Shane Beamer optimistic about direction of program after down season
Shane Beamer walked into his press conference with tears welling up in his eyes. The third-year head coach just suffered a tough loss to Clemson, ending the season one win short of bowl eligibility.
Beamer wasn’t the only emotional one. His players were going through it just as much as he was.
“All you had to do was be in the locker room right now with the young men in our program. That is a hurting bunch of players right now,” Beamer said. “And the comments that the seniors made to the returning players about the future and this program and what this program is about, I was extremely proud of them.”
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In short, this year wasn’t the best for South Carolina. The Gamecocks will finish under .500 (5-7, 3-5 SEC) for the first time under Beamer. For the most part, expectations were high after winning eight games a year ago. And the team ultimately fell short of meeting those goals.
But despite the tough end to the year, Beamer feels confident about what’s to come in the future. He said the state of the program is “as strong as it’s ever been.”
“We’ve got a hell of a recruiting class coming in here. We just started five true freshmen this year throughout the season,” Beamer said. “We went through some lumps this year, we lost 12 players to season ending injuries, six of which were offensive linemen. That’s not making excuses. It is what it is.”
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In this case, Beamer would be right to be optimistic with recruiting. South Carolina’s 2024 class is ranked 19th nationally with eight four-stars and one five-star player (Dylan Stewart) coming in next year.
“I don’t know if you saw before the game, the committed prospects that were out on the field with me. It’s a pretty freaking big time group of players that are coming in here next season,” he said.
Moving forward, Beamer hopes to continue to bring in top recruits year after year. He knows better than anyone that’s how to build a foundation. But to do that, the program needs to be better from a name, image and likeness perspective. That’s a big part of being able to compete in today’s game.
“I know people that are involved with that are working their butts off,” Beamer said. “We can offer guys a fantastic education, the opportunity to play SEC football, unbelievable city to go to school in and culture and program. That’s real and not fake.”
