Beamer scheduled to speak at 2:55 today *
- Thread starter rockingamecock
- Start date
Is he putting his hat in the ring for the Senate seat?
1,000,000,000% guaranteed.Wait for it. We're going to the CFP
In Q&A, Rick Henry opens with a question about how hard a critic Shane's son is on him. Can you get any more cupcake? I get that SEC media days is a hype event so the questions are typically vanilla but that was as softball as you get.
Side note: I was in Rick's daughter's high school class (she's a very classy lady) in the '90s and would see him at Dutch Fork track meets all the time. He's super friendly but poor guy has lost his voice it sounds like these days.
Side note: I was in Rick's daughter's high school class (she's a very classy lady) in the '90s and would see him at Dutch Fork track meets all the time. He's super friendly but poor guy has lost his voice it sounds like these days.
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Beamer put his neck on the line last year when he clearly implied we will make the playoffs this season. I hope we do. That would be fantastic. I think it was unwise to set the bar so high because expectations go there.
That little episode really smacked of desperation, it was sad to see. Beamer looked pathetic saying basically, "wait til next year".
Lobby for a swap with the ACC, FSU to the SEC, SC to the ACC. 8 win seasons would become the norm and being in competition for the ACC championship would be doable most seasons, SC fans would be happy forever.
Beamer isn't going anywhere. I say he goes 7-6 this year with an upset in the regular season and a win in a crap bowl. That result will have the fans ecstatic in the offseason. If one of the wins is Clemson, Beamer gets a raise and extension.
But the SEC payout is so wonderful we don't lose money
And what about the prestige of being at the bottom of such a premier conference and the recruiting advantage.
Jake Dickert of Wake Forest. He is the next Kirby Smart., I would open the wallet to get him. By the way, Brent Venables calls Georgia the "gold standard of college football". I'm not going to be around much longer. So, it doesn't matter to me. Things at USC are not going to change in the foreseeable future. So, our football fortunes are for people much younger than me to deal with. Beamer has really trapped himself in a corner by clearly guaranteeing making the playoffs this year. If we have a mediocre year in his 7th season at USC, in the words of Ricky Ricardo to Lucy, Beamer will have to "splain yourself". In the words of one of my USC graduate school professors, that was "very Polack" of Beamer. Hopefully, just as his Dad Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech, Beamer's 7th season here, will be his "breakthrough year".
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If Dickert is as good as people say, he wouldn't take the South Carolina job for any amount of money. SC has proven to be a coaches graveyard and a top tier up and comer isn't going to risk his career on a place with no tradition of winning and the limitations built into the SC head coaching job.
I think Beamer wins 6 games this season and goes to a lower tier bowl and wins to finish with a 7-6 record. That will more than satisfy the fan base and will really pump up the "WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR!!!" battle cry.
This is Beamer's 6th season. It just feels like he's been here longer. He is 3 games over .500 after 6 seasons. It is almost like he was destined to be the football coach at South Carolina.
Piscis,
You are right. It will be his 6th season. As a longtime Gamecock fan, I am conditioned not to expect much from the program. Younger fans though are different. They expect better. They have not experienced the "downs" like many of us. And after Beamer talked about making the CFP next year, it will be interesting to see the fan reaction to a mediocre season (and, yes, 7-6 is mediocre) you expect. They got a taste of being nationally relevant in the 2010-13 timeframe. They remember SOS asking, "Why not us?". I have gone to one football game per year, with family for several years, long after being a Gamecock Club member and season tickets holder for decades. When I went to the Kentucky game last year, I looked around and thought to myself, "Man oh man, 90% of the fans here look much, much younger than me." Most of the fans were very young. Those lucky fans have not experienced what I have regarding Gamecock football. IF we have the kind of year you expect, especially after Beamer ran his mouth regarding his 2026 season expectation, I really, really don't think those people are going to take it well at all.
It's perplexing to me why Beamer said what he did. I THINK that Donati is putting pressure on him to produce.. Beamer never fired any coach at mid-season until last year, Donati's first here when he fired 2. That could be just a coincidence. But, I tend not to believe in coincidences. You could be right that 6 or 7 wins in Year 6 will be enough. That said, I'm certain that there will be a lot of unhappy people, after what Beamer said last November about the 2026 CFP. And look around . There are schools that really have been mediocre in the past 50 or so years that have had pretty good success in recent years. Donati did not stick with baseball coach Manieri long before he pulled the trigger. And Manieri was a national championship winning coach. I'm pulling for Beamer. I do think he is feeling the heat. Of course, Beamer's buyout, IF he fails, could save him.
IF things don't work out for Beamer, hiring a FBS Head Coach, who has been successful at another school(s) will be the way to go. Looking at our history, Head Coaches hired here who had never produced at another FBS school (Bell, Woods, Scott and Muschamp), all got fired. IF Beamer survives and goes on to have a long, outstanding career here, he will be the first football coach who did it having not having done it before at another FBS school. The great thing about Steve Spurrier's time here is that he proved football can be a big winner here. And Spurrier was well past his prime when he did that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Beamer is the one.
You are right. It will be his 6th season. As a longtime Gamecock fan, I am conditioned not to expect much from the program. Younger fans though are different. They expect better. They have not experienced the "downs" like many of us. And after Beamer talked about making the CFP next year, it will be interesting to see the fan reaction to a mediocre season (and, yes, 7-6 is mediocre) you expect. They got a taste of being nationally relevant in the 2010-13 timeframe. They remember SOS asking, "Why not us?". I have gone to one football game per year, with family for several years, long after being a Gamecock Club member and season tickets holder for decades. When I went to the Kentucky game last year, I looked around and thought to myself, "Man oh man, 90% of the fans here look much, much younger than me." Most of the fans were very young. Those lucky fans have not experienced what I have regarding Gamecock football. IF we have the kind of year you expect, especially after Beamer ran his mouth regarding his 2026 season expectation, I really, really don't think those people are going to take it well at all.
It's perplexing to me why Beamer said what he did. I THINK that Donati is putting pressure on him to produce.. Beamer never fired any coach at mid-season until last year, Donati's first here when he fired 2. That could be just a coincidence. But, I tend not to believe in coincidences. You could be right that 6 or 7 wins in Year 6 will be enough. That said, I'm certain that there will be a lot of unhappy people, after what Beamer said last November about the 2026 CFP. And look around . There are schools that really have been mediocre in the past 50 or so years that have had pretty good success in recent years. Donati did not stick with baseball coach Manieri long before he pulled the trigger. And Manieri was a national championship winning coach. I'm pulling for Beamer. I do think he is feeling the heat. Of course, Beamer's buyout, IF he fails, could save him.
IF things don't work out for Beamer, hiring a FBS Head Coach, who has been successful at another school(s) will be the way to go. Looking at our history, Head Coaches hired here who had never produced at another FBS school (Bell, Woods, Scott and Muschamp), all got fired. IF Beamer survives and goes on to have a long, outstanding career here, he will be the first football coach who did it having not having done it before at another FBS school. The great thing about Steve Spurrier's time here is that he proved football can be a big winner here. And Spurrier was well past his prime when he did that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Beamer is the one.
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For us to elevate ourselves above 7-6 consistently in the SEC requires that we build the program to the same tier as an LSU and with respect, that’s not going to happen. Spurrier himself could not do it without the brief magic of instate superstars that fell in his lap. Whether it’s Spurrier or Beamer or Wake Forest guy or Rockne or Lombardi, you still have to attract the PLAYERS to come here, and stay when they do. We really need to get ourselves back in the ACC.
It was a hard stop when the leg humpers literally stole Smart from under Tanner's nose after old ball sack took his ball and went home. I was a bit optimistic that, even though Agent Muschamp set a perennial powerhouse back a decade, he would at minimum leave us with a decent defense while he rode away with a bag of free cash.
We will never go back into the ACC unless we are forced to. If FBS schools were divided into the 32 schools and everybody else, then we will be into another conference. And that's a real possibility. I'd hate to see Clemson be put among the Top 32 while we are stuck with everyone else.
We are at a disadvantage from a recruiting angle. We always have been. Our best success has been with Head Coaches who had coaching chops. Those kinds of coaches can elevate us beyond .500 mediocrity, not always, but sometimes. Is Beamer that kind of coach? Time will tell. The jury is still out on him. He is not a Spurrier, Morrison or Holtz from a coaching perspective. He is more of a "CEO-type" coach, like Dabo. Hopefully, he made great hires during this past off-season. If not, he is a short-timer.
Not taking advantage of the momentum that a past his prime Spurrier started, was a huge shame. Not making a better hire than a failed SEC coach was ridiculous.
Spurrier did us no favors quitting on the team mid season. He sent a message that South Carolina football was so bad it made a hall of fame coach throw up his hands and walk away. The rest of the college football world saw a program where even Steve Spurrier couldn't maintain success more than a few seasons. The mediocrity since he left has reinforced that idea in the coaching community.
Fans, of all ages, need to accept that SC football is going to be mediocre overall. There will be some good seasons thrown in, maybe one or two a decade, but 5 to 8 wins is going to be the norm. The biggest highs are going to come from the upsets of favored teams by South Carolina. The fans who focus on winning a championship are masochists.
Spurrier wanted to quit about the same time Clowney left. But he was talked out of it by Tanner. From 2010-2013 we were nationally ranked, finishing in the Top 10 three straight times. In 2014 we went to a bowl and won it. In the end (2015), his heart was not in it. He finished that season 2-4, his only losing season. Hell, he was 70 years-old that season. His heart probably was not in it in 2014 either. He was past his prime before even setting foot at USC. I can understand people being upset with SOS over quitting mid-season. I really can. But, not me. He proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that SC football can be nationally relevant. I appreciate that.
I have frequently said that we will never win a SEC championship, much less a national championship. But, we can be better than mediocre. Our recruiting class right now is 25th. That's respectable. Last year, our recruiting class finished 18th. The years prior we finished 17th, 19th and 16th. All that is during the NIL era. How did Spurrier's recruiting do from 2006 on? 18,7,22,11,51,16,19, 19, 14 and 17. The recruiting between Beamer and Spurrier has been comparable. Except for 2007, SOS never brought in a Top 10 class. But he did produce 3 Top 10 teams from 2011- 13. Obviously, not all athletes and players are equal in talent. But by the same token, not all coaches are equal in talent. That's where coaching comes in. Obviously at South Carolina, a coach needs to be able "to do more with less". Joe Morrison was our 2nd best coach behind Spurrier. While he did bring in Todd Ellis, overall he was a weaker recruiter than Spurrier. But he produced 2 Top 15 teams and was 8-4 in each of his last 2 seasons before he died. By the way, I don't consider 8-4 mediocre. Is Shane Beamer up to doing "more with less"? I hope so. I like him and am too old to change Head Coaches. BUT if he can't "do more with less", we need to find someone who can.
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Morrison is my favorite coach we’ve had here by far. I loved him when played for the Giants. But Morrison didn’t have to do ‘more with less’ in a league that included Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, LSU, Tennessee, and Texas a&m. And when he did play the name teams he generally got his ace handed to him.
Clowney, Lattimore, Alshon and Connor Shaw gave Spurrier those three great years. I doubt we will ever see a group of in state players with that level of talent choose South Carolina over the other blue blood programs that surround the state (and Clemson). The sad part was, even with Spurrier as head coach and a team loaded with talent, South Carolina didn't even win the East during that run. Those great years were nothing more than a flash in the pan that generated nothing of real substance in an otherwise forgettable history. I don't know how the momentum that was created disappeared so quickly.
I think Beamer is, realistically, a 6 to 8 win a season coach.
Had Ellis Johnson stayed, I believe 2012-2015 would've looked much different. Whammy was NOT up for the job and it got progressively worse under his tenure. That 2014 team had one of our best offenses ever, but we had swiss cheese for defense.
But as the recruiting rankings show, there is good talent on our roster. And top to bottom, the talent on Beamer teams is comparable to that of Spurrier's teams. If a genie told me that from here on out your SC football team will never win a SEC championship but will often finish in the national Top 10, I'd take that deal. in a skinny minute. The momentum of the Spurrier years disappeared because we had an incompetent heading the athletic department. Dr. Amiridis has corrected that problem, imho. We have a very good AD now in Donati.
I would take 8 wins from Beamer and dance in the streets.
There is good talent and there is game changing talent. Clowney, Lattimore and Alshon were game changing talent and Shaw was a very good QB who knew how to win a game. Recruiting saw no bump because of those three great seasons. Once the talent from those seasons left, mediocrity returned. That wasn't Tanner's fault.
You and I think alike regarding JoMo. There is no question and, I agree with you, about the schedule then compared to today. BUT by the same token, Joe did not have the SEC as a recruiting magnet for him either. He recruited the best he could with what he had to sell prospects. Hell, he had to show up on Todd Ellis' porch wearing a Santa Clause suit while recruiting him, for crying out loud. Joe was not a strong recruiter. I believe most people realize that, as that was the talk back then during the Morrison years. Yet he had one team finish number 11 in the nation and one team finish number 15 in the nation. Those of us who lived in the Morrison era know that his rosters were not filled throughout with Top 15 recruiting classes. So, yes, he did do "more with less". And his last 2 teams at Carolina finished 8-4. If Shane goes 8-4 this year, I, and I think you, will be doing somersaults in joy.
Interestingly, Clowney is the only one of those 3 who was part of each national Top 10 team. And he was not part of the SEC Eastern champion roster. Some would argue we have some game changing talent now. You need talent throughout a roster, top to bottom in order to win in football. In basketball, one super star is enough. Spurrier was ready to retire after that last national Top 10 team in 2013 and actually retired just 18 months later. Tanner hired Muschamp to replace Spurrier. If Tanner had not hired a proven, failed SEC Head Coach, who knows where we would be today?
I will add this: I am excited about this coming season. That is not making any predictions. I am just excited to have Briles as our OC to go with White our DC. If we have a balanced offense that can chew up yardage on the ground to go along with a passing game, we could have a hell of a team. I think Clayton White is one of the best DCs in the nation. I was pleasantly surprised that Clayton did not leave for another opportunity after this past season. So, let's tee it up and see what happens as the chips fall where they may.
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Briles history is not a "chew up yardage" type OC. He is a prototype Big XII OC. He loves the passing game. If it works, it is great to see the team flying down the field to score. The problem is, when the opposing D stops you on several three and outs in a row and the other team puts together long drives, your D is gassed in the second half or the last quarter.
White is very good and the D has more talent than the O. I was surprised White didn't leave as well.
Unfortunately, I agree with you. I'm hopeful that Shane won't give Briles free reign.
I’m in the opposite camp. I WANT Beamer to give Briles free rein!
If so, look for results like the UGA/TCU game in the 2023 CFP championship game when we face legit SEC talent.
I tend to think along those lines too. I really wanted him to go after Muschamp as a DC after the 2014 season. Instead he went to Auburn, Spurrier brought in an NFL guy to be co-DC and then we got Muschamp the wrong way.
They also lost Brad Lawing after 2012 and Deke Adams replaced him as the DL coach, he was equally not up to the task. There was also a change in the strength and conditioning coach. IIRC our guy left to go to Alabama and I can't say for certain but suspect there was a dip in that department as well. Especially with the defensive line, if you watch some of the 2013 games in hindsight you can see the cracks forming but the roster had some talent to make up for it. With Lawing we had a few good lines and talent and that precedes Clowney.
I think (even by his own admission) Spurrier took his foot off the gas in recruiting after the 2012 season expecting talent to want to come to SC instead of still having to go get it. That was something he assumed was the same from his days at Florida and it wasn't at all.
Spurrier was always known as a lazy recruiter, even at UF. He let his assistants do the heavy recruiting and he counted on the on field results to draw recruits.
Morrison's final team finished 8-4. All four of those losses were abysmal, abominable, ignominious. Recruiting was not going to be sterling. Good teams had caught up with our gimmick offenses and defenses. And then there were the scandals. It was time for Joe to go.
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