What is the perception of South Carolina and Shane Beamer? National media figures weigh in

A year ago, Shane Beamer and South Carolina were the darlings of SEC Media Days.

After winning seven games in Beamer’s first season at South Carolina, the Gamecocks won eight games in 2022, wrapping up the regular season with wins against No. 5 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson. USC was on the up and up. Quarterback Spencer Rattler was returning to Columbia. The Gamecocks seemed to have the potential to take a massive leap back into the national landscape.

Instead, South Carolina went 5-7, with only one of those defeats (a 41-39 loss to Florida) coming by one score or less.

As Beamer enters his fourth year with a new quarterback and an overhauled roster that includes 25 transfers, we asked national writers, TV personalities and pundits at SEC Media Days for their perception of Beamer and the Gamecocks. Here’s what they said:

Andy Staples, On3 Sports: They need to show some growth. You know, they took a step back last year and they shouldn’t have. That’s that’s the thing, it looked pretty promising after 2022, And there were games that they had — like they should have beaten Florida and they didn’t. They gave up big plays and lost that game. (Winning that game) puts you in a bowl game. That gives you 15 extra practices. Can’t let that happen. So this year, I look at the Kentucky game (in Week 2) as huge for both teams, actually. I mean, for South Carolina, if you can go to Lexington and win right off the bat, that gives you huge confidence going into the rest of the schedule.

Alyssa Lang, ESPN/SEC Network: I think they’re in the perfect spot right now because they are maybe being overlooked because of what happened last year. There’s so many different faces at key positions — (quarterback) LaNorris Sellers, I think, is going to be a lot better than maybe some people are giving him credit for. Now it’s still a matter of putting it together — and for South Carolina, it’s a matter of staying healthy. So I look at this team and I say they’ve got a lot of really good pieces in place. How will those pieces fall together in a really tough conference schedule, a tough schedule, top to bottom? And can they stay healthy?

They’re doing everything right. It’s just a matter of taking that next step. They’re close. So I think that it’s a really good position to be in because nobody’s necessarily putting all this pressure on, “Oh, it’s gotta be at nine-, 10-win season.” No one is really talking about them. And that’s, I think, a good position for them to be in to surprise some people this year.

Ross Dellenger, Yahoo Sports: From the outside perspective, South Carolina is always going to be viewed a little bit in the middle, middle lower the pack of the SEC. It’s just kind of how it is. They probably don’t quite have the history of championships and success and all that stuff like some others. And, you know, I’m sure that makes it a little difficult, but what Shane has done there is pretty impressive. If you consistently win 8 or 9 games there, that’s a success and should be good enough for your fan base.

Josh Pate, 247Sports: I think everyone loves Shane — at least I really appreciate the energy they always give off. They’re really good and intentionally at messaging what goes into it. It’s not just you see the product at the end, they’re really good at showing you how the cake gets baked. I spent a lot of time up there this spring as well. There’s very little doubt the ingredients are right. There’s very little doubt that the recipe is right. It’s just that they’re not the only place that has it right.

(South Carolina) plays a lot of really good teams in this league. I was looking at the odds to win the national title the other day — seven of those top 20 teams are on South Carolina’s schedule. So how do you gauge success? Are you always exactly what your record says you are? I’ve always believed that’s kind of foolish in college football, but a lot of people don’t. ... But bounces of the ball in a game where you score in threes and sevens ultimately determines the difference between 6-6 and 9-3. And it feels like that’s where they floated for a couple of years now.