Gamecocks Connection: Mentality shift

Hey, I’m Chris Clark with GamecockCentral.com, and welcome to Gamecocks Connection.

This weekly newsletter will consist of a summary of some of the latest happenings in Gamecock Country and one “main idea” that’s on my mind. Plus, there will be some other goodies along the way.

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What’s on the docket today?

In the midst of a challenging season for the Gamecocks, let’s zoom out and look big picture.

USC fans are hungry to win in Columbia. I give some thoughts on what it will take.

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Get caught up.

A few quick things to know about your Gamecocks from the last few days.

🏈 Shane Beamer picked up his first commitment from the 2025 class on Thursday. He’s the brother of a current player.

🏈  Freshman DT Xzavier McLeod was dismissed from the South Carolina program.

⚾ 🏀 Mark Kingston provided an update on his shortstop battle. Lamont Parislikes his team chemistry after Garnet & Black Madness. Milaysia Fulwiley had a spectacular debut for Dawn Staley. 

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The main idea.

The Gamecocks have a great fan base.

In my view, the University of South Carolina is incredibly fortunate that these fans spend their time and money, year after year, including when the results are not the best, and keep coming back for more.

Those fans are hungry to get back to past successes. 

Many of them dream of what it would be like to go beyond that and capture a title, particularly in the sport of football. 

Why it has not happened in football would be best contained in a book, because it’s a long and complex list.

I have a few things on my mind that I wanted to point out, I few things I believe everyone in Columbia needs to shift the mentality on going forward.

A championship should be the goal.

College sports are meant to be fun, and even seasons that have been solid or bad for South Carolina in the past have produced some incredible moments. 

In the midst of a disappointing season, some USC fans have posited that programs like Duke and Washington State would beat the Gamecocks head to head and will have better years despite having less resources, less NIL.

That may be the case, but get back to me if one of those teams starts consistently winning its conference – or winning it all – and making the playoff.

You don’t scrap your way to a championship.

Championship aspirations require championship thinking. Don’t all USC fans want to win big one day?

I’ve often said that the “win anyway” mantra that’s been canonized in Columbia is great as a mentality. 

It’s not a strategy, though. 

Championships don’t happen by accident. You get out what you put in as a program, and sometimes you put in and still don’t get the result that you want.

In my view, the University must do a deep dive and ask a key question: do we want to win big, or are we content not winning big?

If the goal’s to win big, a follow-up question has to be asked: are we as good as we can be in all areas, given our resources? If the answer is no, why not? 

The same goes for all of USC’s head coaches in terms of staff and support.

Players are the most important thing.

There’s been a lot of attention on coaching lately. And absolutely, it matters.

Steve Spurrier was a great coach at Duke, Florida, and South Carolina. His best teams in Columbia, though, were loaded with NFL talent. 

And even the HBC didn’t win a title at South Carolina, as many wonderful things as he did.

 Spurrier had some good players when he arrived, pulled some upsets, but didn’t have great teams until great players started arriving. When the amount of those great players diminished (and yes, some of Spurrier’s coaches also changed), things fell off. 

These things are not coincidences.

If you want to compete at a high level, you need high level things. That means great players first and foremost, then coaching and development. 

There’s never been a team that’s won a title in college football that hasn’t been absolutely loaded with talent. Again, you don’t scrap your way to a title. 

Adjusting to a new era.

My main takeaway from the NIL space after studying it for over two years is that there needs to be a lot more education. Many folks just don’t understand how it works, what it is and is not, and why it’s important in recruiting.

If I’m being brutally honest, there’s a segment of folks that have their heads buried in the sand when it comes to the importance of NIL.

It’s hard to imagine why the idea that NIL is critical in recruiting nowadays has any controversy at all attached to it. Nobody has ever argued that having excellent facilities, coaching, tradition, fan base, location, and education weigh heavily into decisions as to where prospects attend.

And most folks are aware of the concept of programs “doing NIL” before it was called NIL. It was effective then, and it’s still effective now that it’s legal. 

And in a department that literally allows players to put some money in their pocket, it would be silly to think that South Carolina can compete with its counterparts if not on at least a level playing field.

USC has made some strides in this department, but is still behind many of his counterparts.

The places that successfully navigate and take advantage of this new era that thrive. The ones that don’t?

They won’t be lifting trophies anytime soon.

Have thoughts on this? Agree/disagree? Hit me via email: [email protected] or come on over to The Insiders Forumand let’s discuss!

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The first is a reboot of the popular “Bluff Road Football Club” shirt, designed by SC native and Gamecock superfan Kev Roche. (You may have seen his work on ESPN’s baseball broadcasts). This shirt is available in charcoal or gray

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