Bet you never saw this coming

Dabo's Weenie · Monday at 10:15 PM

The 'Cocks have had an offensive lineman named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week the last 2 weeks in a row.

Who would have thought that remotely possible after last year's performances?

Big part of the offensive turnaround this year. No way they put up the kind of numbers they have been if they were still playing like that.

Big congrats to all involved.

RUMMENIGGE · Monday at 11:11 PM

THIS MESSAGE BOARD HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT FIRING SOMEBODY. HEADS NEED TO ROLL RIGHT NOW. ONCE AGAIN THIS SHOWS SOUTH CAROLINA IS NOT SERIOUS ABOUT FOOTBALL.

Go Gamecocks · Tuesday at 12:30 AM

Beamer derangement syndromers be like.....

Jonesz2 · Tuesday at 5:21 AM

Dabo's Weenie said:
The 'Cocks have had an offensive lineman named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week the last 2 weeks in a row.

Who would have thought that remotely possible after last year's performances?

Big part of the offensive turnaround this year. No way they put up the kind of numbers they have been if they were still playing like that.

Big congrats to all involved.

I believe line play is more important than anything besides QB

bayrooster · Tuesday at 6:57 AM

Dabo's Weenie said:
The 'Cocks have had an offensive lineman named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week the last 2 weeks in a row.

Who would have thought that remotely possible after last year's performances?

Big part of the offensive turnaround this year. No way they put up the kind of numbers they have been if they were still playing like that.

Big congrats to all involved.

Thanks to Briles and his staff!

Lurker123 · Tuesday at 7:53 AM

RUMMENIGGE said:
THIS MESSAGE BOARD HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT FIRING SOMEBODY. HEADS NEED TO ROLL RIGHT NOW. ONCE AGAIN THIS SHOWS SOUTH CAROLINA IS NOT SERIOUS ABOUT FOOTBALL.

Wait, didn't we get this offensive production because we finally fired the OC and OL coach? Doesn't this support firing underperforming coaches?

RUMMENIGGE · Tuesday at 8:24 AM

Lurker123 said:
Wait, didn't we get this offensive production because we finally fired the OC and OL coach? Doesn't this support firing underperforming coaches?

Absolutely. Changes needed to be made. Last season South Carolina's only play on offense that worked was throwing the ball deep to Harbor. The running game was horrible that at times could not convert third and fourth down and ones

I am just mocking the few that only show up on this forum and the only message they have is fire someone and divide the fanbase by blaming some of the supporters for their sunshine pumping as the cause of South Carolina's sports program results. I like to try and stay positive and see what happens next. That does not mean that I am satisfied with the results, and I might share the same views as some of angry ones but just think it does not much good expressing that on this public forum. These coaches and kids are human beings that are doing their best. I will call them out when I think they have crossed the line.

Lurker123 · Tuesday at 8:38 AM

RUMMENIGGE said:
Absolutely. Changes needed to be made. Last season South Carolina's only play on offense that worked was throwing the ball deep to Harbor. The running game was horrible that at times could not convert third and fourth down and ones

I am just mocking the few that only show up on this forum and the only message they have is fire someone and divide the fanbase by blaming some of the supporters for their sunshine pumping as the cause of South Carolina's sports program results. I like to try and stay positive and see what happens next. That does not mean that I am satisfied with the results, and I might share the same views as some of angry ones but just think it does not much good expressing that on this public forum. These coaches and kids are human beings that are doing their best. I will call them out when I think they have crossed the line.

Don't disagree. But it's hard, imo, to use this to mock the "fire everyone" crowd, when finally firing some deadweight is what lead to this.

So much for "who could we get", and "this is the best Shane can do given our circumstances" kind of talk.

SouthernBelly · Tuesday at 9:49 AM

Dabo's Weenie said:
The 'Cocks have had an offensive lineman named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week the last 2 weeks in a row.

Who would have thought that remotely possible after last year's performances?

Big part of the offensive turnaround this year. No way they put up the kind of numbers they have been if they were still playing like that.

Big congrats to all involved.

Not just after last season, it’s been roughly a decade of futility on the OL, if not more. They’ve been good this year and incredible by comparison to prior seasons.

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 9:57 AM

SouthernBelly said:
Not just after last season, it’s been roughly a decade of futility on the OL, if not more. They’ve been good this year and incredible by comparison to prior seasons.

Yes, but the OL of a decade ago has no bearing/influence whatsoever on this year's OL. I was remarking on the dramatic turn-around from one year to the next since that's the most relevant group. The last OL I remember being impressed by was the one that blocked for Lattimore when they were telling the ClemTech defense they were going to run the same play again several times in a row and ClemTech stil couldn't stop them. That's dominance.

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 10:02 AM

RUMMENIGGE said:
Absolutely. Changes needed to be made. Last season South Carolina's only play on offense that worked was throwing the ball deep to Harbor. The running game was horrible that at times could not convert third and fourth down and ones

I am just mocking the few that only show up on this forum and the only message they have is fire someone and divide the fanbase by blaming some of the supporters for their sunshine pumping as the cause of South Carolina's sports program results. I like to try and stay positive and see what happens next. That does not mean that I am satisfied with the results, and I might share the same views as some of angry ones but just think it does not much good expressing that on this public forum. These coaches and kids are human beings that are doing their best. I will call them out when I think they have crossed the line.

It should have never been allowed to go that far or get that bad. They should have fired everyone after the 3 game losing streak - because if they had, they'd likely be undefeated right now and a lock for the CFP. Going forward, they should be firing someone after every busted play to show how serious they are about winning.

Don't ask me how any of that's supposed to work in the real world, but it makes about as much sense as some of the stuff I read on the innerwebs.

Psycock · Tuesday at 10:18 AM

Looks like we are fixing what was broken. Give AD Donati some credit along with the staff. Instead of worrying about firing anyone we should be worried about how to keep this staff together.

SouthernBelly · Tuesday at 10:38 AM

Dabo's Weenie said:
Yes, but the OL of a decade ago has no bearing/influence whatsoever on this year's OL. I was remarking on the dramatic turn-around from one year to the next since that's the most relevant group. The last OL I remember being impressed by was the one that blocked for Lattimore when they were telling the ClemTech defense they were going to run the same play again several times in a row and ClemTech stil couldn't stop them. That's dominance.

Right, but really neither does last years with the new coach and several new personnel, but yes the turnaround from one season to the next is still notable. I'm just noting that it's fun to see a good OL since we haven't seen one since about the time frame you mention.

Lurker123 · Tuesday at 10:41 AM

Dabo's Weenie said:
It should have never been allowed to go that far or get that bad. They should have fired everyone after the 3 game losing streak - because if they had, they'd likely be undefeated right now and a lock for the CFP. Going forward, they should be firing someone after every busted play to show how serious they are about winning.

Don't ask me how any of that's supposed to work in the real world, but it makes about as much sense as some of the stuff I read on the innerwebs.

Again, didn't we get this explosive new offense by firing the OL coach and the OC?

The Reel Ess · Tuesday at 10:48 AM

Dabo's Weenie said:
Yes, but the OL of a decade ago has no bearing/influence whatsoever on this year's OL. I was remarking on the dramatic turn-around from one year to the next since that's the most relevant group. The last OL I remember being impressed by was the one that blocked for Lattimore when they were telling the ClemTech defense they were going to run the same play again several times in a row and ClemTech stil couldn't stop them. That's dominance.

Shawn Elliott is back. He's not the OL coach, but I'm sure he has input.

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 10:56 AM

Lurker123 said:
Again, didn't we get this explosive new offense by firing the OL coach and the OC?

Mid-season?

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 10:59 AM

Lurker123 said:
Again, didn't we get this explosive new offense by firing the OL coach and the OC?

The answer is "not sure".

Yes, they made some staff changes but they also replaced almost the entire OL.

Which made the bigger difference? Impossible to tell, but the combination is inarguably performing better than last year's group.

I4CtheFuture · Tuesday at 11:04 AM

RUMMENIGGE said:
Absolutely. Changes needed to be made. Last season South Carolina's only play on offense that worked was throwing the ball deep to Harbor. The running game was horrible that at times could not convert third and fourth down and ones

I am just mocking the few that only show up on this forum and the only message they have is fire someone and divide the fanbase by blaming some of the supporters for their sunshine pumping as the cause of South Carolina's sports program results. I like to try and stay positive and see what happens next. That does not mean that I am satisfied with the results, and I might share the same views as some of angry ones but just think it does not much good expressing that on this public forum. These coaches and kids are human beings that are doing their best. I will call them out when I think they have crossed the line.

Sorry, but, I gotta point this out....

You're going back to last year only. That's not accurate. You can see the stats yourself in the links below. During the 9-3 run in 2024, and last season, SC was near the absolute bottom (or top depending on your perspective) of sacks allowed...... which means the OL sucked during the 9-3 run and last season.

And even before the 9-3 season TWO years ago, the OL had been a problem for many years. It was FINALLY fixed this year. Now I ask that you apply that knowledge to what could have been....... if the OL had been fixed BEFORE the 9-3 run, there's a very good chance we win another game or two and make the playoffs in 2024. I can almost guarantee you that last year would not have been nearly the disaster that it was, and going on momentum and logic, this years OL would be even better than it is now and we'd be seriously in the playoff run right now.......and most importantly, to your point, NO ONE would have been talking about firing Beamer or anyone in the first place......if certain people had only done their jobs and addressed the issue a few years ago. I'm not really arguing with you but I am saying your point is not as good as you think it is, imho.

2024 - sacks allowed - https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/2024/team/468/p3
2025 - sacks allowed - https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/2025/team/468/p3

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 11:08 AM

I4CtheFuture said:
Sorry, but, I gotta point this out....

You're going back to last year only. That's not accurate. You can see the stats yourself in the links below. During the 9-3 run in 2024, and last season, SC was near the absolute bottom (or top depending on your perspective) of sacks allowed...... which means the OL sucked during the 9-3 run and last season.

And even before the 9-3 season TWO years ago, the OL had been a problem for many years. It was FINALLY fixed this year. Now I ask that you apply that knowledge to what could have been....... if the OL had been fixed BEFORE the 9-3 run, there's a very good chance we win another game or two and make the playoffs in 2024. I can almost guarantee you that last year would not have been nearly the disaster that it was, and going on momentum and logic, this years OL would be even better than it is now and we'd be seriously in the playoff run right now.......and most importantly, to your point, NO ONE would have been talking about firing Beamer or anyone in the first place......if certain people had only done their jobs and addressed the issue a few years ago. I'm not really arguing with you but I am saying your point is not as good as you think it is, imho.

2024 - sacks allowed - https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/2024/team/468/p3
2025 - sacks allowed - https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/2025/team/468/p3

Question: Do they have a stat showing how many of the sacks were attributed to the QB and how many to the OL?

I4CtheFuture · Tuesday at 11:39 AM

Dabo's Weenie said:
Question: Do they have a stat showing how many of the sacks were attributed to the QB and how many to the OL?

I don't know. There's a drop down selector thingy at the top. I think everyone agrees that the OL has been a massive problem for many years. Until now.

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 11:47 AM

I4CtheFuture said:
I don't know. There's a drop down selector thingy at the top. I think everyone agrees that the OL has been a massive problem for many years. Until now.

Not disagreeing there, but if we're gonna use the sacks as a metric, identifying the cause tells us if they are to blame for them or not.
If my team had 30 sacks each season in back to back years and the first season had 25 because of the OL and 5 on the QB and the second season had 5 on the OL, I'd be a fool to think I needed to revamp the OL to cut down on the sacks going forward.

Lurker123 · Tuesday at 11:53 AM

Dabo's Weenie said:
The answer is "not sure".

Yes, they made some staff changes but they also replaced almost the entire OL.

Which made the bigger difference? Impossible to tell, but the combination is inarguably performing better than last year's group.

No, to your first question, not mid season.

And yes we rebuilt the OL too.

So we had a guy who recruited "the great wall of carolina" and we sucked at OL. We also had an OC that sucked.

And we fired them.

Now we have an OL coach that is getting great results out of a totally rebuilt OL, and an OC that is doing wonders.

And the joke is that people who said the old guys should be fired should feel foolish? For being correct?

Go Gamecocks · Tuesday at 11:57 AM

Dabo's Weenie said:
Yes, but the OL of a decade ago has no bearing/influence whatsoever on this year's OL. I was remarking on the dramatic turn-around from one year to the next since that's the most relevant group. The last OL I remember being impressed by was the one that blocked for Lattimore when they were telling the ClemTech defense they were going to run the same play again several times in a row and ClemTech stil couldn't stop them. That's dominance.

That was Shawn Elliott's crew.

Go Gamecocks · Tuesday at 12:02 PM

Dabo's Weenie said:
They should have fired everyone after the 3 game losing streak...

Absolutely! Firing solves everything! The only reason we hire coaches at all is to fire them.

Fans are smart. coaches are dumb.

SouthernBelly · Tuesday at 12:02 PM

Dabo's Weenie said:
Not disagreeing there, but if we're gonna use the sacks as a metric, identifying the cause tells us if they are to blame for them or not.
If my team had 30 sacks each season in back to back years and the first season had 25 because of the OL and 5 on the QB and the second season had 5 on the OL, I'd be a fool to think I needed to revamp the OL to cut down on the sacks going forward.

Yes, not all sacks are the same cause. Poor blocking, terrible blocking scheme, coverage sacks, indecisive QB or he doesn't move around or out of the pocket as necessary. There can be several reasons. But in our case its mostly been poor OL play. We're talking about the same number of sacks for those two seasons referenced. LaNorris would have to own more of them in '25 than in '24, but watching the games, it was mostly on the OL still.

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 12:16 PM

Lurker123 said:
No, to your first question, not mid season.

And yes we rebuilt the OL too.

So we had a guy who recruited "the great wall of carolina" and we sucked at OL. We also had an OC that sucked.

And we fired them.

Now we have an OL coach that is getting great results out of a totally rebuilt OL, and an OC that is doing wonders.

And the joke is that people who said the old guys should be fired should feel foolish? For being correct?

No, the joke is that the people who are/were calling for people to be fired this season might be better served by letting things play out a little further before hitting the eject button. And the new guys have new tools to work with, so there's no way to evaluate what they would have done with the old bunch.
I always go back to 2014 - went from solid D to a joke in one season. Same DC (Whammy). Did he suddenly forget how to coach? The only change was the players. One equation, one unknown. Easy to solve that one. One equation, two unknowns? No unique solution available.

Lurker123 · Tuesday at 12:16 PM

Go Gamecocks said:
Absolutely! Firing solves everything! The only reason we hire coaches at all is to fire them.

Fans are smart. coaches are dumb.

It certainly worked this time!

Lurker123 · Tuesday at 12:21 PM

Dabo's Weenie said:
No, the joke is that the people who are/were calling for people to be fired this season might be better served by letting things play out a little further before hitting the eject button. And the new guys have new tools to work with, so there's no way to evaluate what they would have done with the old bunch.
I always go back to 2014 - went from solid D to a joke in one season. Same DC (Whammy). Did he suddenly forget how to coach? The only change was the players. One equation, one unknown. Easy to solve that one. One equation, two unknowns? No unique solution available.

I agree on waiting till the end of the season as the norm. But we fired the OL ciach mid season last year, right? That worked, right?

I also agree there's no way to know what our new OL coach would have done with the old "wall of carolina" recruits. But I feel very confident it would have been better than what Teasely did.

Personally, Im glad we fired Shula and Teasely. Firing them allowed for a great improvement. Im so very glad we didn't listen to the crowd that thinks once a coach is hired, he should never be questioned, much less fired.

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 12:40 PM

Lurker123 said:
I agree on waiting till the end of the season as the norm. But we fired the OL ciach mid season last year, right? That worked, right?

I also agree there's no way to know what our new OL coach would have done with the old "wall of carolina" recruits. But I feel very confident it would have been better than what Teasely did.

Personally, Im glad we fired Shula and Teasely. Firing them allowed for a great improvement. Im so very glad we didn't listen to the crowd that thinks once a coach is hired, he should never be questioned, much less fired.

I'm not saying there hasn't been improvement - it's obvious there is. But who was defending them 3 games ago? Very few, and a lot of the "fire everyone" crowd (that are saying how successful firing the previous OL and OC oaches was) had the torches lit again and we'd have never seen this improvement if they'd had their way after the UK game. They can't have it both ways.
And I don't fall into the "...crowd that thinks once a coach is hired, he should never be questioned, much less fired." group. I fall into the, "You can't correct a problem until you first correctly identify it" camp, with the caveat that, even if you do identify it, there's no guarantee the "solution" will be an improvement - that will always be a risk (some less than others). So, you take a reasoned, systematic approach to it and make the best decision you can with the info available to you at the time.
I like to poke at the "firing solves everything" mentality that is so pervasive. Nebraska and FSU are learning that lesson the expensive way, along with Penn St. this year. Firing and replacing only works when the firee was the problem and the replacement is an improvement... which we all know isn't a certainty, by any means.

Lurker123 · Tuesday at 1:13 PM

Dabo's Weenie said:
I'm not saying there hasn't been improvement - it's obvious there is. But who was defending them 3 games ago? Very few, and a lot of the "fire everyone" crowd (that are saying how successful firing the previous OL and OC oaches was) had the torches lit again and we'd have never seen this improvement if they'd had their way after the UK game. They can't have it both ways.
And I don't fall into the "...crowd that thinks once a coach is hired, he should never be questioned, much less fired." group. I fall into the, "You can't correct a problem until you first correctly identify it" camp, with the caveat that, even if you do identify it, there's no guarantee the "solution" will be an improvement - that will always be a risk (some less than others). So, you take a reasoned, systematic approach to it and make the best decision you can with the info available to you at the time.
I like to poke at the "firing solves everything" mentality that is so pervasive. Nebraska and FSU are learning that lesson the expensive way, along with Penn St. this year. Firing and replacing only works when the firee was the problem and the replacement is an improvement... which we all know isn't a certainty, by any means.

I dont think either of us fall into the camps the other is talking about.

I generally think you fore at the end of the year. I will admit to violating that with teasely last year. I think we can all agree on that one.

I also like to poke. There are some on here that would argue to keep a coach no matter what. Once we hire him, it seems to remove all ability to question him.

I will just simply say that this was a funny, ironic twist on the never ending argument. We actually finally fired some people, and it worked.

Go Gamecocks · Tuesday at 1:22 PM

Dabo's Weenie said:
I always go back to 2014 - went from solid D to a joke in one season. Same DC (Whammy). Did he suddenly forget how to coach? The only change was the players. One equation, one unknown. Easy to solve that one. One equation, two unknowns? No unique solution available.

We screwed ourselves over by recruiting a bunch of slow guys. There was no portal in those days. Once you flubbed your recruiting, you were stuck with them for 3-4 yrs. As EJ once stated "you can't teach speed".

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 1:30 PM

Go Gamecocks said:
We screwed ourselves over by recruiting a bunch of slow guys. There was no portal in those days. Once you flubbed your recruiting, you were stuck with them for 3-4 yrs. As EJ once stated "you can't teach speed".

Yep.

And what was so fuuny was how high the coaches were on those guys in the preseason... right up until the A&M game. Then it was panic button time.

And no, you can't teach it. But one of the sayings from my racing days was, "We can work with speed". They'd deal with - and try to rectify - a lot of other shortcomings if they saw speed.

Go Gamecocks · Tuesday at 1:36 PM

Dabo's Weenie said:
No, the joke is that the people who are/were calling for people to be fired this season might be better served by letting things play out a little further before hitting the eject button. And the new guys have new tools to work with, so there's no way to evaluate what they would have done with the old bunch.

I'd also submit that the new OL coach understood the scheme and it made for better cohesion & less whiffed blocks. The Briles/Clements duo has turned into some great hires for us.

And Sellers being a threat to run has forced DCs to adjust.
At the :32 mark of the X vid, below, watch #38 & #10 drop back into coverage. Were they spying on Sellers to prevent the run? What did it open up downfield? What happened to that 3 man rush?

Go Gamecocks · Tuesday at 1:39 PM

Dabo's Weenie said:
And what was so fuuny was how high the coaches were on those guys in the preseason...

Most of them were highly rated.

Seems no one thought to look at their speed/quickness.
One of the reasons we beat 'Bama in '10 was that defense was stupid fast.

I4CtheFuture · Tuesday at 1:40 PM

Dabo's Weenie said:
Not disagreeing there, but if we're gonna use the sacks as a metric, identifying the cause tells us if they are to blame for them or not.
If my team had 30 sacks each season in back to back years and the first season had 25 because of the OL and 5 on the QB and the second season had 5 on the OL, I'd be a fool to think I needed to revamp the OL to cut down on the sacks going forward.

Bro, you're really stretching......

The cause is because our OL sucked, and had sucked for years. It's not a secret.

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 1:40 PM

Yeah, the more you have to worry about, the less you get done. They've talked about Briles' strategies to take advantage of putting spies on Sellers and how to take advantage of it. But knowing what to do and being able to do it are two different things - and that was doing something about it.

So glad he was accurate on that throw; it was one for the ages.

I4CtheFuture · Tuesday at 1:41 PM

SouthernBelly said:
Yes, not all sacks are the same cause. Poor blocking, terrible blocking scheme, coverage sacks, indecisive QB or he doesn't move around or out of the pocket as necessary. There can be several reasons. But in our case its mostly been poor OL play. We're talking about the same number of sacks for those two seasons referenced. LaNorris would have to own more of them in '25 than in '24, but watching the games, it was mostly on the OL still.

Correct. Not complicated and it had been going on for years.

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 1:41 PM

Go Gamecocks said:
Most of them were highly rated. Seems no one thought to look at their speed/quickness.
One of the reasons we beat 'Bama in '10 was that defense was stupid fast.

Remember kids: speed kills.

I4CtheFuture · Tuesday at 1:42 PM

Dabo's Weenie said:
No, the joke is that the people who are/were calling for people to be fired this season might be better served by letting things play out a little further before hitting the eject button. And the new guys have new tools to work with, so there's no way to evaluate what they would have done with the old bunch.
I always go back to 2014 - went from solid D to a joke in one season. Same DC (Whammy). Did he suddenly forget how to coach? The only change was the players. One equation, one unknown. Easy to solve that one. One equation, two unknowns? No unique solution available.

Nope. We were saying the OL sucked in 2024 when we went 9-3 and that something needed to be done. (Eject button)

Button wasn't pushed. Sunshine pumpers won out..... then 2025 came along...... how'd that work out. Sometimes the answer is obvious.

Dabo's Weenie · Tuesday at 1:45 PM

I4CtheFuture said:
Bro, you're really stretching......

The cause is because our OL sucked, and had sucked for years. It's not a secret.

No stretch at all - it's how a competent staff evaluates. Do you not remember Beamer talking about how a lot of the sacks weren't on the OL, but were the result of poor decisions by Sellers? Identify the root cause or continue to fail by addressing the wrong factor.

If someone was on my staff and gave me generalities like, "The line sucks" without specifics to support their assertion, they'd be sitting next to Norvell in the unemployment line... and probably not nearly as wealthy as him.

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