Shane Beamer details 'very, very close' kicker competition
On paper, South Carolina kicker Alex Herrera would seem to be the heir apparent to departed kicker Mitch Jeter but don’t expect the Gamecocks staff to just hand the role to the senior — he’s going to have to go through the process and earn it.
Herrera exits spring practice in a tight ongoing battle to replace Jeter, the Gamecocks’ kicker for the last two seasons who transferred to Notre Dame this offseason.
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“We’ve got some guys in the program; we signed a freshman last year that has that ability as well,” head coach Shane Beamer said Tuesday in Spartanburg. “And really coming out of spring practice, there’s probably a three-man competition for the place kicker position, and it’s very, very close right now. So I’ve got to do a great job as a head coach in August of putting those kickers in pressure situations in practice and seeing how they can perform under pressure and who can be consistent.”
Beamer didn’t go into specifics on the three players but Herrera is certainly one of them.
The Columbia native from Spring Valley High School went toe to toe with Jeter two seasons ago before Jeter ultimately won the job and then kicked so well that no one else could even realistically push him.
Beamer will likely want to put as much pressure on Herrera and the other kickers as possible due to the overall lack of experience in the room.
Herrera, a former walk-on who went on scholarship in January, has appeared in eight career games, converting all four of his extra point attempts.
He has also kicked off a dozen times with a pair of touchbacks, but has not attempted a field goal in a game — for that matter, no one on the South Carolina roster has attempted an in-game field goal at the college level.
New special teams coach Joe DeCamillis also praised redshirt junior William Joyce during the spring. The Spartanburg native has served as a punter, holder, and kickoff specialist to this point in his career but finds himself now competing for the kicker’s role.
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The Gamecocks added freshman Mason Love as a scholarship player to the roster in January. Love was ranked the No. 2 punter in the country for the 2024 class but also has kicked and kicked off. He averaged 44 yards per punt and hit 16-of-20 field goals and 17-of-18 extra points as a senior at Riverside (Mo.) Park Hill South.
Walk-ons Peyton Argent, the No. 17 kicker in the 2023 class according to Kohl’s Kicking, and Daniel Lester round out the roster at kicker.
“I go back to two years ago, my second year after we lost Parker White, Parker graduated, and the competition between Alex Herrera and Mitch Jeter literally went to about three days before the first game, and we finally just went with Mitch Jeter and just said that, you know what, he’s been just a little bit better,” Beamer said. “But I mean, it was that close, meaning we have confidence in Alex Herrera because he’s still there, but also the other guys that are in the program, they had a fierce competition in spring practice, and this summer will be a big competition for those guys also.”
