USC ‘full speed ahead on 2026.’ Now Shane Beamer must prove 2025 was an aberration
Forgive Shane Beamer. What else is he supposed to say?
For weeks now, as it became a fact that the Gamecocks’ season — one that started with hope of 10 wins and a College Football Playoff berth — would not include a bowl game, the South Carolina head coach became more definitive about 2026.
It went from Beamer declaring he was going to fix things to, out of nowhere, telling everyone that the Gamecocks would be in the College Football Playoff hunt next season. Then, following South Carolina’s 28-14 loss to Clemson, he said this:
“I can one-billion percent promise you this: When we have a hell of a season in 2026,” Beamer said, “and when I’m doing this press conference after the Clemson game next year ... we’re gonna look back on this season and say, ‘It sucked going through it but, because of what we went through in ‘25, it led us to what we just did in ‘26.’
“I’m a million-percent confident in that.”
It feels like he’s going above and beyond with his public remarks to assure fans that everything is going to be OK — especially knowing that his name will appear on every “hot seat” list in the offseason.
Is the South Carolina football program actually going to be OK? Maybe. Maybe not.
Should Beamer be “one-billion percent” confident in a turnaround — especially after his team went 4-8 and looked helpless in almost every fourth quarter? Absolutely not. But what is he supposed to say?
Should he explain how a ton of unknowns and gambles need to work in South Carolina’s favor for a chance to even compete for its goals, let alone accomplish them? That plan doesn’t always work, either.
For as easy as it is to grow frustrated with Beamer telling fans how close his team is to success while loss after loss pile up, he’s sort of right. USC rarely got blown out in 2025 (with its most lopsided loss 31-7 to Vanderbilt).
The Gamecocks led Missouri, Alabama and Texas A&M in the fourth quarter. They lost each game, including the 27-point choke against the Aggies. Entering the final period, South Carolina trailed by a touchdown or less to LSU, Ole Miss and Clemson. It lost all of those games, too.
South Carolina only out-scored two opponents in the fourth quarter this year (Virginia Tech and Kentucky).
In so many ways, that was the difference. The 2024 South Carolina team, which went 9-4 and was on the verge of making the playoff, excelled late in games — specially toward the back-half of the season. This 2025 squad did not share that characteristic; and whether that’s a product of talent, leadership or coaching could be debated.
The Gamecocks entered the 2025 season with the hope that this could be one of those special years. You know, something akin to the 1984 campaign or what the Steve Spurrier-led teams did from 2010-2013. Instead, it might rival 2014 as the most-disappointing season of Gamecock football in recent memory.
Quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who had Heisman buzz in the preseason, regressed. Offensive coordinator Mike Shula, who Beamer promoted in the offseason, was fired mid-season. And in all the moments when South Carolina had a chance to win, the team lacked a hero.
And now Beamer has to fix it.
“We’re full speed ahead on 2026,” Beamer said. “I’m responsible and I’m gonna get it fixed so we’re never feeling this feeling again.” What’s ahead includes “making the moves and things that I have to do, not just with hiring staff, but adjustments we have to make so we’re never sitting here feeling this feeling again.”
That starts with retaining the current roster — headlined by Sellers, edge Dylan Stewart and wide receiver Nyck Harbor. Beamer noted that he’ll begin exit meetings with every player this coming week.
Also coming this week: The December signing period. The Gamecocks need to hold on to their 14 commitments, and it would certainly be a welcome bonus if they could flip one (or more) high-profile targets.
“I know it’s not a huge class, and that’s what you guys and the recruiting experts base the rankings on,” Beamer said, “but if you look at the average-star rating or whatever it is, we’ve got a Top-10 class.”
Then comes the staffing moves.
Of course, Beamer has to nail his offensive coordinator hire. What does that exactly look like? Well, the next offensive coordinator needs to, simply, be creative and innovative enough to score points against SEC defenses while developing the guys — specifically quarterbacks — already on the roster.
But the staffing changes also include finding an offensive line coach. Tight ends coach Shawn Elliott has been in that position since O-line coach Lonnie Teasley was fired. If Elliott gets the full-time OL gig, that would then open the tight ends job.
Will Beamer stop there? One has to imagine he’ll give thought to firing more assistant coaches after a season like this.
And once that’s all sorted out, the transfer portal will open on Jan. 2. The Gamecocks certainly don’t need to overhaul their roster with portal players, but they probably need to find five to eight starters through transfers.
If you think about the differences between the 2024 and 2025 Gamecocks, it’s hard to not look at the transfer impacts. In the former, the Gamecocks brought in guys like edge Kyle Kennard, LB Demetrius Knight, RB Rocket Sanders, OL Torricelli Simpkins, etc. Those were all-conference-caliber guys.
This season, South Carolina snagged a lot of good players. None were absolute game-changers.
The year prior to 2024, South Carolina was 5-7 and went back and forth between being atrocious on offense and abysmal on defense. It needed to replace its quarterback (Spencer Rattler) and top wide receiver (Xavier Legette) while improving a defense with a ton of questions.
And Beamer pulled it off.
And now the question becomes: Was 2024 or 2025 the fluke? We’ll find out in 2026.
This story was originally published November 30, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
