Everything Shane Beamer said at SEC Media Days on Monday

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer met with the local media on Monday at SEC Media Days in Atlanta. Here’s everything he had to say.

Do you have to address with the team on the fact that more people are talking about South Carolina and have higher expectations this year?

“Yeah, I think it’s just continuing to remind them that none of that matters. That really more so now than any other time in probably the history of college football, it’s truly year to year. There’s going to be high expectations for teams automatically every year, the ones that typically had a good season the year before and return their quarterback, there’s naturally going to be picked high. And we’re no different. We embrace those expectations, but it’s also understanding that right now, people are saying good things about us. Last year, when we were at this event in Dallas, nobody thought we were worth a crap and weren’t saying very good things about us. We didn’t listen to it then. We don’t need to be listening to it right now as well. It’s truly about playing the games and going into the new year every year.”

How do you balance all that went right last year, especially in November, with just how close you were to being in the College Football Playoff?

“Yeah, it’s realizing what a thin line it is between winning and losing. Everybody wants to talk about the two-point loss to Alabama and the three-point loss to LSU. Well, nobody talks about the four-point win against Old Dominion or the three-point win against Clemson or the four-point win against Missouri. So I think we had six games last year that came down to four points or less. So for me, it’s just understanding that every Saturday is a battle. Every Saturday, you’d better be at your best. And in this league, anybody can beat anybody on any Saturday. So it’s embracing things that we did well, but there are a lot of things that we need to improve on from last season, and we’ve spent a lot of time working on that so that we can be better in ’25.”

Is there a position group that you feel really confident in at this point in the year? Is there one that you’d like to see more of before the season gets going?

“No, I think it’s all so new in all those positions. Obviously feel better when you return a quarterback like LaNorris, and you’ve got, you know, older guys on your defense, like two of them that are here today. DQ Smith and Nick Barrett. Those are older guys that play a lot of football, so you feel good about those spots. But I think every position, whether it’s new freshmen that we’re going to be counting on or transfers that we’re going to be counting on, there are a lot of things that I’m excited about. But really excited about getting into August and seeing how they’ve improved this summer, and then going into the season and watching them take that next step.”

How do you sense LaNorris Sellers is handling the pressure coming into this season?

“Yeah, I think he’s handled it well. I don’t see it as pressure. I don’t know if he would either. There are a lot of expectations, but he’s earned that. He’s a heck of a quarterback. No disrespect to the other quarterbacks in this league, I wouldn’t trade ours for any of them, and there’s some great quarterbacks, don’t get me wrong, but I love our guys about. Obviously, as a player, who he is as a person, and his steadiness and his consistency, for as much as things have changed around him over the last year. He’s still the same person, as far as how he handles his business, his work ethic, the way he treats people and goes about things day to day. So that gives me a lot of confidence. I think he’s handled it well, and we don’t need him to be Superman. We’re gonna be better around him when you just look at our offense, with guys that we return and people that were that we brought in the depth that we’ve added at a lot of spots, and we need to continue to be great around him and confident that we will be.”

In what ways has Mike Shula made Sellers better?

“I think anytime you have a guy that’s coaching the position that actually has been in his shoes, literally, as an SEC starting quarterback, and the fact that Coach Shula has done that brings a perspective as well. His time in the NFL with other quarterbacks as well, similar to LaNorris, and you know, that’s one thing, just the perspective that he brings. But I think really, not just with LaNorris, but the whole offense, because LaNorris and Coach Shula had a good relationship last year, because he was in every quarterback meeting, he was on the sidelines with him, talking during games and looking at the iPad and all that as well. So they had a good relationship. And I think just with Mike, what he’s done just with the offensive staff in general, schematically, we haven’t changed a lot, but we’ve tweaked some things, certainly terminology-wise, and some of the stuff we’re doing in the run game and pass game. And hopefully, you know, streamline some things and make the whole offense better. Certainly, he and LaNorris’ relationship is only strengthened because of the extra time they’re not spending together.”

Are you still anticipating an answer on Rahsul Faison before the end of this month?

“Yeah, I am. I’m optimistic that it would be potentially this week. Jeremiah Donati has worked really, really hard on this. Our compliance people, the NCAA, they’ve been very forthcoming in their communication in regards to what they need and what they’re looking for and the issues. So it’s been a great process for us in regards to the communication back and forth. I wish we had an answer right now, but yeah, I’m optimistic that it’ll be sooner than later.”

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

What kind of things can you share about what the NCAA is looking for?

“I can’t. Just going back, he’s got a journey from when he left high school to how he got to South Carolina, and some of the steps along the way, just some questions they had about other schools that he’s been at.”

Is Isaiah Augustave cleared?

“Yes. He’s there. He came in on a visit, like on a Thursday, and as soon as he decided he wanted to come, it was, ‘How quickly can I get back?’ And he was literally back, I think the next Monday and has been full speed ahead since then.”

Can you give us an injury update on Michael Smith, David Bucey, and then is Chris Hatfield on campus yet?

“All those guys from that part of Savannah, that part of Georgia, they’re all really doing well. Mike missed spring practice, but really excited about him and his potential as a tight end in our offense. David’s fantastic, what a great person and player. He did a great job for us on special teams last year. He’s competing to be the starting safety alongside DQ Smith right now as well, and is doing a nice job. And then Chris got to campus. He wasn’t here for spring practice, but he got to campus in June, or excuse me, May, when we started summer school, and has really had a good summer and has shown that he belongs as well. He has a lot of athleticism and has done a great job in our summer workouts.”

With the three guys you brought here today, why were they the right choice to represent your program?

“Yeah, for one, they’ve played a lot of football for us, and I don’t take lightly who we bring here to represent our team. It’s a big deal to come to this. I know our players get excited to come to this as well. So we got a lot of guys that are certainly deserving, and when I started thinking about who to bring, those guys were the ones that came to the top. They’ve played a lot of football for us, and I’m big on that. I’m not big into bringing somebody here that’s never played a game in a South Carolina uniform. And y’all got mad at me two years ago that I didn’t bring Spencer. Well, he hadn’t played for South Carolina yet, and I said he’ll be here next year, and y’all laughed, and I brought him next year. But with these guys, they’ve played football for us. You guys that have covered us, most of y’all have remember two of these three guys had interceptions in the Gator Bowl against Notre Dame a couple years ago, our defensive tackle and DB.

“But they’re leaders on our team, probably first and foremost. Like their voices matter. When you ask the players on our team, who are the leaders, who do you respect, these three guys are going to be named right at the top for sure, just because of the kind of people they are. They’re older guys. Obviously, LaNorris is just in his third year of college football. Nick and DQ have been around here for a minute, and they’re leaders. They’re high-character guys. Nick’s at a position, defensive tackle, there’ll be a lot of questions about that today, losing the production that we lost at the tackle. Will we bring back a guy? He’s now the leader of that room, and this is a great opportunity for him this season and today in Atlanta. DQ, we lost, you know, other guys in that secondary. We bring back some great players, but DQ is the older guy in that room, and he’s a leader and a leader on our defense. And then LaNorris, obviously, you know, speaks for himself as the starting quarterback who is a leader on our football team as well. That’s probably the biggest thing there. Their voices matter on our team, and that’s why they need to be in Atlanta with us today.”

There was a rule change in the offseason about injuries. You were adamant about the need to make a change. So, what do you think it came to?

“You know, how it’s handled and how it’s operated, for sure. But I think something certainly needed to be done. Fans don’t want to see it. I don’t want to be out there for four hours at a football game. You guys don’t want to be covering a game for four hours and and that’s what was happening. In some instances last year, it was clear what was going on, and that’s not in the spirit of the game. So until something’s done to enforce it, it’s going to continue. And I think the commissioner or those people in college football saw that as well. So we’ll see what it looks like in ’25.”

There have also been some changes to doing the T signal in the end zone. What are your thoughts on that?

“That’s a signal for the return team to the return team. So it is what it is. I’m not gonna make a big deal about it, but I hate to see that something that was, it wasn’t trying to bend the rules, it wasn’t a rule, and it was something that, you know, we tried to take advantage of, and thinking the other team might stop running, and they did. We don’t coach our team to stop running in that instance. But we’ll figure it out. We’re always going to be on the cutting edge and stay ahead of things at South Carolina from a special team standpoint and figure out what the best way is.”

With Sellers’ fumbles from last year, do you feel like that’s something you’ve addressed and you feel like you’ve got a solution to with not just him but the whole offense?

“I sound like a broken record every year I come in here when I talk about how we’ve been so good at taking the ball away defensively, but we’ve got to be better at protecting the ball offensively. I feel like I say it every year. I do say it every year, and last year was no different. You go back to the question about close games as a difference in winning and losing games. Turnover margin. We fumbled the ball, had too many turnovers last year. So it’s really been a point of emphasis with the entire offense. When we go back and look at how we can be better at some things that we feel we emphasize and coach and teach ball security every day in practice.

“So we went back after last season and said, okay, how can we maybe implement some new drills and some new things that we’re doing in practice, looking at how some of the focus happened last year? So we changed some drills to emphasize it and maybe teach it a little bit better, so we’ll see how that goes. But then, certainly with LaNorris, I think that’ll just come from experience too, and understanding when the pocket does break down, being able to protect the ball like you’re supposed to, and how you’re taught to do. And I don’t want to take away his ability to improvise and make plays, because we saw a lot of that last year as well. But at the same time, we also got to protect the ball. That’s not just LaNorris, it’s back to the entire offense.”

When so many people go to the NFL in one draft class, how can that motivate this roster to see where those guys are and where they can possibly get to?

“Ultimately, when everybody comes to college, that’s their ultimate goal: to get a degree and then have a chance to go play professionally after college. You saw guys who did that. So certainly, when those guys leave, and guys that came in and developed as well at South Carolina. When you talk about guys who just got drafted, they weren’t very highly recruited here at South Carolina as a transfer. They weren’t very highly thought of as a transfer out there, and what they did in their time here at Carolina. So that’s great for our guys to see that they can come to South Carolina, you can develop and go accomplish your goals.

“And then when those guys come back, it was great when all the other NFL teams broke mini camp in mid-June, Tonka Hemingway was back in Columbia, Nick Emmanwori was back in Columbia, and TJ Sanders was back in Columbia. And they came back and they talked about how much they missed this place, how much they love their time here. They wanted to come back here when they had time off. And that’s great for our guys to see, too, to make them realize we’ve got a special thing going here in Columbia. These guys are coming back when they don’t have to. And then just realizing that the blueprint is there, just follow the blueprint that we have, and it’s down to players developing and us developing as a team, and winning football games and being able to go and accomplish their dreams at the next level.”

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!