Shane Beamer: South Carolina program is as strong as it's ever been

South Carolina took a step back in their third season under Shane Beamer with the worst record of his tenure. Even so, that doesn’t mean that the Gamecocks aren’t still very much heading in the right direction in his eyes.

Beamer took the podium and addressed the state of their program following their 16-7 loss to Clemson. To him, South Carolina is in as good of a place as it has ever been because of the young talent on their roster and the next wave of recruits that will arrive for next fall.

“I’ll tell you that it’s as strong as it has ever been in my opinion,” said Beamer. “We’ve got a hell of a recruiting class coming in here. We just started five true freshmen this year throughout the season.”

“I don’t know if you saw, before the game, the committed prospects that were out at midfield with me? It’s a pretty freakin’ big-time group of players that are coming in here next season,” said Beamer.

Beamer also didn’t let the fact of injuries taking a toll on the Gamecocks’ season go unnoticed.

“We went through some lumps this year. We lost 12 players to season-ending injuries, six of which were offensive linemen,” Beamer noted. “That’s not making excuses. It is what it is.”

All in all, Beamer felt like South Carolina’s pitch was still as good as any in the country. He understands that they could be doing more on the front of name, image, and likeness. Beyond that, though, he sees Columbia as the place to be as a city, school, and program for top recruits.

“We certainly need to be better from an NIL standpoint than where we are. I know the people that are involved with that are working their butts off,” Beamer explained. “We can offer guys a fantastic education, the opportunity to play SEC football, an unbelievable city to go to school in. A culture and program that’s real and not fake.”

The players that are still in his building also encouraged Beamer for what’s next. No one is pleased with an under .500 finish and no bowl eligibility but, following their season-ending loss, their reaction, on top of his commitment, is all he needed to see in terms of how South Carolina plans to respond next year.

“All you had to do was be in that locker room right now with the young men in our program – that is a hurting bunch of players right now,” said Beamer. “The comments that the seniors made to the returning players about the future, this program, and what this program is about? I was extremely proud of them.”

“Nobody is patting ourselves on the back going 5-7 but I think there’s a lot of teams that wouldn’t have been able to respond to the adversity that we faced throughout the season, over and over again like we did,” said Beamer. “Like I said, I just wish I had been able to do more as the head coach to get them over the hump tonight and get a win. That’s what I just told them in the locker room. That’s what hurts me.”