Scott Davis: The Gamecocks have become America's Team

Scott Davis has followed South Carolina athletics for over 40 years and provides commentary from a fan perspective. He writes a weekly newsletter year-round (see below) and a column during football season that’s published each Monday on GamecockCentral.com.

We’re everywhere.

Everywhere I look, I see us. The world has become a mirror. The South Carolina Gamecocks are here, they’re there, and they’re everywhere.

After the Gamecock football team reeled off six straight wins to close the 2024 season, then became the darling of the national college football media (WTF???!!!), then got inevitably dissed by the College Football Playoff committee when it delivered its final list of 12 teams to play for the national championship, spawning outrage from sea to shining sea, it started to become harder and harder to avoid us.

I’m not even on social media, and even I couldn’t escape the avalanche: The memes, the video clips, the tweets, the Facebooks, the blogs, the podcasts, the pundits. Let me tell you something, man. If you want to reach the South Carolina Gamecocks right now, then you need to pull out a phone book and look for the number listed beside America’s Team.

Apologies to the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Braves, two franchises that have previously tried to claim that moniker.

America’s Team now resides in Columbia, South Carolina

Look, if you’re a freshman at South Carolina and you think it’s always been this way, I have some startling news for you: It has not always been this way. We’ve often flown so far under the radar that we were in the ocean.

Occasionally, during the long march of decades, there were blips. The 1984 Gamecock football team – which inexplicably started the season 9-0, rose to No. 2 in the national rankings and riveted the Palmetto State – picked up some buzz nationally, especially after South Carolina defeated Notre Dame in South Bend.

Steve Spurrier’s superstar-laden squads of the early ‘10s – featuring the likes of Jadeveon Clowney and Alshon Jeffery – attracted much notice, with Clowney’s “Hit” in a bowl game against Michigan overwhelming ESPN broadcasts for nearly a month after it happened.

But I don’t think it’s ever quite been like this.

The ’84 Black Magic team operated in a world that largely relied on next-day newspapers to tell the people what just happened in sports. The Clowney-Jeffery ‘Cocks existed within the social media realm, but it hadn’t quiiiiiite overtaken our hearts, minds, and souls in the way it has now.

This feels different. In fact, I’m having a little trouble keeping up with it all.

And I couldn’t be happier about it.

South Carolina Tsunami

There have been years – many, many years – when I’ve struggled to locate topics to write about each week after a South Carolina football season ends.

This has not been one of them.

Last week, the only struggling I did was in deciding between the 12 or so newsworthy stories I could have written about. Did I want to rehash the Gamecocks’ thrilling win over Clemson? Delve into high school recruiting news? Break down South Carolina’s Playoff snub? Tackle the Transfer Portal?

Folks, this university hired a new athletic director over a week ago to replace Gamecock legend Ray Tanner – something I’d have typically written 15,000 words on by now. I can’t get to it. How can I get to it?

Let me say that again: A new AD! This is a once-a-decade-or-so happening that will affect the future of sports at South Carolina…and it’s probably been the 14^th or 15^th most important storyline of the last month (and by the way, solid hire!)

Some years, a win over Clemson would have given us all we needed to talk about for the next six months. This year, it feels like nothing more than a cherry on top of a massive sundae.

America’s Team is a tornado of news right now, almost all of it good, exciting, interesting and even a little overwhelming. When I open my wallet to pull out a $20 bill these days, I’m starting to expect to find Shane Beamer’s face on it.

Just a couple of months ago, many of us were wondering about the direction of the program when the Gamecocks opened the season by barely surviving the Old Dominion Monarchs. Now?

The direction of the program seems limitless. And we belong to America.

I’m Dizzy

Something new and important seems to hit the wire by the hour.

The Gamecocks are headed to the Citrus Bowl.

Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains is leaving to coach App State…but hang on, it’s all good, because Mike Shula’s been promoted to OC and will maintain that sweet Shula-Sellers vibe we all enjoyed in ’24.

South Carolina put a bow on high school Signing Day by flipping a few targets.

Gamecock Central has introduced the wildly addictive Transfer Portal Tracker (which at this point might as well be downloaded directly into my brain).

Star defensive player Dylan Stewart announced he’d be returning to Columbia next season.

In the midst of all this, South Carolina’s 2025 schedule was released this week – something I also would have typically written 18-20 columns on by the end of the month.

It’s been a mind-boggling barrage of information. And it’s not even close to being over.

Transfer Portal Season has eclipsed high school recruiting as the discerning college fan’s winter obsession (and it’s no longer even close). Will the Gamecocks hold on to everybody they want to hold on to? Will they add difference-makers?

Bowl practice will be firing up soon enough.

Will the rest of the staff stay intact or will other schools try to poach some more coaches?

Then the College Football Playoff will arrive, which will kickstart yet another round of grousing amongst national analysts about South Carolina’s omission from the Round Robin via a deeply flawed selection process.

So I ask you, friend: How are you planning to keep up with all this?

You’ve still got Christmas on the horizon, and then New Year’s…and you’ve got to stay on top of everything that’s happening with America’s Team, too.

Can we handle it all?

Oh yeah.

Tell me how you’re feeling about America’s Team by writing me at [email protected].

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