By hammering the transfer portal, Shane Beamer made sure South Carolina's offense is guaranteed to improve in 2022

Shane Beamer is the good vibes guy of the SEC. Everyone loves South Carolina’s head coach, raving about Beamer’s energy, optimism and vision for a once listless program. 

After smashing expectations in Year 1 with a 7-6 season, including upset wins over Florida, Auburn and North Carolina, many believe the Gamecocks are primed for a leap in 2022, possibly contending for the No. 2 spot in the SEC East. 

We’ll see. Let’s tap the brakes on that for now. There will be plenty of offseason time to dissect and debate South Carolina’s potential this fall. Instead, let’s get this out of the way this spring: The Gamecocks’ offense — which oftentimes operated like a chicken with its head cut off last year — will be a helluva lot better in 2022. 

At times through no fault of his own, offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield’s unit was downright terrible last season. South Carolina ranked next-to-last in the SEC in almost every notable offensive category. 

13th in scoring offense (22.6 points per game)

13th in total offense (337.3 yards per game)

13th in yards per play (5.30)

13th in explosiveness (plays from scrimmage over 20 yards)

13th in passing yards (201.2 per game)

13th in red zone efficiency

13th in first downs

The Gamecocks’ run game was marginally better (11th in the SEC in yards per game), but they still averaged less than four yards per attempt (3.78) and had only nine total rushing touchdowns. Shane Beamer had to start four different quarterbacks, including three starters for multiple games. 

That sentence alone would derail most first-year coaches, but when you add the nuance that one of those starters was a receiver-turned-Wildcat QB, and another was a former grad assistant who handed in his clipboard for a playbook and helmet, it was a modern miracle that the Gamecocks managed even a couple wins in 2021. 

Well, we’ll see about victories, but at least yards and points should come easier for South Carolina this fall. 

Shane Beamer looked at his roster this offseason and correctly surmised that he needed to go shopping, and infuse the situation with talent.

As if he was ordering off a great tapas menu, Beamer grabbed a little bit of everything off the transfer portal menu, taking a quarterback (former Oklahoma five-star Spencer Rattler), a couple running backs (Wake Forest transfer Christian Beal-Smith and Georgia corner Lovasea Carroll, who played tailback at IMG Academy), a veteran tight end (Oklahoma transfer Austin Stogner) and a talented receiver (James Madison’s Antwane Wells). 

If it were a Yelp Rating, Beamer’s haul was a 5 out of 5 stars. 

Every piece was important and has a purpose, but Spencer Rattler’s addition in particular changes the entire outlook for South Carolina’s attack. With tantalizing arm strength and eye-popping potential, the blue-chip transfer offers an explosive upside at the QB position not seen in Columbia since … ever?

To whit: Rattler is the first five-star quarterback to suit up for the Gamecocks — a program that’s never had an All-SEC quarterback and hasn’t had a quarterback drafted since 1990. Last year’s preseason Heisman Trophy favorite could potentially check all three boxes with one monster season.  

This spring, Shane Beamer and Satterfield have specifically sprinkled in many of the Lincoln Riley concepts that brought out the best in Rattler’s game two years ago when he completed 68 percent of his passes, averaged 9.6 yards per attempt and threw for 28 touchdowns to seven interceptions. 

While Rattler won’t be surrounded by as much talent as he was at Oklahoma, Beamer made sure he gave his new quarterback plenty of toys to play with in Columbia. 

Antwane Wells was one of the sneakiest portal additions for any SEC program, as South Carolina landed an impact playmaker who should give its offense a much-needed vertical boost. Nicknamed ‘Juice,’ Wells set single-season FCS records with 1,250 yards, 83 receptions and 15 touchdowns last season for James Madison.

Meanwhile, Stogner should be a friendly safety valve for Rattler, as the pairing had a nice connection in 2020 (26 catches and three touchdowns) and Beal-Smith led Wake Forest with 604 rushing yards in 2021. 

Suddenly, a team bereft of playmaking talent has some options. 

Hybrid H-back Jaheim Bell, who had a breakout performance in Carolina’s bowl win, is expected to see an increased role, while super senior Josh Vann, the only returning player with at least 31 catches, should greatly benefit from playing with a quarterback who can actually push the ball downfield.  

Former five-star tailback recruit Marshawn Lloyd has had a couple tough seasons (ACL injury in 2020, struggled with nagging injuries, pass protection in 2021) for the Gamecocks, but there are whispers he could start at running back in the fall following a strong spring. 

Finally, Dakereon Joyner was the team’s heartwarming story in the Mayo Bowl win over UNC, but the do-everything quarterback-turned-receiver-turned wide back could be an actual X-factor in Carolina’s offensive renaissance.

The Gamecocks’ offensive line graded out as the worst unit in the SEC, per Pro Football Focus, but it does return seven guys who started at least six games last season and has reportedly found some footing this spring. The group will need to improve dramatically for the ‘Cocks offense to make a major leap this fall, but better, that looks like a layup.

With Rattler at the helm, Beamer guaranteed South Carolina will be better offensively in 2022.

Will it add up to more wins? That’s up for debate, but I’m quite confident that Sandstorm will at least get blasted a lot more at Williams-Brice Stadium this fall.