how do we start better? That’s always the case. Then we’ve always been a team — last year we weren’t, but we’ve typically always been a team that has gotten better as the year went on, that we’re a better team Week 12 than what we were in Week 1.”
–photo courtesy of University of South Carolina Athletics