Beamer responds to transfer departures with new offensive pieces

Times were rough for South Carolina. Star players were entering the transfer portal left and right.

But just like last year, give Shane Beamer time and he’ll find a way to get it done.

And that’s just what he did. The second-year head coach has brought in four transfers: Newberry running back Mario Anderson Jr., Florida tight end Nick Elksnis, Yale offensive lineman Nick Gargiulo and Arkansas tight end Trey Knox.

“Pretty good for a program that some said had lost a lot of momentum after the Clemson game,” Beamer said. “Rumors of our demise were greatly exaggerated, to say the least.”

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South Carolina landed nine players from the portal last year. The first transfer window closes on Jan. 18, so more players could be coming by then.

All of the Gamecocks’ acquisitions have been on offense so far and for good reason. Five players on offense had entered the portal.

While the running back room should return mainly everyone from this season, Marshawn Lloyd shouldn’t be back. He announced via Twitter that he would be entering the portal. That’s where Anderson factors into the equation.

The 5-foot-9, 210-pound running back had a tremendous year at Newberry, running for 1,560 yards and 19 touchdowns. He helped the Wolves win the South Atlantic Conference Championship on Nov. 12. He went on to be named a Division II All-American.

Anderson might not be a big-name FBS running back, but Beamer had no problem with it.

“He’s a Division II All-American and some people say, ‘Well, that’s not the SEC.’ Well, you know what? We took Carlins Platel from Assumption College and people were probably like, ‘What are you taking a guy from Assumption College for?’ Well, he’s still playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s why,” Beamer said.

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There’s a lot that meets the eye about Anderson from Beamer’s perspective. He loved the fact that he’s been a productive and experienced running back.

“You watch his tape, it’s just a lot of long plays when you turn on the tape,” he said. “Then just his story of growing up in Charleston and going to Newberry and what he’s done since he’s been there. Getting to know him, he came out to practice last Friday and spent some time with us. Enjoyed getting to know him.”

Lloyd wasn’t the only key offensive weapon lost. Jaheim Bell and Austin Stogner also departed for Florida State and Oklahoma respectively, leaving the tight end room with almost no depth. Beamer knew it would be an important position to fill.

“We went into it saying, ‘We probably need to sign two tight ends in this year’s class,’ and obviously our circumstances changed pretty quickly in the last two weeks where we needed to sign a lot more than two,” Beamer said.

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Standing by his words, Beamer brought in SEC tight ends Elksnis and Knox.

Elksnis spent two seasons with the Florida Gators, mostly in a special teams capacity. During his recruiting process, Beamer, who was coaching at Oklahoma, visited him twice in Jacksonville.

“I really liked him as a tight end when I was coaching at Oklahoma,” Beamer said. “He’s very well thought of by a lot of people. He’ll bring us some athleticism and size.”

Then, there’s Knox, who follows his tight ends coach Dowell Loggains, now the Gamecocks’ offensive coordinator, from Arkansas. In four years with the Razorbacks, he hauled in 81 catches for 892 yards and nine touchdowns. He caught five in 2022.

“(He) came to Arkansas as a receiver and now he’s up to 240 pounds as a really athletic tight end,” Beamer said.

During Knox’s first conversation with Beamer after entering the portal, he told him about why he chose to go to Arkansas.

“One of the primary reasons, if not the primary reason, he chose Arkansas was because of his relationship with Justin Stepp,” Beamer said. “Justin was the receivers coach that recruited Trey to Arkansas and then obviously he had developed a great relationship with Dowell coaching him.”

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After this season, South Carolina will lose a number of starters and backups on the offensive line. The Gamecocks will be bringing in a few talented linemen from their 2023 signing class but adding some veteran experience doesn’t hurt.

Gargiulo will be that guy up front next year. He has experience playing multiple positions — 14 career starts at left tackle and 10 at center. He also became Yale’s team captain in 2022.

“I didn’t realize this, but at Yale, on sports teams, you don’t have multiple captains — You have one,” Beamer said. “It’s the one guy that has the most votes and he is the captain of the Yale football team forever and that was Nick, which is pretty awesome.”

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