South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer took the microphone at SEC Media Days after the Gamecocks finished 2023 with a disappointing 5-7 record. What did Shane Beamer say and what did we learn from his press conference?
Three Takeaways From Shane Beamer At SEC Media Days
1) Beamer is Bullish on South Carolina
One of the first things Beamer said at the podium is that the outside noise is incorrect. There’s a sense of negativity around the program after a 5-7 season in Beamer’s third year with the program.
Beamer not only rebuffed that noise but went on the record to say what he thought the ceiling is for South Carolina’s program.
“Our expectations at South Carolina are to compete for a spot in the 12-team playoff year in and year out.”
Beamer certainly thinks this is a solid team, both privately and publicly, and at SEC Media Days, he didn’t shy away from saying as much. The defense should be greatly improved, and an offensive line that was a weakness last year returns more experience.
2) Beamer Loves the Defense
Beamer repeatedly mentioned the Gamecocks’ extensive experience on the defensive side of the football. In his opening remarks, he pointed out that the Gamecocks return the top six vote-getters for the team’s player-voted defensive MVP award.
Where the Gamecocks should be better is the depth. South Carolina only ran four defensive tackles last season and had a three-man linebacker rotation after linebacker Mo Kaba had a third knee injury.
MORE: 2024 South Carolina Gamecocks Depth Chart
In addition to returning most of their key defensive pieces, the Gamecocks added several transfers, Beamer expects to make an impact, and a couple of true freshmen at edge and linebacker who will crack the rotation.
The defense has historically been predicated on takeaways, but was bad in that category last season after leading the league in takeaways the seasons before.
3) Beamer is Turning the Page on 2023
After struggling some in 2023, Beamer says the mood is different at SEC Media Days in 2024. He said he felt like South Carolina was the media darling in 2023, with some even picking the Gamecocks to be a dark horse. This year, he says the outside noise is more pessimistic, despite last season not being all that different.
Beamer mentioned, without going into detail, that the Gamecocks had three games that would have gone differently if the Gamecocks “had made a routine play.”
One of those is certainly the Florida game, during which Florida converted multiple long fourth down conversions on the final drive, including one on a missed tackle short of the sticks.
Both Beamer and Debo Williams mentioned that last year wasn’t the standard and that the team is moving forward and expecting better in 2024. The team made changes to the coaching staff, in the portal and in preparation to get over the hump this season.
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