Shane Beamer clarifies Vicari Swain's status with South Carolina

Vicari Swain‘s “academic issues” have kept him away from the South Carolina football program for most of the offseason. Earlier this week, Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer provided a defenitive update on the potential starter: “He will be [back],” Beamer said.

Beamer revealed that Swain has to wait until the summer semester begins at the university to rejoin team activities, which won’t come until the Tuesday after Memorial Day (May 27). This is great news for the Gamecocks faithful, who were expecting Swain to become a major part of South Carolina’s defensive efforts in 2025.

As a redshirt freshman last season, Swain was a participant in all 13 games for the Gamecocks in 2024. He totaled 314 snaps — sixth most on the South Carolina secondary unit — where he logged 13 tackles including a strip sack which came against Kentucky, as well as a pass breakup.

With both O’Donnell Fortune and Nick Emmanwori having left for the 2025 NFL Draft, the South Carolina secondary is set to look a little different next season. They retained Judge Collier, DQ Smith and Jalon Kilgore from last year’s roster, and all are expected to see major playing this year as well. Kilgore is expected to be one of the top defensive backs in the country in 2025.

If Swain can remain on top of things academically, he is expected to join that group in no time. Other defenders on Beamer’s roster, such as Brandon Cisse, Myles Norwood and Jalewis Solomon, are all expected to compete for playing time this offseason.

Before college, Swain was a four star recruit according to the On3 Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 204 overall player in his recruiting cycle, as well as the No. 5 ATH in his class.

By the time he returns to the field, it will be just over three months until the Gamecocks kick off their 2025 regular season. Coming off a 9-4 season in 2024, South Carolina will hope to take the next step this season behind a strong secondary, and a quarterback in LaNorris Sellers who is expected to have a breakout season in 2025.

That effort begins on Aug. 31 when the Gamecocks take on the Virginia Tech Hokies for a special Sunday season opener inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. They’ll begin SEC play two weeks later against Vanderbilt at home.