Shane Beamer shares what excites him about being back with team

The month of May is going to be quiet around the South Carolina football facility, which is disappointing for Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer.

“May stinks, because everybody’s gone, and they go home for the summer,” Beamer said following the spring game. “I’m sure they wouldn’t say the same thing. I’m sure they love getting a chance to get away. But I miss them, honestly, in the month of May when they are gone.”

The South Carolina facility won’t stay quiet for long, though.

In June, returning players, early enrollees and summer enrollees will start arriving back on campus as the Gamecocks begin summer workouts ahead of the 2023 season.

From then, it’s just a few months until the 2023 season gets underway. Beamer can’t wait for everyone to arrive.

“One, it just excites me being back with them. I love coming into the building each day,” Beamer said. “I love being around them, because it’s a fun group that likes to work.”

It’s also a group with raised expectations after the way the 2022 season ended.

South Carolina ended the regular season last year with wins over No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson, before dropping a one-score game against No. 21 Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl.

With Spencer Rattler and Antwane Wells back, along with a solid recruiting class and some important transfer portal additions, the Gamecocks have a chance to have a special season in 2023.

“From a football standpoint, just the youthfulness and the eagerness that this group has. They’re excited and they love to compete and they love to work and that excites me about this group,” Beamer said.

“The young players that we have in the program right now, the returning guys like Juice and Spencer and on and on and on. And then the incoming freshmen, and some of them that aren’t here right now, that will be here in June when we come back. There’s a lot of excitement about Carolina football right now, and there’s a lot of reasons why, for sure.”

Shane Beamer evaluates current state of Gamecocks offense

This past spring was important for the South Carolina offense as the group had to learn new offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains‘ system.

Former Gamecocks offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield is now at Nebraska. Satterfield was replaced by Loggains, who was the tight ends coach at Arkansas.

Shane Beamer feels good about where the offense is exiting the spring.

“We have thrown a lot at them, so to speak. A lot of the passing game concepts are things they know from last year. If you’re new here — if you are Trey Knox or Josh Simon or Eddie Lewis — you don’t know it. It is new for you,” the South Carolina head coach said. “I think just the multiplicities, formations and motions and things like that, we have thrown a lot at them.

“Offensively, our players need to do a great job to learn conceptually. … You can therefore do more things, be dependable and be used in different ways. We’ve thrown a lot at them, but it’s been good teaching, good learning and I like where we are now.”