Shane Beamer sends reminder to be patient with freshmen
South Carolina is coming off one of its most successful recruiting classes in recent years.
Their 2023 class features five-star ATH Nyckoles Harbor, four-star EDGE Desmond Umeozulu, four-star OL Markee Anderson, and four-star LB Grayson ‘Pup’ Howard. In fact, according to On3’s database 2023 marked the first time that the Gamecocks landed 50 percent or more blue chip prospects since 2014.
While there’s reason to be excited to see some of this young talent right away, Shane Beamer took a step back to put things into perspective.
[Win two FREE tickets to South Carolina vs. Furman from 107.5 The Game! 🏈]
“Everybody thinks that they’re gonna come in and, ‘I’m gonna play 40 plays, 50 plays, and I’m gonna be the man because there’s all these expectations,'” said Beamer. “We have a great freshmen class. Like every single one of them is going to be a great player here at Carolina but it’s okay — everybody on the outside expects you to be this mega star right now in game one. It’s okay if you’re not quite there. It’s our job as coaches to continue to bring you along and develop you. We’re gonna be a better team and you’re gonna be a better player in November than you are right now.”
With the Gamecocks being as young as they are, Beamer admitted during Carolina Calls on Wednesday that there could, “easily be 12 to 17 true freshmen that make the trip to Charlotte” next weekend. Of that group, “half or even more” could play meaningful snaps on offense and defense.
[GamecockCentral Business Network]
Naturally, fans are excited to see some these freshmen in action. Can you blame them? But again, it’s Week 1. And for some of these players they might not see the field much at all this season.
Top 10
- 1New
Jaxson Robinson injury
UK star to miss Tennessee game
- 2Trending
DJ Durkin
Auburn DC gets extension
- 3
AP Poll controversy
New Top 25 raises eyebrows
- 4
Penn State police warning
Saquon celebration triggers warning
- 5
Kai Trump
President's granddaughter holds $1.2M NIL Valuation
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“It’s okay if you’re not quite ready to go out there and play 50 plays against North Carolina next week. It’s okay if you’re not quite ready to go out there and play 20 plays. Because, I didn’t realize it, but we talked about it during a team meeting that O’Donnell Fortune, Jordan Strachan, (Alex) ‘Boogie’ Huntley, Spencer Rattler, Dakereon Joyner, Vershon Lee, Jakai Moore, all of those guys should be starters for us in game one and every single one of them redshirted.”
[Subscribe to GamecockCentral’s YouTube page]
One of the luxuries USC, and every team in college football has, is the ability to get players reps without burning a year of eligibility. Since 2018, players have been allowed to play in up to four games and still qualify for a redshirt season, maintaining four years of eligibility. Prior to 2018, if a player appeared for just one snap in a game, that could’ve cost a player an entire season of eligibility. That of course doesn’t include being granted a medical redshirt.
“Sometimes I think we as fans, sometimes as coaches, just understand they’re still 18-year-old young men and they’re working to get there. They have high expectations and they want to be great and it’s our job to help them get there.”
