Shane Beamer addresses why South Carolina can win more heading into fourth year

Talk is cheap. At the end of the day, it all comes down to winning and losing.

In Shane Beamer’s three years at South Carolina, there has certainly been some success. A seven-win season right out of the gate, followed by eight wins with two coming against top 10 foes in the home stretch. But year three was a step back after winning five games and missing a bowl game for the first time in his tenure.

Now entering his fourth season, one could argue this will be his most important year as head coach. Beamer is certainly a likable person and coach in college football. But what will it take to lead the Gamecocks to more wins, or do the trends from last year continue? It’s a fair question that SEC Network analyst Roman Harper had for Beamer at SEC Media Days on Monday.

“I know it’s cliché, just continue to try and make our program better each and every day — starts in recruiting,” Beamer said on SEC Now. “I said it up there on the main stage a little bit ago, we’ve had the two best years of recruiting if you look at the rankings we’ve had since Coach (Steve) Spurrier was the head coach. We’ve made progress there. We’ve got great young talent.”

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In terms of recruiting, South Carolina has done a fine job bringing in talent. The Gamecocks have the 19th-best recruiting class in the country for 2024, according to On3, with a 90.29 average rating.

And with 16 total commits, nine of which are four-stars, that should help plenty for the future. Couple that with some solid transfers and key returners, there’s potential to get back on track sooner rather than later.

But talent is just one piece to the puzzle. It also comes down to execution in games and doing everything needed to win each week. South Carolina has shown it can do that in the past under Beamer. However, the Gamecocks had opportunities last season but couldn’t find consistency. That’s what Beamer will be looking for this year.

“We’ve had some great moments in the first couple years, we’ve had some big time wins. There’s more of those coming,” he said. “And looking at last season, okay, those aren’t the expectations. How do we adjust and be better? I feel like we’ve done that. But to me, it starts with the players.”

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Since the end of last season, Beamer has been able to tell there’s a much different vibe heading into 2024. The expectations are higher this year, he said. The impact of a losing season and missing a bowl game runs deep. It’s a feeling no player wants to go through again.

“(The players) have come to me on more than one occasion going back to January like, ‘Coach, the goal is not to just get bowl eligible around here. The goal is to compete for championships. And if we’re not talking about that, then what are we doing?’ That’s their mindset,” Beamer said.

“And I’ve told them, okay, that’s great you feel that way, but there’s a standard you have to hold yourself to each and every day in order to do that. So that’s what we’re trying to do. High expectations.”

Much like years prior, the schedule is tough. But then again, it’s the SEC and that’s always how it’s been for everyone in the conference. Despite how many will project South Carolina to do this season, Beamer knows he has the right team in place to win plenty of games.

“There’s no ceiling at our place. We’ve made a lot of progress,” Beamer said. “Record wise, last year wasn’t what we wanted, but I truly, truly believe that we’ve grown from that and we’re better for it what we went through last season.”

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