Everything Shane Beamer said after spring practice four
South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer held his weekly press conference on Tuesday, not long after the Gamecocks wrapped up the fourth practice of the spring.
GamecockCentral.com has an edited transcript of all of Beamer’s comments from the day.
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“Been a good first week for us. Just finished practice four. Saturday was our first day in full pads. Today was our first day back since Saturday. Obviously, there’s a lot of energy, a lot of excitement out there, a lot of new faces, whether it be transfers, freshmen. So a lot of newness, but really, really excited about those new guys, along with so many of the returning players that have played a lot of football here.
“Luke Doty and Vershon Lee and Jakai Moore and Boogie Huntley and Tonka Hemingway and Debo, I mean, there’s a lot of guys that have been here for a long time as well that are back. So really, really good start. Got a lot of work to do, obviously. Practice today. We’ll meet, lift, have our normal day off, our day between practice scheduled tomorrow. We’ll practice on Thursday, and then our guys will have the weekend off for Easter. So we’ll finish up on Thursday, and then those guys will be able to get away for Easter if they want to, and then we’ll be right back at it next week for week three. So, I’m pleased with where we are right now. A lot of work to do, but continuing to try and get better.”
On new additions to the injury list…
“Really, the only new addition would be Juju McDowell. He will be done for the spring. It’s nothing long-term. It was something, a collarbone that’s been bothering him a little bit that he fell on, not in a contact drill, but diving for a ball to catch a pass and kind of came down on the wrong way. And it was a situation where we said, do we want to continue to have this thing nag him and be an issue or do we want to go ahead and get it fixed?
“And he and all of us agreed, let’s just go ahead and get it fixed where it’s not an issue going forward. So, he will have a procedure done to get that mended up. And he’s not excited about it, but that’s what he wants to do. And he’ll be good to go here shortly. Won’t be able to do anything else the rest of practice. But he’s a guy, he’s played a lot of football around here. And we know what he can do.”
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On the quarterback room and the battle there...
“I think, first of all, there’s just great competition in that room because you’ve got a bunch of guys that are all competing and they all believe they can be and should be the quarterback here at South Carolina. So there’s great competition, first of all, which I love. And then I think there’s just an experience and a maturity aspect with those guys. We may have a lot of new faces around here, not just in the quarterback room, but all across the board.
“We may have lost a lot of production here at Carolina, but we replaced it with a lot of production from other schools. Now, they may not have had that production here at Carolina, but those receivers that we’ve brought in, like Jared and Gage and Amari, they caught a bunch of balls at the college they’re coming from. And DeAndre Jules had a lot of production, and Jawarn Howell and Oscar Adaway, Rocket Sanders. Yeah, we lost some production, but we’ve replaced it with a lot of production as well.
“And I say that because it’s the same situation in the quarterback room as well. Those guys have played at this level. Robbie has started games in this conference. Now that Oklahoma and Texas are in the SEC, Davis Beville has started a game, an SEC team now versus an SEC team now. And when you play quarterback in that OU-Texas game, that game is wowsers when you talk about just electricity and intensity. So they’re not like freshmen out of high school. It’s new for them because they’re learning a new system and how we do things and things like that.
“But it’s not a situation where the bullets are flying out there and they don’t know how to respond. They’ve been in those situations before, which is great. And then that helps LaNorris as well, just having those guys to compete with him. And LaNorris, I’m really pleased with the progress he’s made because there is no Spencer in that room anymore. There’s Luke, who obviously has played a lot of football and somebody he can lean on, but he can’t rely on Spencer. And LaNorris, really, since January, has been great just as far as taking a leadership role vocally and continuing to try and do the things that you need your quarterback to do.
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On what fans can expect from the offense and explosion this season…
“Yeah, that’s one thing that, we count explosive plays as a run over 12 yards and a pass over 18 yards. And same thing defensively. If you are giving up 12-yard runs and 18-yard passes or more, that’s giving up explosives. And, you know, if you look at our record, the way that we keep it, I think we’re something like 16-2 in our three years here if we just win the explosive play battle each week. And that’s not rocket science. Every team in America probably is doing the same thing. If you have a lot of big plays, your chances of winning are going to go up. But it’s something that we’ve emphasized, always have, and really have emphasized to our players about being explosive offensively and then not giving up explosives defensively, which we did too many times at times last year.
“So, yeah, we want to be explosive. But, as always, we want to be balanced. Well, what does that mean? To me, it’s not 50-50. It’s the ability to run the ball when you need to run it and the ability to throw it when you need to throw it, protecting the football. We were better last year at protecting the football offensively, but still not where we want to be. We were dead last. My first two years here, we were better, a lot better last season. We certainly can continue to improve that. And then beyond that, it just gets into, let’s figure out who our best players are and figure out how we’re going to get them on the field and get on the ball. And we’re deeper at running back. Yes, we lost a lot of production at wide receiver with Zay being gone. But we have more depth in that room. I think we have more depth in the tight end room. So it’s exciting to watch those guys get out there and compete. And let’s figure out who our best guys are and how we get them the ball and not try and say this is our offense, adapt to what we want to do. We want to be multiple enough where we can adapt to our personnel.”
On competition in South Carolina’s cornerback room…
“It’s neat watching that battle in there. Obviously, you’ve got guys like Judge Collier, who started a couple games for us last year. He is long and athletic and has worked to get stronger as well. So he’s someone that started a couple of games last season and has some experience. David Spaulding’s working quite a bit out there right now. David kind of does everything, safety, nickel, corner, but he’s been out there. You talk about Vicari Swain, who’s out there as well. Jalewis Solomon comes in this summer. We’ll throw him into the mix out there as well. And then, O’Donnell’s kind of on that other side right now and he’s competing with all of them, but all those guys are battling out to figure out who’s on the other side, but they’re all mixing it in there. I know you guys think I’m full of it when I say there’s no real depth chart. Now we have, okay, you’re the first group today, but it might be whenever the next media availability is, you’ll be out there and see, okay, here’s the starting 11 on offense and defense. It is for that period. And then maybe the next time we do a team period, it’s a different corner out there, getting work with the ones.
“And then the thing that’s helping us too right now is just the fact that because we have pretty much our entire team here right now, except for three scholarship freshmen and some walk-ons that we’ll get here in the summertime. We’re able to set up these practices just like we do in August, meaning that everyone’s getting reps. When we’re doing a team period, most of the time we have an 11 on 11 group going on on one field, and then we have 11 on 11 going on on a separate field. So everybody is getting reps. So because of that, it might be, okay, Vicari, you’re on this field today, this period, next period, you’re over here on the other field. Emory, you’re over here this period, next period, you’re over there. And they’re all getting a ton of work. And then we’re able to get in there and evaluate the tape and go from there. So it’s pleased with the progress. I’ve seen them make a lot of plays and got to continue to, and just show that consistency and details to do what we need them to do.”
On receivers and if South Carolina will pursue more out of the transfer portal…
“I think with every single position that we have, we’re always looking to increase the depth in the competition. So I wouldn’t say there’s any position that we look at and say we absolutely wouldn’t take somebody if there was somebody out there that fit us and had a chance to make us better. I like that group. No, they’re not Xavier Legette and big from that standpoint. They all don’t look like Nyck Harbor. So, in some ways, that’s a little concerning because, in today’s time, you need big bodies out there on the perimeter. And when you have those, you know, 50-50 balls, meaning you and the DB are there and having a chance to make a play, competitive catch, you’ve got the size to get out there and win those battles without a doubt. But having said that, there’s also a benefit to those guys as well. There have been some championship teams that have won championships in this league and nationally that they didn’t have overly big receivers. I mean, I saw Devonta Smith when I was at Georgia catch a touchdown pass to beat us in the national championship game. He’s not a very big guy, but he’s got a great skillset.
“And I think that’s what these guys bring to the table. They can catch a ball. I think it was Gage today caught a little screen, basically the same play we threw on the third down against Clemson two years ago up there, essentially the same type screen. And Gage caught that ball and made one guy miss and he’s out of there for a touchdown, you know? So a lot of that ability, jitterbug isn’t the word that I’m looking for, but y’all know what I mean. Shifty, tough to tackle as well once you get the ball in their hands. So, we’ll be creative with our personnel and continuing to find ways to best utilize those guys. And then when you have a deep tight end group that’s athletic, like we have as well, that makes up for maybe a lack of size that you have out there at the receiver position also.”
Does DJ Braswell get lost in the running back conversation?
“Yeah, he came in as a true freshman and did some things. Y’all have heard me talk about it. The game-winning touchdown pass against Kentucky was made possible because of a great blitz pickup that he made where he had to come across the formation and pick up a linebacker or a guy coming on the pressure, which is big for any running back to do, but especially a true freshman.
“I told the running backs back in January that, look, yeah, we brought in three transfer running backs, talking to Juju and DJ and all those returning guys, and that’s not necessarily a knock on you, but that is an opportunity. One, we showed last year with all the injuries we had at running back that you need more than three scholarship running backs. I told you guys before I was at Virginia Tech and we lost four in one season back in 2014 or 15. So we want to increase the depth, but also it’s time for DJ or whoever else to step up as well. And I think he took that to heart that, okay, you brought in three running backs, I’m going to work, and he’s got a ways to go, but he worked in the weight room.
“He can run, there’s no question about it. He continues to get stronger and then being able to do all the things that we want our running backs to do. It’s not just running the ball, it’s all the other stuff: protections, passing game, all special teams, and he’s continuing to get better. So that’s another great room with competition. Love what Oscar brings to the table. Love what Rocket brings to the table. Really excited about Jawarn Howell and then to go along with Juju and DJ and Bradley Dunn and Chase McCracken, Nathan Harris-Waynick and some of the other running backs that we have here in the program. It’s a good group.”
On true freshmen who could break through…
“It’s hard not to notice those guys all across the board when you talk about the three freshmen on the offensive line, Josiah, Kam, and Blake. They’re going to be really good players. When you look at those receivers, Mazeo Bennett and Debron Gatling, really excited about some of the things that they continue to do. Obviously, Dylan Stewart is as advertised and has really been impressive in four days as well. Fred and Wendell, really, really excited about. There’s no one through four practices, where we’ve said, okay, he’s probably a year away. In our minds, we’ve got a long way till we play, but let’s try and get them all ready to play. And none of them have given us any reason to think that they can’t either. It’s a good group, and whether it be special teams, whether it be offense, whether it be defense, let’s find a role for them and get them out there and get them going.
“It’s an athletic group. Specifically, we are absolutely more athletic at linebacker. And that’s not a knock on anybody that’s not here, the two guys that left. But these guys, when you talk about the two true freshmen, and you talk about Bangally Kamara and Demetrius Knight, those are two really, really, really good players that were very productive at their previous schools, and two really, really talented freshmen that are long and athletic and what you want from a size standpoint.”
