Everything Shane Beamer said ahead of the final week of spring practice for South Carolina

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spoke with the media ahead of the Gamecocks’ final three spring practices.

Here is everything he had to say.

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Opening Statement

“Welcome to Professor Robinson’s class. Glad you guys are here. Enjoy. I hope everyone had a great Easter. I haven’t seen you guys since then, and happy Masters week to everyone … I know it’s a great, big week around here with the Masters, and reminded of what a great opportunity to showcase Columbia and South Carolina as I was on the plane coming back yesterday from Arizona, and some people sitting behind me, two were from England and two from Ohio, and they were flying in. They were flying into Columbia, staying in Columbia all week and eating in our restaurants, playing golf courses around here, and going to the Masters. So I know a lot of that’s going on. So welcome to everybody in Columbia doing that.”

“Congrats to coach Staley and the team, the season that her and the team had. I know they fell one game short, but so much respect and admiration for them and what they accomplished overcoming injuries and got so much respect for them that every stuff we’re talking with Nicole Auerbach from NBC out in Phoenix, and was just telling her how much respect I have for Coach Staley that literally, every team they play, circles South Carolina on their schedule, and they get every team they place best shot, and they just, every night, every game, just continue to show up and compete and battle, so can’t wait to see them continue to get better as we go into next year. So congrats.”

“And then it was awesome seeing so many Gamecocks out there in Arizona. It’s another example of how powerful this fan base is and the support that all of our programs have, women’s basketball, football, you name it. So thanks to the fans, it was neat. I know I called out Lulu [Kesin] and David [Cloninger] for when I hiked Camelback Mountain, but I saw a lot of Gamecocks hiking Camelback Mountain. Up there, passed one or two guys who were in Phoenix for a bachelor party. They had some buddies that had graduated from other schools, that quit and did not make it to the top of the mountain, but I’m proud to say that the two Gamecocks I met on the mountain did, so it’s kudos to them.”

“And then I’m constantly reminded, too, of the Netflix series ‘Any Given Saturday’ and the impact and reach that that has hotel that my family and I stayed at, there was a 65 foot water slide at the hotel that Hunter [Beamer] talked me into going up with him, and little did we know that at the top of the slide, it wasn’t a conventional slide. It was one of those where you, like, get in this glass case, and you stand up, and then the floor drops from underneath you. You just go straight down. So as I got to the top, and I realized that that was my only way down, I was contemplating, ‘What have I done?’ And then there were two guys that were in line that said, ‘Go Gamecocks.’ I said, ‘Are you guys, Gamecock fans out here for the game?’ They said, ‘No, we’re in from Chicago. We’re here for spring break. But we watched the Netflix show, and we became South Carolina fans after watching it.’ So I told him, ‘If I die on this water slide, it was nice meeting you.’ Thankfully, I didn’t, but that was intense the water slide, but good weekend out there, was fun to be out there and meet so many people.”

“And then back this week, last week of spring ball, as we go into this week, three practices tomorrow, Thursday and Saturday. As we wrap up, got a lot of work to do. Love where we are right now. We’ve made a lot of progress. No question, I believe we’re following along right now than we were last year at this time. But a lot to get done here over these next three days, our next three practices, and then as we go into the summertime, summer workouts, summer school, preseason camp, a lot of work to do before the season, but it’s like the track for one right now. And then again, disappointed, there’s no spring game this weekend, but going to be a great time on Saturday with the Spring Fest block party, with the musical artists are going to be here, not just Darius and Lauren Alaina on Saturday night in CLA with all the different artists that are going to be performing outside with our student athletes. It’ll be there. So should be a lot of fun. Looking forward to getting out there we practice Saturday morning. Looking forward to getting out there Saturday afternoon and evening and spending time with so many Gamecocks that come out for that. So should be a great time. And looking forward to that.”

With Saturday, will there be any sort of scrimmage situation that day?

“Probably not. If we do it, it’ll be more on Thursday, which is day two of practice. Would be the one typically, when we’ve had a spring game, the practice before the spring game has been a little bit of a lighter helmets-only type practice, and then go play the game on Saturday. So we may flip that a little bit.”

“I’m not really sure. Clayton [White], Kendal [Briles], and I met last week to map out what we wanted this week to look like. What do we need? Where are we from? You know, from a team standpoint, in regards to health things, we need to emphasize this, maybe this week more, maybe less, where it may be, but don’t envision a game, so to speak, on Saturday would be more of a typical practice. Is the route we’re going right now.”

Since you brought it up, how are you with regard to health of your team?

“Good. Nothing new to report. Since the last time we talked, everybody’s in pretty good shape. Got a couple little, Nyck harbor and Judge Collier got tangled up a little bit last week on a deep ball in practice, and had a minor thing where they missed practiced on Thursday before we broke for the weekend. That’s the only thing that’s come up that would be nothing long isn’t anything long term. But hopefully we can get through these next three days and having the same conversation next week too.”

When it comes to offensive install with Kendall, like I’m sure there are benchmarks and things that y’all want to hit in terms of getting installation. How do you balance getting everything in with the pursuit of perfection, of what you’re working on?

“Yeah, totally. That’s really the gist of what we’re doing this spring, with the way that we’re practicing and how we’ve changed some things up. It’s really mastering what we’re teaching and installing that particular week. So that’s what tomorrow’s practice will be primarily is trying to master the techniques and the schemes of what is going in this week, and then being able to do it a little bit more, do it against a defense the next day and the day after that.”

“But certainly, there’s a foundation that we’re trying to master right now, the details of what we’re doing. And then the great thing is, with the access that we have with our players in the summertime, we’ll really be able to do it again. We started to install the offense back in January and February, then we got into spring practice, and they were hearing it again for the second time in a lot of ways. Then after this week, we still have two more weeks of class, so there’ll be a good chance over these next two weeks after spring practice ends to review and tweak. Then they got a little bit of time off in May. And then when they get back here for summer school in the summertime, you’re really reinstalling it again, and then when you start preseason practice in August, they’re hearing it again.”

“So to me, it’s very much we know kind of what we’re doing right now, offensively, defensively and special teams, and now going forward, this gives us a chance to really go back and learn the why, you know, why is it called this way, and why are we doing that and just continuing to learn over and over and over again.”

Spring Games have always been a big recruiting event for you. You don’t have that this year. Are you able to use the Spring Fest event in any way from a recruiting standpoint?

“Yeah, certainly could. We’ll have a lot of recruits here on Saturday, and they’ll be here for practice on Saturday morning, and then, you know, certainly it’s on campus, and then it’s open to the public. So any recruits that want to come over there, I think it’d be great. We’ll certainly encourage them to. And it’s another example, another opportunity for us to show prospects that are here. You know how great the city of Columbia is, how passionate this fan base is, and anytime you get a chance to do that you want to.”

When you look at the defensive tackle room and what you see from the spring, from a depth standpoint, that kind of resembles what you had in 2024 going into the season, it just kind of overall on that?

“Yeah, I feel really good about that room. Obviously, that ’24 room was pretty special, and then that the, you know, three of those guys that were on that team. We’re on NFL rosters right now in Boogie [Huntley], Tonka [Hemingway], and TJ [Sanders], and I know DeAndre [Jules] got an opportunity to last year too, with Washington, I believe. But yeah, and then Nick [Barrett], who’s going to get an opportunity with the NFL here in a couple of weeks with the draft. That was a really talented group in ’24, but certainly that’s one area that I’m really excited about, and we knew we needed to attack that area with high school recruiting and the portal because of who we were losing off last year’s team.”

“But, you know, the guys that are now a year older, have gotten better, the freshmen that have come in, like Noah [Clark], he’s made an impact, and then the portal guys we brought in, we’re really excited about that group. So there’s, I think Clayton talked about it yesterday, there’s, there’s size in that room, there’s athleticism, there’s experience, and you know, we need to, we need to be really good in the heart of the defense, and we knew off last year’s team we were basically losing our tackles, bringing back our linebackers, and now we’ve, we’ve got our linebackers back, like I just said, and then we’ve really helped ourselves. I think with what we’ve been able to do along the defensive line.”

With the offensive line, are y’all continuing to mix and match guys this week, or is this an opportunity for y’all to try to maybe see if some, some things have settled, so to speak?

“Yeah, it’s still early. We don’t play for a while, so you know, you got three practices, and we’ll continue to, you know, mix and match. And certainly, as we get closer to to start the season in September. You really have to hone it down. But I don’t think there’s anything this week where we just say, you know, we have to have these five in the same spots for every rep of every practice this week.”

“A lot of that, too, is because of our, you know, lack of depth on the offensive line right now, with some guys that aren’t here, with some guys that have gotten hurt and aren’t practicing right now, we’ve really got to move guys around just to be able to get through practice. You know, if we’re going to have a team period where we get 65 plays of like scrimmage work, you’ve got to be able to put some guys in some different positions to be able to get through those 65 plays, guys moving around and helping each other out from a depth standpoint.

How is LaNorris Sellers figuring out the new scheme?

“I think good. I like where he is right now. He’s playing well. And you know, LaNorris is a football junkie and loves the game and loves working at it, studying it, watching it, so I think he’s picked it up very well. He’s in a good place right now, the way that he’s performing on the field.

“And this summer will be big for him as he continues to master the details of everything that we’re doing. But he’s doing a big job with a lot of new faces around him at all positions, including the offensive line. It’s nice to have a guy returning that’s about to be his going into what third year as a starter, which I’ve never had since I’ve been the head coach. So it’s nice to see a guy now be able to take that next step, even though it’s a different system. It’s his third year as the starter and fourth year in the program, which is a big deal.

You mentioned Darius Gray a handful of times this spring. What do y’all envision for him when he gets here?

“Yeah, I think he’s, he’s, you know, he’s so athletic, I think he can do a lot of different things, and he’ll get here. It’s, you know, it’s three years in a row [that] we’ve started a true freshman on the offensive line, two guys, Tree [Babalade] and Trovon [Baugh], started in ’23, Josiah [Thompson] started in ’24, Shed [Surratt] started in ’25, so it’s, we’ve shown that we’re willing to do that.”

“If that’s what give us the best chance to win football games, it’ll be good to you know, get there. I think it’s harder to play on the line of scrimmage as a true freshman than maybe other positions, but he’ll get in here. He’s got a great mindset, great, great work ethic. He’s been involved as much as he can be from Richmond during spring practice, whether it was him coming down here on his own earlier this spring, or jumping on Zooms to learn and talk ball. So if you know he’s got it, he’ll have every opportunity in front of him to get in here and earn a role, just like all of our freshmen will.”

How much more sane are you at this time of the year, not having to deal with the spring football transfer window?

“A lot more, a lot more. Last year at this time, I was literally, you know, just staring at, what was that? April 30, I think, is when it closed, just counting down the minutes until April 30, at 11:59 pm, knowing that the portal was closed. And I can, you know, vividly remember, not to give you too many details here, but vividly remember lying in bed last year on April 30, at 11:59. Midnight hit, check my email. No emails from compliance that anybody had entered the portal and could go, I know who the team is now in 2025, so it’s nice to not have that portal window, you know, coming up, that you know this is your team, and let’s roll.”

Was there any strategic reasoning behind having a May 1 official this weekend, as opposed to wait until later in May or early June?

“A little bit. There are a few. So there are a few things. Everybody does their official visits now in the summertime. Everybody, and I mean I say Nyck harbor didn’t, but for the most part, guys in today’s time, they’re taking their official visits in the summertime, and then they’re going to make a decision before they go into their senior year.”

“So, one more strategy about who we bring in on summer visits. If a guy is not going to make a decision until December, then you’re better off bringing them in, in my opinion, for a game, on their official visit. Or if it’s a guy that you know, his recruitments have kind of been all over the place, and he may commit, decommit, commit, decommit six times before signing day? Well, let’s not bring him in this summer. Let’s maybe push it back to the season.”

“But the majority, like I said, are taking their visits in the summertime. So previously, we only had three official visit weekends, and we did them all in June. You kind of ran out of days in a lot of ways, because we don’t, I know some schools and teach their own has like, the more the merrier. The bigger the recruiting weekend, the better. We’re less is more. And try to cap it at around 12 people, 12 recruits each weekend. So if you only have three weekends in June, there are some guys that we just frankly weren’t able to bring in last year because we didn’t want to the weekend to get too big, because logistically, it gets to be tough if you have too big a weekend to come to my house. The hotel rooms, cars, all that stuff, some people on call here in the building.”

“So we wanted to create another weekend just have four opportunities now to bring guys in on official visits, which I’m glad we did, because we’re just about, you know, every weekend, we got four weekends now, and I think every weekend has at least 10 people coming, so you’re able to get more people here on official visits. And then the other thing was just having an opportunity in May to get guys on campus. We typically spring game. And then we never have really done anything in May. Organized. Guys might come on their own to visit, but nothing organized in regards to a junior day or an official visit weekend. And I remember talking to Darren Usher last year was like a Saturday, just it was the middle of May. And just saying, you know, next year we need to, we need to make sure we do something in May.”

“And then we just got to talking about it, said, You know what, let’s try and be like the first official visit, and get a chance to get guys on campus early in May, probably their first official visit, hopefully set the bar high, and then go from there. So that was the reasoning behind it. More opportunities, another weekend, to get out, get guys here, and then just an opportunity to get guys here in May to meet, the more you can get them on campus, the better. And then I saw it last year too, you know, guys that took their official visit here, committed, but then would just come back on their own every weekend to help recruit other guys, you know, the Harris twins. I feel like we’re here every weekend last year in June because they were coming and they wanted to be back around and help recruit other guys when they came on visits, which was huge. So this gives us another opportunity to do that, too.”

When you look at that linebacker room, how important is it to have that experience back, that you bring it back with Justin Okoronkwo, Fred Johnson, and Sean Murphy?

“Yeah, that’s huge. When you got three, you know, Sean’s the older guy in that room. He’s been around. But then you got two guys, and Jo and Fred, who have started an entire season, and this will be their what, third year of college football. And all three of those guys are really, really, really talented players defensively and on special teams. So to be able to, you know, right there in the heart of your defense, be able to bring those three guys back is huge. And you know, they’re three great guys. They’re leaders on this defense. They’re great players. And to know they’re in that room, certainly I sleep easier at night.”

What’s the biggest turn-off for you when it comes to recruiting a player?

“Well to me, it’s two things. One, you got to be a good person, and somebody that we want to be around each and every day in this program. And if you come here on a visit and you’re disrespectful, you’re a prick, I think I can say prick, then it’s probably not gonna last long.”

“I mean, full disclosure. We brought somebody here on a visit about two weeks ago, and within an hour of being in the building, I had two different people come to me, and we’re like, he’s not gonna fit what we’re about. So we sent him on his way. So you’ve got to be able to bring in this profession. Is hard enough. This game is hard enough to do anything to mess up that locker room downstairs, like we’ve got some really, really, really, really good young men on this football team, so I’m not going to bring in somebody that’s going to disrupt that. So that would be one.”

“And then, more specifically, I get there’s a financial element at play. I understand that. But if I ask you, what’s important to you and what are you looking for in a school, and you tell me, whoever is going to give me the most money, which I’ve had players, tell me that probably not the best way to endear yourself to me, wanting to bring you into this program. Not that money is not an aspect. It is. I get it. But if it’s the reason you’re choosing to come to Carolina, don’t come because a year from now, or six months from now, whenever the portals open again, you’re going to be in my office again for seeing who’s going to give you the most money, you know.”

“So trust me, we’re going to be competitive. And I get it. There’s people always talk about, you know, money doesn’t matter. Money matters, and I understand that. But if it’s the only reason that you’re really choosing to come to the school is probably the place for you, so don’t be a prick and have things that you want to come to Carolina for, other than just who’s going to give you the most money or any school. And I would think most coaches would probably say that.”

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You mentioned that you have a third-year starter in place with LaNorris. Does that change how this spring you evaluated guys like Cutter [Woods] or Landon [Duckworth]?

“Yes, but it’s a little bit different, just because we got a new offensive coordinator, new quarterbacks coach, and a new system. So he’s, you know, it’s not like it’s LaNorris’s third year in the system or fourth year in the system, and here’s all these new guys. LaNorris, from a system standpoint, is very new too, and he’s being evaluated, and Kendal is learning LaNorris, and Lenore is learning Kendal. But yes, absolutely.”

“When you’ve got a guy that has started games for you, know what he can do from a physical standpoint, there’s bad, there’s battle. LaNorris is competing; LaNorris has got to be better. LaNorris is competing to be to be better than he was yesterday. So there’s competition always in that room. But yes, you got another guy in Cutter. It’s his second spring practice. He’s developing Landon. Just came in Lucian [Anderson] is here. You know, there’s, there’s, you’re evaluating that whole room, but it’s certainly, there’s a little bit of a different perspective. Because, you know, when you’ve got a guy that’s that’s done it, it’s not like you’re not really sure what they can do in a game. You’ve seen what LaNorris can do in a game. So that certainly helps with the analyzing and working with the other quarterbacks.”

When you’re watching a basketball game, do you feel like a coach?

“It’s hard. It really is. Somebody asked me that watching people I care about and teams I care about, whether it be my own children or coach Staley’s teams or any of our sports, is hard because I have no control over it.”

“So yes, I feel like I coach, not that I know anything about basketball, and I’m not sitting up there saying, like, why are we in a two-three zone? Like, I’m not saying that, but just you want them to be so successful, and you don’t have any control over it. It’s hard. But yes, I can’t just sit like I’m the guy that stands the whole game and we’ll get down in that third down pose, just so the people behind me maybe see over me.”

You talked earlier in the spring about LaNorris’s leadership and needing more from him. I’m curious just how you’ve seen a whole new system and Kendal sort of expedited that process and maybe pulled different elements of a leader out of him.

“Yeah, I think it one started back in January when he came back in the weight room and doing all of our offseason workouts with Luke Day and everyone in our strength and conditioning program certainly started there in conjunction with new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach coming in. So certainly you saw that with with LaNorris and the offense in general, but also in the weight room back in January, and then absolutely, now that we’ve gotten into practice and everybody’s out there, players, coaches, staff every single day, those opportunities that we, you know, put him in, whether it be, you know, saying something at the beginning of practice, or whether it be a competitive period in practice, trying to put him along.

“With all those guys and as many tough competitive situations as you possibly can, and feel like he’s done a good job, you know, in those moments by continuing to be, you know, don’t be somebody that you’re not. Don’t all of a sudden turn into someone you aren’t. Keep being who you are. But also understanding that, because it is his fourth year in the program. Third year is the starter that everyone is looking to him. Luke Day has used the description. Like in 24, it was almost like he was the little brother. You had all these guys like Debo [Williams], and D Knight and Tonka and Boogie and Vershon Lee, and then LaNorris was the redshirt freshman quarterback, and just went out there and played. And he was a leader. He was voted captain that year by his teammates. But now he is the guy you know that was those leaders that he looked up to in 2024, he’s that guy now, and has to be that way, or has to be that guy for the players around him, if that makes sense.”

It seems like some of those defensive ends who were out at the start of spring practice have gradually done more. What have you seen from them?

“Yeah, what you’ve seen is about the extent of what they’ve been doing. Unfortunately, they’ve been able to progress to individual stuff, where they’re working over there with Coach Barnes, they haven’t been able to really get in there and do anything team related, or they’re doing any 11 on 11 stuff, but they’re getting closer and getting better and and we need them to obviously, those guys getting hurt last year before the season was a was a big loss, because it really affected our depth.”

“And then those guys being out right now is a really big loss, because it really affects our depth in practice. I mean, we have to be smart about what we’re asking those other guys at that age position to do, because we don’t have that many of them right now, but those guys that are getting back healthy, I’m excited for them. Kudos to them, and Clint Haggard and his team down or training room for getting them, you know, back healthy as quickly as they have, and they’re well on their way to being able to, you know, be the players that we brought them here to be and make a big impact for us in 2026.”

Do you ever wander over to Williams-Brice Stadium right now to take a look at the progress on the stadium, and how much of your fingerprints are on it? You know what’s going on over there right now?

“Yes, and no, I went over there. I need to get back over there. I was probably in December. Early January was the last time I actually went over there and walked through and did a tour. And it’s amazing what all they’ve done just since then. So I do want to get back over there shortly to be able to see, you know, Greg Hughes is a great friend, and he’s been awesome and has offered me that opportunity anytime I want to. I just haven’t been able to make it work, but I’m excited to get back over there. It’s great being able to watch out my window each day in my office and see everything that’s happening.”

“It’s great to be able to, you know, drive by where the old Floyd building was, North End Zone, drive by there, and see the progress each and every day. And then, as far as my hands in it, not so much. You know, I think it’s phase three. Is when they’re redoing the locker room, training room, post-game press conference area, all that will be brand new, in ’28. So that’ll be fun. So early on, when all that was being designed, we had a little bit of a say in that. How I wanted things structured underneath there, but they had a great plan already, but funny, you mentioned that, you know, here, once I’m done in here, later on this afternoon, got a meeting with all the architects over there, just to kind of get an update myself and the rest of the coaching staff on where things are and what’s been happening and what’s next.

What’s the biggest thing you took away from last season?

“Biggest thing from last season, you know, make sure you’ve always got enough proven experience. You know, at this level, we lost some really impactful guys off that ’24 team, obviously, and not that we didn’t replace them with impactful guys, but we didn’t replace them with enough impactful guys. And the lack of experience, in some ways, caught up with us in a lot of ways.”

“And then the other thing, I would say is just it was another great example of just how fine a line it is at this level, and winning and losing and the details of every game, and you know, the games that we won in the fourth quarter in 2024 for whatever reason, we just didn’t do make those plays and coach well enough in the fourth quarter in 2025 and it cost us. I’ve heard me say it. I think it’s seven games that were one-score games going into the fourth quarter last season, and we didn’t play well in the fourth quarter.”

“So ultimately, in this, in this, in this league, it literally comes down to because it’s so deep and competitive, nine conference games. It’s like the NFL is going to come down to the fourth quarter and you gotta, you gotta make, Gotta make those plays. And we talked about it with our team last week. George, I mean, won the SEC Championship last season, and I think they had a three-point game, a three-point game, a four-point game, and an eight-point game, if I’m not mistaken. So unlike, they would just line up, beating the crap out of everybody. You’re going to play close games in this league, and it’s the details, like everything matters, and you’ve got to be accountable.

Your opinion on the possible ending of the SEC Championship game if they expand the playoffs?

“Yes, I read that last week. I know some of the coaches spoke up about it. I understand both sides of it. Obviously, I’m a traditionalist, and I love the championship game, and I know how big a deal the SEC championship game is. I’ve had a chance to coach in an SEC championship game. I’ve coached in three Big 12 games, an ACC championship game, and I love the championship game. But certainly, times are changing, and a lot of that, as I think those other head coaches have alluded to, is going to be dependent on what the playoff looks like.”

“Is it 12? Is it 16? Is it 24 what becomes of championship weekend if it goes to 24? I know there’s Army-Navy logistics in play. I know a couple of years ago the idea was floated of, you know, there’s a play in that teams, you know, six teams, one and two are in the playoff, and then in the SEC, 3,4,5,6,7,8, play each other, and it’s just like a little round robin to get in the playoff. I mean, there’s, I’ve heard all kinds of different things that have been floated.”

“But to answer your question, I love the championship game. I would hate to see it go away, but also understand that, you know, there are different factors at play now with college athletics and college football specifically, and how it’s changing. So kind of on the fence right there. I guess I’d really give you an answer, but I see both sides, and whatever gives us the best chance to play for the SEC, to play into the postseason and have the best chance to be successful and win championships.”

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