Here are five of the biggest items on new Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer’s to-do list
South Carolina football has a familiar face as its new head coach, as the Gamecocks welcome Shane Beamer back to Columbia after a decade away from the program.
But the USC that Beamer left in 2010 is far different from the team he takes over in 2020. Carolina is coming off a combined 6-16 record the past two seasons, and Beamer will have plenty to do in rebuilding the Gamecocks. Here are five things that are likely to be near the top of his list.
Sort out the QB situation
South Carolina has three quarterbacks with starting experience on its roster at the moment — graduate transfer Collin Hill, sophomore Ryan Hilinski and freshman Luke Doty. That is, almost without doubt, untenable in the long term. It’s just how college football works now; if a highly regarded QB doesn’t see a clear path to the starting job, a transfer is almost certainly in the cards.
Hill got the majority of starts this year after coming over from Colorado State with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, but he was benched late in the season after struggling. He didn’t participate in Senior Day festivities, though, and has the option to return. Hilinski stuck it out through a long season on the bench after getting 11 starts last year, but the former four-star prospect would almost certainly be pursued on the transfer market. Doty played two and a half games to close the season and didn’t blow anyone away, but he brings an intriguing dual-threat skill set to the table and is perhaps easiest to project growth for.
Right away, Beamer will have to meet with all three and see if anyone is leaning toward staying and who might want to leave. And a lot of that will likely have to do with the impression he gives them of what kind of offense he wants to run and which QB he sees as the best fit for that system. And speaking of an offensive system ...
Identify his coordinators — and his scheme
Beamer has coached on both sides of the ball, worked as a recruiting coordinator and served as an assistant head coach. But he has never been a head coach himself, much less an offensive or defensive coordinator or a play-caller. That’s not a criticism, just a plain truth. Not having prior coordinator or head coaching experience has worked out well for Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, and the early returns are good for Sam Pittman at Arkansas.
But that does put pressure on Beamer to hire the right guys to oversee his offense and defense. We’ve never seen his own football philosophies at work, but he certainly has them, and he needs to find talented, experienced fits to carry them out and bring their own ideas to the table. Will Muschamp cycled through three offensive coordinators in five years at USC and never established a clear identity on that side of the ball. Beamer needs an OC with whom he can form a strong identity and foundation for the program’s on-field play.
Run triage on the 2021 recruiting class
Even before Muschamp was fired, the 2021 recruiting class wasn’t looking all that hot for South Carolina. The Gamecocks were stuck outside the top 40 of the 247Sports Composite team rankings, with just one four-star commit. After Muschamp’s departure, though, things quickly spiraled, as they tend to do after a coaching change. Six decommitments later, including some of the best players in the class, and USC’s 2021 group is ranked as one of the worst in the Power 5.
From a numbers standpoint, South Carolina’s 10 current commits are not enough. Beamer won’t have a lot of time before the early signing period begins Dec. 16 to try to add to the class — expect him to be active around the later, more traditional signing day in February, searching for talent.
Manage the transfer portal
With the NCAA expected to approve a one-time transfer waiver in January, the transfer portal seems like a perfect way for Beamer to seek out talented players hungry for playing time.
At the same time, he’ll have work to do prevent a mass exodus of the current players. And with the state of the 2021 recruiting class, the scholarship numbers are bound to get a little tricky, too. Beamer will have to pull off an incredibly complex balancing act to put together a solid roster or risk setting the Gamecocks back several seasons while he works to retool his personnel.
Bridge the gaps
In the aftermath of Muschamp’s firing, you had several of his former players openly feuding with the fan base and, in a couple cases, other former players. It was, all in all, a bad look for the program, one that other programs can use to recruit against the Gamecocks. Given the on-field struggles USC has had the past two years, it can ill afford to have off-the-field stuff going against the school as well.
One of the reasons Beamer got the job was because of the massive amount of support he had among alums of the program, especially those who played under him and coach Steve Spurrier. But the roster he’s taking over is comprised of players Muschamp recruited. Winning them over, building unity between the program’s past and present and encouraging a better relationship between the players and the fans all matter, because they all help with recruiting.
This story was originally published December 6, 2020 at 5:45 PM.
