Welcome to SEC Media Days 2023: Q & A

Gamecock Central has arrived in Nashville for SEC Media Days 2023.

Shane Beamer and South Carolina are set to make the rounds starting with a brief gaggle style press conference with a select group of local media. That will take place at 9:35 a.m. ET. From there, Beamer will start in the big room at 11:30 a.m. ET. Spencer Rattler, Tonka Hemingway, and Kai Kroeger with he first player scheduled to arrive in the big room at 12:15 p.m. ET.

For Beamer, this will be his third SEC Media Days with the Gamecocks. Yesterday, I asked on The Insider Forum and social media, what question would you ask Beamer tomorrow if you had the chance. While Beamer may not hit on every question that was asked, below are several that I answered.

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Q: Why do you think we are having such a hard time attracting Blue Chip RBs?

Uva: I don’t fully agree with that statement. Sure, there’s a lack of proven depth at RB this year but DJ Braswell is a 4-star, USC has already landed a 4-star RB for ‘24 (Matthew Fuller), and are the favorite according to On3’s RPM to land ‘24 4-star RB Daniel Hill.

Q: With USC being publicly stated as having the hardest schedule by many pundits, how do you as a coach discuss the expectations of this year with the team?

Uva: From covering Beamer going on year three, I’m sure he wouldn’t use the schedule as an excuse. That’s not just publicly but that’s with his team as well. If anything, he’ll remind them that’s why they wanted to come play at South Carolina. I never get why people act so surprised that USC’s schedule is always one of the toughest. They play in the SEC and they play Clemson every year.

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Q: Which position/position group do you see taking the biggest step forward from 2022?

Uva: Beamer might answer it differently but IMO it starts at TE & safety. To go from being as thin as USC was at TE in the bowl game to where they are now is tremendous and I think Trey Knox can be very special. At safety, Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith are a talented duo that have more experienced as they head into their sophomore year.

Q: How much money would it take to even the NIL scene with the rest of the SEC?

Uva: That’s hard to say, simply because there’s no cap limit for schools. I know this doesn’t answer your question probably the way you were looking for it to be addressed but there’s no such thing as having too much money in NIL. Each year, it’s gonna take a continued effort from the fanbase, to collectives, to the University. I used this analogy the other day, NIL is like a garden and you’re in the farming business. If things don’t turnout the way you wanted them to, giving up on it is only gonna make things worse. In addition, other farmers “schools” won’t stop working on making their garden better.

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Q: With the combination of NIL and a more open Transfer Portal, is recruiting becoming dirtier and tougher than ever? Is there more cheating, or less, with NIL and the Portal?

Uva: Yes. I know he’s a Clemson Tiger but Tajh Boyd and I talked about this a year ago. The reality is everything that was happening in the back door over the years is happening in the front. Because of that, it muddies the water as to what is legal and what isn’t.

Q: The LOS, both sides, got pushed around against a lot of teams last year. What have you done in the off-season, and what are you doing as the team is starting camp, to get get better up front?

Uva: There’s two ways to answer this. The first, and it’s the one that some don’t want to hear, is that the OL is a major question mark heading into the season. The second is that they have talent, they’ve recruited some elite OL, but as a core group they haven’t worked with each other before. On top of that, you have a new OL coach. DL-wise, they went out and brought in a talented transfer EDGE Jatius Geer and return a solid group of DT starting with Tonka Hemingway and ‘Boogie’ Huntley. They’ve also brought in Travian Robertson as their new DL coach. Robertson will certainly add a spark that this DL needs.

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