Gamecocks Begin Spring Practice

SOUTH CAROLINA SPRING PREVIEW

Take it a step farther.

That’s the mantra that fifth-year head coach Shane Beamer has challenged his team with as they went through their off-season regimen in preparation for the 2025 campaign, 

Whether it be developing relationships, the way they train in the weight room, or the way they do things in the training room, Coach Beamer has pushed his troops to taken it another step farther in every aspect of their lives, both on and off the field, than what they did last season.

After a tremendous bounce-back season in 2024, one that saw the Gamecocks put together a six-game winning streak to end the regular season, falling just short in their claim for a spot in the college football playoffs en route to a nine-win campaign and a top-20 national finish, expectations are at a high level entering 2025.

Many of the nation’s prognosticators have the Gamecocks penciled in as a preseason top-15 caliber team, one that won’t be able to sneak up on anyone as they did in 2024 when they entered the season well under the radar.

Coach Beamer has proved he has the chops to keep the program on an upward trajectory. With 29 wins, he eclipsed the mark set by Hall of Fame coach Steve Spurrier for most wins in his first four seasons at Carolina. The Head Ball Coach did not win nine games until his sixth year at South Carolina but then won a school record 11 contests in three-consecutive years. 

The playing field has certainly changed since Spurrier roamed the sidelines with the advent of the transfer portal and NIL, but Beamer has established a culture to withstand the fluidity of roster management and has the Gamecocks poised to be a consistent threat for a playoff berth and positioned to challenge Spurrier’s success from a decade ago.

 While the roster has its share of turnover as 43 players, including 34 letterwinners, who finished the 2024 regular season are no longer in the program, the coaching staff remained virtually intact. The lone exception was Mike Shula being elevated to the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach after Dowell Loggains took the head coaching post at Appalachian State. Shula worked very closely with the offense last season and the transition is expected to be a seamless one.

Coach Beamer and his staff welcome 107 players into spring camp including 42 letterwinners, 19 on the offensive side of the ball and 25 on defense. That list includes nine returning starters. The five offensive returning starters are wide receiver Nyck Harbor, right tackle Cason Henry, quarterback LaNorris Sellers, tight end Michael Smith and left tackle Josiah Thompson. The four returning defensive starters are cornerback Judge Collier, Nickel Jalon Kilgore, safety DQ Smith and Edge rusher Dylan Stewart. The Gamecocks do not return any specialists who have earned varsity letters.

Like most teams, the Gamecocks have hit both the high schools and the transfer portal hard to add talent to the mix. The Gamecocks inked 26 players in the December early signing period, 25 high schoolers and one junior college transfer. Of the 26, 20 enrolled at South Carolina in January and will go through spring drills. Coach Beamer and his staff supplemented that with an additional 13 players through the transfer portal, all of whom are on campus and went through the winter conditioning as well. 

Nothing comes easy in the uber-talented Southeastern Conference, and if the Gamecocks are able to reach their goals, they will have to run through another tough gauntlet of games that will test their mettle. 

The season opens on the national stage with a non-conference neutral site game in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium against a program that Coach Beamer knows well, the Virginia Tech Hokies. It will mark the Gamecocks’ first appearance in Atlanta since playing back-to-back games in the Georgia Dome to end the 2010 season. The Gamecocks hope it won’t be their only appearance in Atlanta in 2025, as Mercedes-Benz is also the site of the SEC Championship game.

In-state FCS rival South Carolina State provides the competition in Carolina’s home opener on Sept. 6, before the Gamecocks begin an eight-game stretch against SEC opponents. 

The conference slate opens on Sept. 13 with a home game against Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks’ first true road game of the season is at Missouri on Sept. 20 when the Mayor’s Cup will be up for grabs. A home contest versus Kentucky on Sept. 27 wraps up the month.

After a bye week on Oct. 4, Carolina travels to Baton Rouge for an Oct. 11 date with the LSU Tigers. Oklahoma makes its first trip ever to Columbia on Oct. 18, followed by a visit from perennial power Alabama on Oct. 25.

The Gamecocks will try to make it another “November to Remember” when they play at Ole Miss on Nov. 1 and, after their second bye week, travel to College Station for a Nov. 15 date with the Texas A&M Aggies, which wraps up the conference slate.

Carolina’s final two games of the regular season are both at home and against in-state opponents, as Coastal Carolina comes to Columbia on Nov. 22 and Clemson visits on Nov. 29 for the annual Palmetto State showdown.

OFFENSE

New offensive coordinator Mike Shula will look to build on an offense that showed tremendous improvement last year. The goal in the spring is to have the returning players continue to grow and progress while acclimating the new players as quickly as possible into the system.   

Much of the preseason hype for the program stems from the return of LaNorris Sellers at quarterback. Sellers was arguably playing as well as anyone in the country during the second half of the 2024 campaign and figures to be on everyone’s Heisman watch list as a redshirt sophomore.

The running back room may not have a bell cow like Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, but a stable of backs, notably Oscar Adaway III, Jawarn Howell, Matthew Fuller and newcomer Rahsul Faison, are more than capable of creating a strong rushing attack.

The receiving corps returns freakish athlete Nyck Harbor, who did not compete in track in the spring to focus on refining his football skills. Many eyes will be on the five true freshmen wideouts in the spring to see which of the talented quintet is most game-ready early on.

The tight end position returns Michael Smith, who was a starter as a true freshman, and veteran Brady Hunt, and adds Kentucky transfer Jordan Dingle.

The Gamecocks continue to stack talent along the offensive line. The two starting tackles return, with Josiah Thompson on the left side and Cason Henry on the right. The middle of the line will be overhauled, with several internal candidates in the mix along with a trio of experienced transfers.

DEFENSE

While the offense showed significant improvements in 2024, it was Clayton White’s stifling defense, one that ranked in the top-20 in the country in scoring defense, rushing defense, total defense, sacks and turnovers gained, that was  key to Carolina’s turnaround season. Now White will need to replace seven starters, most notably All-Americans Kyle Kennard and Nick Emmanwori. 

While the Gamecock defense may not return a huge quantity of starters, the quality is still there.

Start with Dylan Stewart, who had as productive of a true freshman campaign as an Edge rusher as anyone in the country. Several candidates are in line for the highly sought-after defensive end position opposite of Stewart, vacated by Kennard, the Nagurski Trophy winner.

Nick Barrett and Monkell Goodwine return at the defensive tackle position, but expect newcomers Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy, Davonte Miles and  Zavion Hardy to work their way into the mix.

The coaching staff is high on Fred “JayR” Johnson at linebacker and looks for Jaron Willis to take the next step. They are also anxious to see how quickly transfers Shawn Murphy and Justin Okoronkwo can fill in the gaps.

Despite some key losses, the secondary figures to be solid again with three-year starter DQ Smith back at a safety position, along returning starters Jalon Kilgore at Nickel and Judge Collier at cornerback. Transfers Myles Norwood and Brandon Cisse add veteran experience.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Second-year special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis has a completely different task this spring than what he was presented with a year ago.

Last year, the Gamecocks returned an All-American punter and an All-SEC snapper. Following the graduation of Kai Kroeger and Hunter Rogers, along with placekicker Alex Herrera, all three specialist positions are wide open heading into spring drills. Three kickers, William Joyce, Peyton Argent and Mason Love, are currently on campus and will look to fill a role, while four players are vying for the long snapping duties.