Shane Beamer reacts to South Carolina’s O-line exodus: ‘We needed to get better’
South Carolina football has faced a mass exodus in the offensive line room.
As of Saturday, six Gamecocks scholarship offensive linemen have announced their intention to enter the portal or reportedly will do so.
Josiah Thompson on Saturday became the most recent South Carolina O-lineman to announce plans to transfer. Thompson is joined in the portal by Boaz Stanley, Rodney Newsom Jr., Nick Sharpe, Trovon Baugh, Cason Henry and Tree Babalade.
It begs the question: Why are so many offensive linemen leaving?
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer told reporters Friday that it was something he wasn’t surprised to see. Beamer hinted USC may have encouraged some of the departures.
“We knew we needed to get better,” Beamer said in a news conference. “Look, it is what it is. When you go 4-8, I think we gave up (43) sacks, if I’m not mistaken, it’s hard to say that we played great up front. It is what it is.”
All of the departing players started at least three games for USC in 2025, led by Thompson (12 starts at left tackle), Baugh (11 starts at right guard) and Stanley (nine starts at center).
The Gamecocks will return two of the nine offensive linemen who started for them in 2025: freshman Shed Sarratt Jr. (nine starts) and senior Nolan Hay (two starts).
USC’s sack numbers among worst nationally
To Beamer’s point, the Gamecocks offensive line was disappointing last year, although it dealt with injuries and various changes in starters throughout the year. South Carolina allowed 43 sacks in 2025, which ranked No. 132 in the country, and 3.58 sacks per game, which ranked 133rd.
The Gamecocks’ 358 yards lost on sacks were No. 135 out of 136 FBS teams, only trailing Troy. Those numbers would’ve been higher if it wasn’t for starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers, an elite runner, making rushers miss every game.
Granted, those stats aren’t entirely on the O-line, Beamer said.
“You guys have heard me say before, guys see a quarterback gets sacked and they automatically want to blame the offensive line,” Beamer said. “I’m not saying that. A lot of our sacks were on the quarterback. A lot of our sacks were on the running backs. A lot of our sacks were on tight ends and receivers, we all had a hand in it. But, it’s hard to say that everything was great when we didn’t play well enough.”
New OL coach Randy Clements’ role in personnel
Beamer tabbed a new coach to lead the offensive line last month in Randy Clements. The coaching veteran comes to Columbia from TCU with new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles. Clements replaces Lonnie Teasley, who was fired mid-season.
Clements’ hire played somewhat of a role in the personnel change in the offensive line room, but Beamer stressed he didn’t give Clements orders to “take a grenade to the room and just remake the whole thing.”
“I knew there was going to be somewhat of a reset,” Beamer said. “I knew there was going to be a new offensive line coach coming in here that was going to be able to really shape that room the way they needed to. I wasn’t sitting in there saying, ‘We need to blow the whole thing up.’ ... We’ve got to be able to practice, too. Everybody in America wants offensive linemen. We’re no different. We just can’t say everybody hit the road and we’re going to remake the whole room.”
The transfer portal officially opened Friday, and players can enter through Jan. 16. South Carolina will likely be major players in the offensive line portal market in the coming weeks.
“We’ve got some really good players in that room, some really talented players in that room, that we need to continue to coach up even better than what we have,” Beamer said. “We’ve got guys in that room that were recruited by every school in America, and I’m excited about those guys.”
