What South Carolina recruiting looks like during bye week

With the South Carolina football team on its bye this week, the Gamecocks’ coaching staff is currently on the road for two days of checking in on various recruiting targets across five different states.

“The recruiting class that we have right now is going great,” head coach Shane Beamer said during his Sunday teleconference. “The ’27 class, we’re off to a great start with them, and it’s great to be able to get on the road. Our assistant coaches are out on those Fridays. And we had, I think, five coaches that were at high school games in South Carolina on Friday night a couple of nights ago, but I’m not able to get out on the road during the week because I’m with the team at the hotel on Friday nights. So it’ll be great to be able to get out on the road recruiting this week.”

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South Carolina’s 2026 recruiting class, headlined by Top 100 prospects like OL Darius Gray, DL Aiden Harris, QB Landon Duckworth, and S J’Zavien Currence, is currently ranked No. 17 in the country in the Industry Ranking football Team Recruiting Rankings.

The class is comprised of a five-star, eight four-stars, and seven three-star prospects.

“I think I’ll be in five states on Thursday and Friday, recruiting and trying to see a lot of guys,” Beamer continued. “As a head coach, you’re limited because the month of December is now a dead period, so you’re limited on how many times you can go out recruiting. So really, for a head coach, it’s the month of January and the off weeks. Some head coaches use the off week to not recruit and rest up, and that’s their prerogative, but I like to get out on the road, so I’m looking forward to being in high schools and being at some high school games this week.”

The two days of recruiting action come after South Carolina defeated Kentucky 35-13 last week at Williams-Brice Stadium, while it hosted another large contingency of top targets for the third time this season.

Beamer hopes the momentum of that win will carry over into recruiting.

“The ones that were there last (Saturday), that’s all they could talk about before the game was just the electricity in the stadium and the Gamecock Walk,” Beamer said. “So our fans are amazing. The energy they created at Williams-Brice is a huge advantage for us. We have momentum now, going on the road after a win. There’s a lot of excitement.”

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