The fertile territory of North and South Carolina is one that, if a program can keep the talent at home, they can dominate.
Dabo Swinney has proven this during his time running the Clemson program. So while Clemson is considered a traditional power, there still seems to be an inability to replicate that success in Columbia.
In the past, legendary coaches such as Paul Dietzel, Lou Holtz, and Steve Spurrier, each of whom won national championships, tried their hat at getting the Gamecocks back to relevancy, with Spurrier coming the closest with his three consecutive 11-win seasons between 2011-2013. After the failure to launch under coach Will Muschamp, the Gamecocks turned to former Oklahoma assistant head coach Shane Beamer to resurrect the program.
Beamer knows a thing or two about building and resurrecting a program, his father, Frank Beamer, is the Hall of Fame coach from Virginia Tech that took the Hokies from a regional program to a national power in the 1990s and 2000s, winning seven conference championships and appearing in nine New Year’s Six bowls including a national championship appearance against Florida State.
For Beamer, he began to turn heads by landing former five-star quarterback Spencer Rattler in the transfer portal from Oklahoma, who had lost his starting job to Caleb Williams. On the field, South Carolina ended their season as strong as anybody last season by shocking No. 6 Tennessee at Williams-Brice Stadium 63-38.
Rattler had arguably his finest game as a collegiate player completing 30 of 37 passes for 438 yards and six touchdown passes.
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Carrying the momentum of defeating a Top 10 team in the country, the Gamecocks scored consecutive Top 10 upsets in the Palmetto Bowl against rival and No. 7 Clemson 31-30.
In the game, Clemson should have gotten the ball back with 2:09 left on the clock. But Antonio Williams fumbled on a punt return, and South Carolina’s special teamer Nick Emmanwori recovered, sealing the one-point win for the Gamecocks
“It’s a play here or there. It’s a one-point game,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said following the Palmetto Bowl loss. “There’s a lot of things that are demoralizing when you don’t win. Bottom line, South Carolina played better.”
While South Carolina wasn’t able to continue the momentum in the Gator Bowl against Notre Dame, they still kept swinging in a 45-38 loss to the Fighting Irish.
“For us to be down that many players and for those guys to play their butts off like they did and leave everything out there like they did, I’m really really, really proud to be their coach,” Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer said after the loss. “In that locker room there’s a hurtin’ group of guys that left it all out there.”
The Gamecocks have three significant losses to overcome for the 2023 campaign.
On the coaching front, offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield left South Carolina for the same position at Nebraska.
Replacing him on Beamer’s staff is Dowell Loggains. Loggains spent a better part of two decades in the NFL and had three stints as an offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans (2012-2013), Chicago Bears (2016-2017), and the New York Jets (2019-2020). During the previous two seasons, Loggains spent time on Sam Pittman‘s staff at Arkansas as a tight ends coach and served as a key recruiter who helped the Razorbacks finish in the Top 25 recruiting.
When you look at the fertile recruiting territory of the Carolinas, per 247 Sports, there is a significant amount of standout talent. Between the two states, 24 players grade out in the Top 50 of their position group nationally.
South Carolina has already landed commitments from a pair of four stars in 6’7″, 330-pound offensive tackle Kam Pringle from Woodland HS in Dorchester, South Carolina, ranked number three in the state, and wide receiver Mazeo Bennett from Greenville HS in Greenville, South Carolina, who comes in at number six. And they recently added the nation’s number two ranked offensive tackle Josiah Thompson.
The Gamecocks are also currently the favorites to land four-star safety Kelvin Hunter, from West Florence HS in Florence, South Carolina. If the Gamecocks land Hunter, they would have commitments from five of the top seven prospects in South Carolina.
On a player front, replacing cornerbacks Cam Smith and Darius Rush will be a tall task. Smith is polished and rated in the same vein as former Gamecock cornerback prospects Stephon Gilmore and Jaycee Horn and is expected to be picked on Day 1 of the NFL Draft.
Smith and Rush anchored a secondary that yielded only 206.7 passing yards per game and allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 53.7% of their passes.
Looking to step in their places are Marcellas Dial and O’Donnell Fortune, who had a 100-yard pick-six in the Gator Bowl against Notre Dame.
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Since Beamer’s arrival in 2021, the Gamecocks have made tremendous strides. 2022 saw the Gamecocks defeat three Top 13 opponents (Kentucky, Tennessee, and Clemson) as well as defeating another preseason Top 10 opponent in Texas A&M.
Beamer is starting to get buy-in from recruits and fans, and they don’t look like an easy out from here on out. As they continue to secure all the top recruits in South Carolina, Clemson and other programs should take notice. The Gamecocks are no longer to be overlooked and could evolve into a powerhouse if they continue the rate of achievement they have under Beamer.
