The best-case scenario for Shane Beamer, Gamecocks in 2022 is ...
We asked a collection of SEC journalists for their take on the state of the South Carolina football program heading into the 2022 season.
Here, they address the perception of head coach Shane Beamer as he enters Year 2 with the program, as well as the expectations for a higher SEC East finish in 2022.
What is the feeling on Shane Beamer after his inaugural year?
——Tony Barnhart, “Mr CFB” and longtime college sportswriter——
“You’ve set the bar here and said, ‘We can win here. We know what we’re doing. Now let’s go recruiting. Let’s go get us some players.’ ... You’re playing in the same division with Georgia. I think Tennessee is going to be an improved team. I think Florida’s got a pretty good roster. But the point is, South Carolina should be competitive in all those games. And I think that’s what you look for in the second year.
“Is it clear that the team is well-coached and they know what they’re doing? You add some talent. You add a super athletic guy like Spencer Rattler. What do you do with him? Are you more dynamic offensively than last year when you played 13 quarterbacks? What is that going to be like? If I’m a South Carolina fan, I’m looking for all those things. But I just want to feel like we’re better.”
——Andy Staples, The Athletic——
“I think it bumps them up, but hopefully South Carolina fans have learned something from 2014 and 2015, and that this is not a program that should have super high expectations because it will break your heart.
“It’s the hope that kills you. They’re better laying in the weeds. But it’s not a place where you can’t win. It is a place where you can win double-digit games, but a lot of things have to go right. And I think you look at the way they’ve managed it, I think they’ve done a really good job and they’ve upgraded the talent on the roster and faster than I thought they’d be able to.
“I think the transfer portal era will be good for coaches like Shane Beamer who run programs that guys enjoy playing in. I think people forget how much that matters. When you can just transfer at the drop of a hat maybe being somewhat likable as a coach is a good thing. I think Shane’s got the right attitude and the right personality for this new era. I think that’s going to help them a lot.
“I think that’s going to help them not just get more good players, but retain the good players they have. Because there will be opportunities If you blow up a South Carolina. There are going to be opportunities to go somewhere else that may be a little higher profile, but the people who are happy and playing in the SEC already, most of them aren’t gonna leave.”
——Connor O’Gara, Saturday Down South——
“I’d love to see a poll of teams who win a bowl game or win multiple games that they’re not expected to late in the year and see how often that translates into sky-high expectations next year. I think expectations for South Carolina fans are pretty much in check, though. I don’t see South Carolina fans predicting an SEC East title, which is, I mean, given the nature of the division and how top-heavy it is, that’s good. That’s wise for their long-term and short-term health not to do that.
“But I think that changed what we thought was possible when they went out and they beat Florida, when they went out and they beat an Auburn team that obviously was reeling. And we look at that win a little bit differently now. But then (beating) a North Carolina team that came into the season as a top-10 team with arguably the best quarterback in college football on their roster, I think it set expectations high. But, at the same time, I think South Carolina fans are more just trying to savor this very innocent time that they have not had too much in the 21st century.”
——John Talty, AL.com——
“I think it’s almost unfair to when you do better Year 1, people expect that. Nobody thinks, ‘OK, let’s do exactly what we just did the year before.’ You always want more. That’s going to be the tough thing for Shane — How do you level up?
“I would think it played a role in getting rattler (to South Carolina) — exceeding expectations. I think you want to see more. I think they had some good wins last year. Can you add another win over a marquee or established program?... It feels like it’s a program on the rise within the SEC, just now is when it gets hard.”
What’s the best-case scenario for South Carolina in 2022?
——Barnhart——
“I‘d have to look at their schedule, but I’m thinking playing in that division — obviously you’ve got to play Clemson at the end of the year. That’s a tough game. You’ve got to play Georgia. You’ve got to play Tennessee. You’ve got to play Florida. You’ve got to play Kentucky. Mark Stoops has done an incredible job at Kentucky. And so I think another winning season and another bowl sounds about right for South Carolina.”
——Andy Staples, The Athletic——
“I think second place in the SEC is very much up for grabs. I think probably most people are looking at Kentucky as that team that will kind of fall behind Georgia. But that’s not guaranteed because they’re changing OCs, Wan’Dale Robinson leaving, I think, changes their playmaking ability on offense.
“Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee are all looking at that going, ‘All right. This feels like an opportunity.’ And it’s just a matter of who decides to grab that opportunity. I think all of them are positioned to do it. All of them expect to do it. The problem is, only one of them is going to actually pull it off.”
——Connor O’Gara, Saturday Down South——
“Best-case scenario is a little bit of last year. It’s winning a couple games that you don’t think you’re supposed to. Best-case scenario isn’t saying, ‘We’re still in the SEC East hunt late in November.’ I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s winning those games on the schedule in which you’re like, ‘Oh, huh, how about that? That’s a legitimate upset.’
“I think getting into the Top 25 and staying there for multiple weeks would be a sign of tremendous progress. We forget how you infrequently that’s really been in the post-Steve Spurrier era. That’s the thing that I think would kind of change the way that people think about South Carolina.
“I think a lot of people within the SEC are kind of on notice about South Carolina. They watched what Shane Beamer did from afar. They’re like, ‘All right South Carolina. Good for you.’ Nationally speaking, I think that’s a different conversation. That takes time.
“If you revert back to this five-, six-win team that’s just competing for a chance to be able to play in the Birmingham Bowl on Wednesday at 12 o’clock, who’s gonna give a crap? But if you are able to have a couple of those wins that, in my opinion, just kind of make people go, ‘Huh, that’s not what I expected.’ ... Get to that eight-win mark in the regular season, that’s what I think can kind of change the impression of South Carolina maybe a little bit more reminiscent of what Arkansas was able to do last year.”
——John Talty, AL.com——
“The best case is eight, but that feels hard. If it all breaks right, I guess you could talk yourself into eight or nine. But also I feel like the floor is what like, five or six? It’s probably that range. A&M is really good, or at least should be. Georgia, Clemson — that’s three tough ones right there. Arkansas. Tennessee is better. Kentucky. Missouri gonna be desperate this year to win some games. This is the big-picture challenge.
“You can be a better team than you were a year ago and sometimes the record doesn’t seem as impressive. You don’t feel like you have that huge leap. That’s gonna be the big thing. Progress on paper — wins and losses — and also progress in what you’re seeing. That’ll be the interesting part of South Carolina.”
