What upward trajectory for Shane Beamer, Spencer Rattler means for South Carolina
South Carolina has had two winning seasons in Shane Beamer’s first two years as head football coach. What can the Gamecocks do in 2023?
The State asked a handful of national writers and pundits at SEC Media Days about the outlook for USC this season. Here’s what they said about what Beamer and quarterback Spencer Rattler mean for the Gamecocks’ outlook.
What do you think is the perception of Shane Beamer and the job he’s done in two years in Columbia?
Andy Staples, On3: “I think (he’s done) a very good job and I think basically everywhere Shane has worked, they understand how he operates. That’s why when Oklahoma was looking to replace Lincoln Riley, there were feelers put out about Shane. They were going for Brent Venables, but Shane was a guy that they definitely vetted and wanted to make sure if that job wound up being open or somebody didn’t take it, then he might’ve. And I think he’s done nothing since he’s gotten (the South Carolina) job to dissuade anyone from thinking, ‘Hey, this is a guy who could be really good for a long time, because he’s still young, he gets this new era of college football.’
“I think that the way he manages his team, the way he coaches players could be helpful to him in this era, because he’s not a guy who I think a lot of players are gonna get to the campus and be like, ‘Oh, this isn’t what I signed up for,’ and then they leave. I just don’t think he’s gonna be like that. He’s going to try to try to create an atmosphere that players enjoy playing in, where they’re working hard, having fun. And I think they’re in a good spot you need for the future, because he’s the type of coach that you’re going to need as this era evolves.”
Brandon Marcello, 247Sports: “I think that he’s in a position where with the SEC changing and the divisions going away, making sure South Carolina is above the fold in the new, division-less SEC — above the No. 8 spot going in.
“As one coach at Media Days mentioned, if you’re in the upper half of the SEC, all you really need is a break or two and you’re going to end up being in the College Football Playoff when it goes to 12 teams. South Carolina, I think. is on that trajectory and in that position. I don’t think it’s just preseason hope and hype. I think it’s legitimate that South Carolina can be one of those teams that with a break or two could be in the playoffs in the next three years.”
Blake Toppmeyer, USA Today: “One, it seems like guys would play really hard for him, which maybe sounds basic, but I don’t know that every coach can do that. I think the way they get up for big games proves that he’s probably pretty good at motivating his guys. And then, two, I think what people thought coming in was Shane Beamer is going to be a good recruiter. The questions were more, ‘Would he be a good coach?’ I think he has proven the idea that he is a good recruiter. I think we’ve seen South Carolina’s recruiting be pretty robust. I think particularly when you kind of consider who they are under past standards and that type of thing. I think that’s got some momentum to it, which again, I think sort of matches the front-end perception.
“I think with wins against Tennessee and Clemson, he’s also proved that he can go back it up as a coach on the sideline. Again, the question I would have is, ‘Can you get that consistency factor?’ ”
Matt Fortuna, national college football reporter: “It’s huge to do it back-to-back like that. The Clemson game — when you tell your readers how big that is, how nasty that rivalry is and and what it means — to end your season with a win, to snap a losing streak against a program that until recently was operating on a level like few others, I think it’s really big.
“I got a kick out of the Orange Bowl where a South Carolina fan paid for a plane banner to go over the stadium and say, ‘Sorry for knocking you out of the playoffs.’ It’s good marketing, right? I wasn’t sitting around watching that game thinking, ‘Oh, yeah, if not for South Carolina, these two teams would be in the playoff.’ But that’s exactly what happened.
“I think that fan base and obviously that coach have done a good job of capitalizing on that kind of momentum. And Spencer Rattler, if he can continue to build on last year, they could have a very special season.”
Spencer Rattler is back. What do you think of his return and what can he bring to South Carolina?
Andy Staples, On3: “I think that we as people who watch college football and talk about college football lumped a lot of unfair expectations on him going into that third year at Oklahoma. A lot of people would never recover from that. It’s nice to see that he’s been able to not only recover from that, but thrive. I’m excited to see what he does, because I thought the way he ended last season, he looked much more confident. Shane will tell you that he was making all those throws in practice the whole time. Then they started showing up to the games. If they start showing up in the games from Week 1, it makes it easy.”
Brandon Marcello, 247Sports: “Spencer got a bad rap at OU he didn’t deserve. And even in the first half of the season last year in South Carolina I was like, ‘Oh, maybe Spencer really isn’t elite.’ But it was actually the offensive line. And then you saw him rally that entire team and he made the players around him better. That’s what elite quarterbacks do and I think Spencer Rattler is an elite quarterback.
“I think he needs more consistent play around him to see his full potential at Carolina. Is it this season? No, because I think South Carolina is still two years away from being able to have those pieces around the quarterback to say that guy is a lead and that we say he’s maybe one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the conference.”
Blake Toppmeyer, USA Today: “I remain bullish about his talent level. Much like the team I think we saw that came together in the big moments against Tennessee, against Clemson and also sort of mirroring the team narrative for him, I think it’s still about finding consistency.
“I will say though, at times I kind of felt like Spencer Rattler had to play with one hand behind his back last year. Because I thought in certain games South Carolina’s offensive line deficiencies were exposed. There’s no way to not pair that with a quarterback’s performance. When I wonder what the ceiling is for Spencer Rattler this season, I also sort of marry that to what is the ceiling for South Carolina’s offensive line? They go hand-in-hand.”
Matt Fortuna, national college football reporter: “New OC, so you wonder if there’ll be a learning curve there. But it helps to have a returning veteran starting quarterback, a guy who was playing his best ball down the stretch last year. (He’s) a guy who in this era of instant gratification and NIL … I mean, he was such a popular high school player that it was very easy early in his career to view him as a bust — and he’s not a bust.
“Not all paths are linear. I look at Kenny Pickett, right, a guy who took advantage of that extra COVID year and became a first-round pick and Heisman finalists after being fine. He wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t a guy who was on anyone’s radar, who’s kind of forgotten about. I see similarities to Spencer Rattler. I’m not predicting Heisman or anything like that, but he has a chance to be one of the better quarterbacks in the country. In a sport that’s been as volatile as this one has been — I think 23 Power Five programs are going to probably be starting quarterbacks who started at another Power Five program — he’s about as consistent, as sure a thing, as known a commodity as there is.”
