Shane Beamer's message to South Carolina fans ahead of 2024 season
After reaching bowl games in both of the first two years of the Shane Beamer era, South Carolina looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2023 season.
A year plagued by injuries and not capitalizing on key moments, the Gamecocks went (5-7) after going 15-11 in Beamer’s first two seasons in Columbia. Yet legendary college football coach Nick Saban believes that South Carolina isn’t as far off as some may believe they are. A sentiment that Beamer echoed on Thursday
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“I agree (with coach Saban) that we’re not that far off,” said Beamer, following the fourth annual Birdies with Beamer golf outing. “I said that in Dallas and I meant it. It’s not coach speech. It’s a thin line. You look at every game in this league. We’re in the toughest conference in America and every game in this league pretty much comes down to the fourth quarter. We’ve gotta find more ways to make plays in the fourth quarter than what we did last season and be able to finish games.”
The “what ifs” are what South Carolina will look to eliminate this season after not taking advantage of several key moments last year. One “if” that could’ve changed the way many are talking about the Gamecocks headings into this season was “if” they don’t lose contain on a safety blitz on fourth-down against Florida late in the game. South Carolina would’ve been bowl-eligible with that win with a chance to win a seventh game.
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While the past can’t be changed, the Gamecocks have focused heavily this offseason on being more prepared for those situations by adding several experienced players.
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“The way that we’ve recruited, the players that have come into our program from the transfer portal this year, we’re a year older. We went through some growing pains last season but I’m most excited because of the people that we have in our program. They’re hungry. They weren’t happy with what happened last season. We’ve got a core, core group of older players leaders that came back for another season because last season left a bad taste in their mouth. It wasn’t that they feel like they have something to prove. I think they realize how close we are.”
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With more proven talent and depth at multiple positions heading into fall camp, on both sides of the football, South Carolina has the pieces to surprise a lot of people in 2024. While that sounds great now during ” talking season,” ultimately, it’ll come down to executing better this season in those key moments.
“We’re not in for moral victories but you look at some of the things that we were able to do last season and that’s proof that we’re not that far off. Now we’ve got to coach better and play better but I feel like we’ve made the adjustments to take another step this year. I’m excited to get started with them.”
