Some wanted USC’s Clayton White, Luke Day fired a year ago. Beamer’s glad he kept them
Perhaps it is best to stay in the moment after nights like Saturday, as South Carolina’s 44-20 upset over No. 10 Texas A&M and the ensuing field rush are still sinking in.
But, sometimes the present is best contextualized by the past.
So let’s go back a year. This time in 2023, the Gamecocks were 2-6 and borderline noncompetitive with SEC teams. The defense had given up 30 or more points in five straight games and USC’s offensive line was basically a MASH unit, without 10 injured offensive linemen (seven on scholarship).
Fans did not just want answers, but heads. At this point last season, it was realistic to think head coach Shane Beamer might part ways with defensive coordinator Clayton White and head strength coach Luke Day at season’s end.
On a conference call Sunday afternoon, Beamer acknowledged he’d heard the chatter, heard the calls for canning White and Day.
“I’m not naive,” Beamer said.
He of course held onto both coaches not and, as poet Robert Frost once wrote, that has made all the difference.
“I’d say I made the right decision not making those decisions that a lot of people thought I should have,” Beamer said, “which was never even in consideration in my mind.”
The ascension of White has been in the spotlight this season, but it really began November 2023. If you remember, all the rage was that White was calling more of the 3-3-5 formation, a notion that he constantly tried to downplay, saying the Gamecocks have always used it.
Perhaps, but South Carolina gave up almost 20 points fewer in November of last year than it did in October.
And this season, perhaps aided by newcomers like Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart, White has guided possibly the best pass rush in the SEC. Heck, one of the best overall defenses in the conference. Folks have seen that week in and week out, and it might lead to White getting head coach interest this offseason.
What you don’t see is anything Day and his strength staff do behind the scenes. And, one would assume they are just fine hanging in the shadows. Strength coaches share company with referees: People only look at them when things go south.
The injury pileups last season, to most, fell past the point of coincidence — which meant fans pointed to Day because, well, if you’re gonna point to anyone, it’s him. But how many injuries were because Day didn’t train his guys well enough versus an offensive lineman getting rolled up on? Who knows?
This season has almost fallen past the point of coincidence in terms of how healthy the Gamecocks have been. This past week, South Carolina had the smallest availability report in the SEC (two guys) and no starting Gamecock has (1.) been ruled out for the season, or (2.) missed a significant amount of time.
Even better: On Saturday, USC pushed around a Texas A&M team that folks seemed to only quantify in macho words: big, gritty, physical, tough. You would have thought they had Paul Bunyan playing linebacker.
South Carolina did not just beat them, but bulldozed the Aggies defense to the tune of 286 rushing yards and held their vaunted rushing attack in check. It didn’t hurt that A&M’s Le’Veon Moss, the SEC’s third leading rusher coming into the game, injured his knee early in the first half and didn’t return.
“We were the more physical team last night,” Beamer said. “I certainly, maybe, was in Luke Day and our strength coaches’ ears all week about how good A&M’s strength coach (Tommy Moffitt) is coming in here and hopefully we could match up. So we were motivating the strength staff this week.”
You could say it worked, but that would be discounting what the strength staff has done all year.
Over the offseason, Beamer said, he wanted Day to do a better job explaining the “why” to South Carolina’s players. Why are they doing this lift? Why are they on this plan? Why is a certain stretch necessary?
“We want it to be hard and rugged,” Beamer said. “But we also want to make sure we’re preparing ourselves for a 12-game season in this conference.”
Through eight, the plan is looking good.
