Phil Steele identifies South Carolina defense as his biggest concern for Gamecocks

Known far and wide for his encyclopedic knowledge of college football teams and his annual season preview magazine released every summer, Phil Steele‘s analysis can usually be taken to the bank. It’s why the longtime college football expert’s 2025 evaluation of South Carolina should raise eyebrows from even the most diehard Gamecocks fans.

During a Thursday afternoon appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Steele broke down several of the SEC’s leading contenders entering the 2025 season, but expressed serious concern about South Carolina. This comes just as the Gamecocks are receiving preseason hype that could include a Top 25 position to open the season after just missing out on a College Football Playoff berth last year.

Among Steele’s biggest concerns is a rebuilt defensive front that only returns preseason All-SEC first-team selection Dylan Stewart, as well as one of the league’s most difficult 2025 schedules.

“I’m probably lower on South Carolina than everybody else. Last year I was higher on them than everyone else,” Steele said. “They do have Superman at quarterback, no doubt about it — LaNorris Sellers is back. They’ve got one of the top defensive players in (college) football in Dylan Stewart. But my concern with them defensively is last year they had seven dominant defensive front guys, and this year, of those seven, just one returns. So the defensive front isn’t going to be as dominant as last year.

Phil Steele: ‘That’s a killer (2025) schedule South Carolina has’

“Offensively, I like Sellers, and I think Nyck Harbor emerges at wide receiver. (As far as the) offensive line, they only have two starters back,” Steele continued. “And then the schedule, they have to play Missouri on the road, LSU on the road, Mississippi on the road, Texas A&M on the road, (and is) probably an underdog in all four of those games. They also host Oklahoma – who I’m high on – host Alabama, host Clemson – another team I’m very high on – and then play Virginia Tech at a neutral site.

“That’s a killer schedule South Carolina has and probably the reason I have them picked lower than most people do this season.”

Steele cited the Gamecocks’ challenging road schedule in 2025 for his concern, but South Carolina actually fared far better on the road than it did at home last season. That included a 4-1 road record with clutch wins at Oklahoma and Clemson to bookend the six-game win streak to end the 2024 regular season. The Gamecocks actually opened last season with a 2-2 record in Columbia — including home losses to LSU and Ole Miss — prior to its late-season push.

Of course, this is a brand new year, and anything can happen. So South Carolina fans will just have to wait and see if Phil Steele is ultimately proven prophetic or if this was a rare swing and miss from the veteran college football expert.