Shane Beamer says eight-year-old son is still in awe of Brock Bowers

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer had to explain to his son that Georgia tight end Brock Bowers is, unfortunately, just a freshman. Much to the disappointment of the Gamecocks and the rest of the SEC, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Bowers has plenty of eligibility left.

“My 8-year-old son was in here listening to Brock and he said, ‘Wait a minute he’s just a freshman?” Beamer said on a Zoom call Monday night during the FWAA awards show. “He was like ‘Man, I thought he was a senior and gone,’ and then he walked out of the room disappointed.

“Can we confirm that he is just a freshman and we have two more years to compete against him? In all seriousness, love watching you play Brock, you’re a helluva football player.”

Bowers’ performance with the Bulldogs this past season earned him the FWAA Freshman of the Year award. The tight end led the Georgia offense with 56 catches for 882 yards and a program-record 13 touchdown catches. He scored touchdowns in each of the final five games of the season, including the national championship against Alabama.

Georgia claimed its first national championship since 1980 this season, defeating Alabama 33-18 last Monday. Bowers scored a 15-yard touchdown in the national title game that put the Bulldogs up 26-18 late in the fourth quarter.

A four-star recruit in the 2021 class, Bowers was ranked the No. 2 tight end according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He chose the Bulldogs over offers from LSU, Oregon, Texas A&M and plenty others.

South Carolina finished this past season 7-6 after claiming a victory in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. With the additions the Gamecocks have made this offseason, many project them to be a dark horse candidate in the SEC next season. However, if Shane Beamer is to take a leap in his second season, he will have to get through Brock Bowers and Georgia.

The Gamecocks open the 2022 season against Georgia State on Sept. 3. They face the Bulldogs just three games into the year on Sept. 17. South Carolina held Bowers without a touchdown this past season and will hope to continue that trend in 2022.