Phil Steele calls South Carolina one of the 'top' teams in SEC East

Feelings are good around the South Carolina football team and Phil Steele, the college football preview magazine stalwart, is no exception. In his breakdown of the Gamecocks ahead of 2023, he thinks they are likely one of the better squads in the SEC East.

Of course Georgia and Tennessee probably hold the top two spots, but after a strong finish to 2022, Shane Beamer and Co. are riding high. And Steele is buying in on South Carolina ahead of the 2023 season.

“They were -80 ypg in SEC play, had three net upsets and the schedule goes from #49 to #2 this year which are all signs pointing down. Last year the special teams was the big factor that got them to eight wins, but this year the offense should be improved if it plays like the end of last year. Only 10 starters are back and they are #82 on my Exp Chart. Beamer is two for two outperforming expectations and they are one of the top teams in the SEC East,” Steele wrote.

Steele pointed to past successes of Beamer at South Carolina and how it builds confidence heading into this year. Steele noted that the Gamecocks were 2-8 the year prior to Beamer’s arrival.

And Beamer didn’t come with head coaching experience and two of his coordinators, offense and defense, hadn’t ever run a unit at the Power 5 level.

Still, South Carolina went 7-5 that year.

“The Gamecocks did draw both A&M and Auburn out of the West and Clemson in non conf., and figured to be a dog in eight games. Their Vegas Over/Under was 3.5 wins. At 5-5 they beat Auburn to get a bowl and after a blow out loss to Clemson upset North Carolina 38-21 and Beamer got a mayo bath for a seven-win season,” Steele wrote.

Ahead of the 2022 season, it was a tale of deft portal additions. South Carolina brought in Spencer Rattler from Oklahoma to play quarterback, headlining the influx of talent.

“Last year they had a Vegas Over/Under of 5.5 but opened 5-2 with a four-game win streak and were ranked [in the AP poll] for the first time since 2018. They lost to Mizzou and Florida, were 6-4 and appeared head to another 6-6 year but knocked both Tennessee and Clemson out of a possible playoff spot with two huge upsets before a close loss to Notre Dame in the bowl,” Steele wrote.

Basically, in each of his two seasons as a head coach, Beamer has pushed the Gamecocks to exceed expectations.

And with slightly higher expectations in Year 3, Steele isn’t ready to buck the trend, predicting the Gamecocks can be a feisty team and a tricky out in the SEC East.