Everything Shane Beamer said after South Carolina's spring game on Friday

Following Friday’s Garnet and Black Spring Game, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spoke to the media. Here’s everything he had to say.

Opening statement

“All right, pretty amazing night. Great energy in the crowd. Thanks to our fans for coming out. That was a fun environment, and great to be back in Williams-Brice Stadium with them. What an awesome fireworks show at the end. So thanks to everyone who put that on. That was a great way to finish the spring and an awesome fireworks show as well. Before I get started, huge congratulations to Kalen Anderson and our women’s golf team. What a performance today. I was doing exit meetings with our players, so I had 27 individual meetings with players today, but had it on, and in between every meeting, I was glued to the television, and had to delay a couple meetings and make sure players had to come in, the players had to come in and wait with me while we watch them as well. But those girls are awesome. Kalen’s a great friend and a fantastic coach, and so happy for them. What a performance today, and what a Louise (Rydqvist) to win that thing, or essentially win it at the end. So congrats to them.

“Baseball as well. Congrats to Coach (Paul) Mainieri on the series win over Ole Miss. I feel bad that I’m at fault for losing a Friday night home game because we did the spring game at night, and we didn’t want to be going at the same time as baseball. But I apologized to Coach Mainieri about that back when the spring game was announced, and he was awesome as well, and said, you know, we need to be able to beat Ole Miss whether it’s at four o’clock in the afternoon or seven o’clock at night, and that’s exactly what they did. So, congratulations to Coach Mainieri and the baseball team as well. Hopefully, they can get a sweep tomorrow. And then I know it’s a big weekend for Gamecock athletics throughout Columbia, starting tomorrow, also with softball, beach volleyball, I think men’s tennis, they won. So I encourage our fans, the spring game is over with, so now they’ve got the whole weekend, if they’re not traveling, to get out and support our other athletic teams this weekend. But seriously, thanks to Coach Manieri and our baseball team for allowing us to have a night game tonight and them playing earlier as well.

“Great weather for sure tonight. Congratulations to George Wynn and Team Garnet on their win. You don’t think it was competitive? It was competitive from the draft the other night to the 4:05 a.m. text message I got from Derrick Moore this morning telling me that he couldn’t sleep because he was so nervous about the game tonight, and he proceeded to send me a text message about this long with his strategy for the game tonight, how he was going to play offense and defense in the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter, with as well. We had coaches bringing iPads off the sideline to review questionable officiating calls and show me at midfield. It was a lot of fun and a good culmination to a really good spring as well. Saw a lot of young guys get out and make plays tonight.

“Probably just the most disappointing thing is just how sloppy we were, and we haven’t done we haven’t looked like that all spring. So it’s almost like we got out here tonight in a stadium and under the lights, and we lost our minds in so many ways. I mean, I just told the team in there, and just by my account, we had a false start, we had an offsides, we had a bad snap, we had a drop. We had another false start. We had another false start. We had an illegal formation. We had an illegal formation. We had a delay of game. We called a timeout to avoid a delay of game. We had another illegal formation. We had a penalty for clapping on defense, which we know is illegal, and we looked like we had never caught a punt in our lives out there tonight. But the good news is, that’s why you have a spring game and you do it in front of a crowd, so we can hopefully get that out of our system, because I think we have a chance to be a good football team, but we are nowhere near good enough to have that many self inflicted mistakes. I didn’t even get into the sacks and turnovers. To have that many self-inflicted mistakes and think that we’re going to win games. So we’ve got to get that cleaned up.

“But again, we’ve caught punts really well for the most part this spring. We’ve not had those pre-snap issues like we had, and certainly being in a stadium tonight affected us. But again, that’s why you do a spring game, and hopefully that’s out of our system, and we’ll be better going forward, because there’s going to be a lot of lights and Mercedes-Benz Stadium when we play Virginia Tech. There’s going to be a lot more people in the crowd when we play Virginia Tech, and it’s going to be a lot more intense when we play Virginia Tech. I believe it’s 133 days from now. So we got a lot of work to do from that standpoint. But overall, pleased with the spring. We got better. I like the young talent. A lot of those guys flashed tonight and made plays, and we got out of the game injury-free. So pleased about that. This week we’ve our guys are still in class this week, so we’ll be able to do a little bit of football work this week with our guys on Tuesday and Thursday, kind of get back out on the field, not practicing, but just being able to get back out on the field and review some things. Maybe install some things that we didn’t get to during spring practice, but to be back out on the field with our guys. And then classes end and exams start. They’ll have a little bit of time off in May, and then they’ll be back here on Memorial Day. Team meeting on that Monday night, and then we start summer school the very next day. But got a chance to have a good team. We’re on the right track. We made progress this spring, and have to get a lot better this summer, but pleased with where we are right now.”

Mazeo Bennett and Cason Henry didn’t play tonight. What’s the deal there?

“Mazeo wanted to. He practiced yesterday. We did a one-on-one period with the receivers going up against the defensive backs down in the red zone. And he was running a fade route, and kind of tweaked his leg a little bit. He really wanted to go. He was mad that he couldn’t, and that’s why he did not. Cason is fine. Cason hasn’t practiced in the last week or so, just kind of nursing a lower-body injury, but he’ll be fine.”

Cutter Woods had a couple of long passes there on that touchdown drive. How do you think he looked and handled the moment as a freshman?

“Cutter is a certain guy; when the lights come on, they just elevate their games. And that’s Cutter Woods. He’s a winner. You go back to what he did in high school at Westside, I remember watching him play in the state championship game against South Florence in 2023 when he won it. Some of the plays he made in that game, you’re like, wow. He’s got a chance to be a really good player. He’s had a really good spring for us. I go back to some of the team stuff we do in the offseason, and just watching him in our team wiffleball tournament, you just see him in that in his ability to hit, his ability to pitch in wiffleball.

“He’s got something about him. There’s no question about it. Certainly, there are plays he’d like to have back tonight, but he’s got a chance to be a really good player. And he just enjoys being out there. He’s always got a smile on his face. And I was telling somebody last week that for about 20 plays, we made the quarterbacks live in our scrimmage last week, where they could be tackled. And here’s a guy fresh out of high school going against the SEC defense, knowing he’s about to get hit by Dylan Stewart and these guys. And he’s just out there smiling and having the time of his life last week. So he has fun playing the game. Excited about his progress this spring, and all those quarterbacks as well.”

Is Luke Doty really vying for that backup quarterback job right now?

“Absolutely.”

What did you like from Doty’s performance tonight?

“Luke’s had a really good spring. He’s just a really good football player. He’s a great teammate, he’s a great leader. He makes our team better, whether he’s playing receiver, whether he’s playing special teams, or whether he’s playing quarterback, he makes us better. I’m glad he came back. Here’s a guy that he wants to be a Gamecock and never hesitated if he wanted to come back. And he’s just having a lot of fun. He and I talked about it today. He’s just having fun. He knows this is kind of his last go-around. He brings confidence to the team. I mean, even yesterday, we had a little period where he’s out there, like, literally in the middle of the play, while the play is going on. He’s talking junk to the defense, like literally, while the play is happening.

“He’s a high-energy guy, but he can make plays. He’s athletic, he’s improving as a passer. He knows he’s got to improve there, but he can get himself out of trouble, and he’s an athlete; he can create. Most importantly, he has experience, and the rest of that quarterback room is young. Dante Reno is in his second year in college. Air Noland is in his first year in college, counting his semester at Ohio State. Cutter Woods is in his first semester in college. Jimmy Francis is in his first or second year in college. Luke’s in his six, not his first as well, but he’s kind of the old guy. But he brings a quiet, confident, or not quiet, He brings a loud confidence to the team. Excited to see what the next step is for him.”

Stay on top of all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer today!

What did you see from the wide receivers tonight?

“Same thing with those guys that I said about Cutter, there’s some guys just, you know, elevate their games. And those receivers, a lot have elevated their games. And when the lights come on, those receivers are certainly one of them. They’ve really had a nice spring. Mike Furrey has done a great job with those guys and and they just continue to get better. LaNorris and I were talking about it this morning. You think about it, so many of our receivers weren’t even here for spring practice last year, meaning the ones we played with. Dalevon Campbell didn’t get here until the summertime. Nyck Harbor was running track. Dre Jacobs didn’t get here until the summertime. So the fact that he’s got all these receivers here, except for Donovan Murph, were here for spring practice. Those receivers certainly went through some growing pains, but they got better and they have a confidence about them.

“That was a big-time play that both those guys made as well, and they’ve been making plays like that all spring. We’re excited about that group and our receiver position. There’s more talent in that room right now than there’s ever been in my time here at Carolina, and that freshman class is impressive. And really, not just the receiving core freshman class, but the entire freshman class. I mean, you just go from offense to defense, the young guys we have. I mean, they had a really good spring. Shed Sarratt got an award tonight for being the newcomer of the spring. Anthony Addison, on defense, easily could have been that guy on defense. We gave it to Brandon Cisse as a transfer. But all these freshmen, they just they there’s a maturity about them, and they love to compete. And I think you see it sometimes in recruiting, sometimes some recruits are hesitant to go to a school like, oh my god, like you signed one or two or three receivers. We signed six last year, and not a single one of those guys said, ‘Oh man, you signed five other receivers. I’m going to go somewhere else.’ They all said, ‘Great, let’s go compete, and may the best man come out of this.’ And that’s refreshing to see. Sometimes you see that in recruiting, or recruits tell you, ‘You’ve got a lot of receivers in that room, coach,’ or ‘You’ve got a lot of DBs in that room, coach. I really like it, but I’m going to go somewhere else.’ And those guys didn’t. They’re like, great, the more, the better. And let’s go compete. And they’ve made each other better, and they’ve made the other players in their room, the returning guys, the other returning receivers, the older guys on the defensive line, the older guys in the secondary, all those freshmen that we’ve brought in have made the older guys better with the way that they’ve embraced competition here at Carolina.”

I know you mentioned the other day the idea of Mason Love doing the kicking, the punting, the holding, it’s doable in your eyes. After what you saw out of him tonight, I know it’s a spring game and the season still has a long way to go before it’s here, but do you feel more confident in the idea of him doing that?

“Yeah. 13 punts or whatever it is on the stat sheet wasn’t ideal, for sure. No, I do. He’s a guy who’s been around. He’s been in the program for a year now. He was behind and worked with Kai (Kroeger) and Alex (Herrera), and our other specialists last year. It was good to see him tonight make a field goal, have some nice punts. When I called them all out to, you know, get the team around them and try and create some pressure situations, he answered the call on that one. It’s doable.

“I wish I felt a little bit better about all of our specialists coming out of spring practice than I do. The fact of the matter is, we’re gonna have a new holder, we’re gonna have a new kicker, we’re gonna have a new punter, we’re gonna have a new snapper, we’re gonna have a new punt returner, we’re gonna have a new kickoff returner, and that’s concerning, and tonight didn’t help in some ways as well. They’re going to be fine as we go through the summer. We’ve got to certainly get that cleaned up. But in regards to your question about Mason, yeah, I mean, I think it’s doable. I know I told you it’s not ideal, and it’s not. I kind of wish you had one kicker, one punter. But we’ve done it in the past, and we’ll do what’s best for the team. But we’ll always be looking to see how we can, if there are other ways too. You want other guys to continue to come along, too. So that competition in that room is stiff, and they’re still competing as we come out of spring.”

What was your overall assessment of your defensive line today?

“I thought they were good, hard to tell. And then, like I said, when we did the draft, it was broken up. You had guys, you know, kind of everywhere. It’s basically a three-man rotation at defensive end on both teams and a three-man rotation a defensive tackle on both teams. So those guys were rolling out of there pretty consistently. Hard to say without watching the tape. I thought they flashed at times. Anthony Addison, as a young guy, can be a problem for offenses because he’s got great twitch and get-off. And I know he drew a couple, you know, he drew one holding penalty tonight on that last drive, and probably should have drawn another one. Noticed him a little bit.

“But overall, those guys have had a good spring. Obviously, you lose four defensive tackles in Boogie (Huntley), Tonka (Hemingway), T.J. (Sanders) and (DeAndre) Jules. Those are four big losses, and that’s a position that everybody is looking at. But I do feel better about that defensive tackle position coming out of spring than what I did going into it, and I feel like Rondo Porter and Nick Barrett and Gabe Brownlow-Dindy and Monkell (Goodwine) had a really good spring. Those guys have all done some nice things.”

How would you assess the running back room?

“They all did some good things. Right now, coming out of spring, if you said, ‘Okay, here’s your top five.’ It’s a combination of Oscar Adaway, Jawarn Howell, Matthew Fuller, Rahsul (Faison) and Bradley Dunn. Those are kind of our top five coming out of spring practice, and we’ll see how the summer shakes out. They’ve all done some good things. They all need to have a big summer.

“I noticed Matthew Fuller tonight. Matt’s going to be a good player for us. He’s a load. And when people try and tackle him, it feels and looks different the way he’s able to move the pile, for sure, and whatnot. But those guys are making each other better. Going back to the whole competition thing, that room is extremely competitive, and we’re really just kind of looking for one guy to take this thing and say, ‘I’m going to be the guy.’ And they’ve all flashed, but we just need to see that more consistently as we go through the summer.”

Is there any update on Jalon Kilgore, as he didn’t play tonight?

“He’s fine. That’s another one. He has a little bit of a lower-body injury. If we had played a game, he probably would have been fine, but he wanted to. But he just kind of said, ‘You know what? I don’t want to go into the summer and tweak a lower leg injury, or any lower body injury, anymore.’ We know what Jalen can do. And it gives those other nickels, Zahbari Sandy, Jaquel Holman, and Jackson Burger. Those were the three nickels tonight, and it gave them an opportunity to really play, which all three of those guys needed to.”

Are there any updates on some of the other guys who have maybe missed some time in the spring, like Nick Sharpe and Jaylen Brown?

“Not really. Nick will be fine. Just wasn’t able to finish the spring. Jaylen Brown, we’ll see, as we, you know, come out of spring into the summer, what his status is. And everyone else, other than I know, I mentioned it last night on the radio show, Ryan Brubaker would be the only one really, that I’d say is going to be doubtful for the entire season, and we’ll see how Jaylen progresses going into the summer.”

As somebody with that experience in that secondary, what has Brandon Cisse brought to that room?

“Yeah, he’s brought just a good mindset to that room. He’s just a really good football player. He loves the game. He’s a football junkie. He really is. He just loves the game. And I’m always getting text messages from him about the best DBs I’ve been around, or tell me about this DB that you coached, what made him great. Or I’ll get a text message early in the morning that he’s watching some NFL DB and asking questions about him. He just loves the game, and he’s passionate about being great. He can run. He’s one of the fastest players on our team. He’s really attacked the weight room and gotten stronger in his time here. He’s got position flexibility right now; he’s a corner, but he could play nickel if we needed him to. He’s got a burst, he’s physical, he’s good on special teams. He’s just a mature guy. He’s kind of got a pro mentality in everything that he does.”

I know you had the offensive line divided up tonight, but how do you feel about the offensive line coming out of the spring?

“I feel good. We have more depth there than we’ve had. We just kind of said, not drawn out of a hat, but let’s just get seven on both sides, seven on the Garnet, seven on the Black, and make sure we got enough tackles and we got five starters and two backups and just mix it up as well. And coming out of the spring, as you would say, here’s a depth chart little nugget. You’d say that Boaz Stanley, coming out of spring, would probably be the starting center for us. But we had him on the team that LaNorris wasn’t on tonight, so LaNorris had to get some work with Rodney Newsom in there tonight. So tonight was a little bit of a, not patchwork, but getting some guys in some different spots with different groups, because you need to develop that continuity with everybody up there.

“But I like the progress they’ve made. Like, Shed Sarratt was the newcomer of the year. He’s going to be a really good player for us. I mean, he’s a freshman that’s come in and has been really good from the time he got here. And then you’ve got guys like Markee (Anderson) and Tro (Baugh) and Tree (Babalade) that have been around here for what year three years now? Tree and Tro were starters two years ago, so you’ve got guys with experience. And then, you know, Josiah is in year two, Cason and Jatavius Shivers had a really good spring. Boaz and Rodney coming in. Nick was doing some good things before he got hurt as well. So overall, pleased with that group. And then that’s a position that I’m excited about just because of the athleticism. But you know, the month of May and the summer were critical for our offensive line last year, and it’s going to be critical for our offensive line this year, as those guys just continue to gel and come together as well.”

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!