South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spoke to the media on Tuesday to preview the Gamecocks' Week 1 matchup with Virginia Tech.
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spoke to the media on Tuesday to preview the Gamecocks’ Week 1 matchup with Virginia Tech. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. on Sunday and will be broadcast on ESPN.
Here’s everything Beamer had to say.
Opening statement
“Happy that it’s finally game week as well. We’ve talked to our players about how we work all year for 12 guaranteed opportunities, and we get our first one Sunday as well. Could not be more excited about getting going on that, without a doubt. Obviously, excited about a couple of things — house cleaning before we get into Virginia Tech. I’m excited for Rahsul (Faison). Awesome news that he is free. Huge props and thanks to our compliance office, Erin Abbey, Angie Ludwig and John Stephenson. They, along with everyone here at the university, worked really, really hard on this. Appreciate the NCAA and working with us on that one also. So it was a process, there’s no question about it, but in the end, had the best resolution for him in what I think was the right thing to do, without a doubt. So, really excited for him and our team is also, and thanks to everyone involved in that.
“One update on Travian Robertson. Obviously, a really serious accident last week. Truthfully, he’s very lucky to be alive as well. He will not be with us this weekend in Atlanta. He will be back soon. I’ve seen him since the wreck, and I’ve talked to him as well, and he’s eager to get back out here and will be as soon as possible. Everyone knows what this place means to him and how much it hurts him not to be here with us right now, but his health is the primary thing. He had some pretty serious stuff happen to him in that wreck, so I would ask for continued thoughts and prayers for him and his family, but he is going to be okay. It’s nothing long-term. It’s just physically, he’s not able to be down on the sidelines at a game right now as well.
“Jordan Dove, who works closely with our defensive line, is essentially the defensive line coach right now, working with the tackles. Obviously, Sterling Lucas is heavily involved, being that his position lines up next to the tackles, and then we’ve got a really talented defensive staff. Everybody’s responsibilities need to increase in Travian’s absence in the short term. This won’t be an all-year thing by any stretch of imagination, but just this week and until Travian gets back. We’re fortunate that we’ve got an older group in that room. Nick Barrett’s been here as long as I have in this program. Nick Barrett’s been in this defensive system longer than Travian Robertson has, because he’s been here since year one with us. We’ve got older guys in that defensive line room, and they’ll all do a great job and play their butts off this weekend for Travian until he gets back here with us.
“Also, want to congratulate all of our NFL guys. That’s so freaking awesome that so many of those guys who were on last year’s team are now on NFL rosters. And then I talked to every one of our guys that got put on waivers or released yesterday, except for one of them, and everyone that I talked to last night or this morning, the team has told them that they want them back on the practice squad, which is great news for those guys. They’re all NFL football players, and really excited for them. A great testament to them, and then our program just their development and what they were able to do here. To have an opportunity to go be on an NFL roster, really fired up and excited for them.
“And then obviously, really fired up and excited for this upcoming weekend to be able to compete in the Aflac Kickoff Game that Gary Stokan in Atlanta puts along with his team. Anything that they do is first class, whether it be the Peach Bowl or any sporting event that comes to Atlanta, the Peach Bowl golf challenge that myself and other head coaches play in in the springtime, which is a first-class event. It’s going to be awesome. Everything they do is first class. And this event will be as well. Really fired up for George Rogers, he’ll be our honorary captain on Sunday as well. Georgia native, Heisman Trophy winner here at Carolina. So I know George is excited about that as well. I know there’ll be a ton of fans from Carolina there. Can’t wait to see all the garnet and black in the stands. We are doing a pregame walk like we do here in Columbia for home games. So I’m sure we’ll post on social media all the details of that, but I would encourage our fans to come out and see our guys when we arrive at the stadium a couple of hours before kickoff for that walk on Sunday.
“Obviously, playing a great opponent in Virginia Tech. You old heads that have been around here for a little bit will remember that these two teams used to play every year, and my dad became the head coach at Virginia Tech in 1987, and they played in ’87, they played in ’88, they played in ’89, they played in ’90, they played in ’91 as well. And then South Carolina went into the SEC, and Virginia Tech went into the old Big East Conference that was created back in the early ’90s, and then they didn’t play anymore. I thought then, as a kid growing up, that these were two teams that needed to play every year, and it’s crazy that we haven’t in so long. It’ll be exciting to play against a team that we have a history with as well, and a good football team. This is a team that, in my opinion, last season was much better than their record. If you go back and look at last season, they had two three-point losses and a four-point loss, and I think everybody was watching the Miami game, which I think was one of our off weekends when they had a really, really controversial finish to that game that easily could have been a win. Had a three-touchdown lead against Syracuse, and they weren’t able to hang on on that one. Two seven-point losses, I believe, a four-point loss and two three-point losses. If they’re on the other side of those, they’re a play or two away from being a 9-3 team. This is a top 15 matchup because of the players they have coming back as well. They dealt with some injuries last season, very similar to what we were in 2023, with some of the injuries and close losses that we had. They’ve got really good players in all three phases. They’re very well coached.
“I don’t think enough people are talking about Kyron Drones — the quarterback. He’s a heck of a talent, and he can make all the throws. He reminds me a lot of LaNorris (Sellers) and his ability to run the ball. He’s a quarterback who’s able to run the ball, but he’s not shying away from contact. I mean, he has a play against Old Dominion last year where he breaks it off for 60 (yards), and he’s trying to run over people, and defenders are just bouncing off of him. So he makes their offense go and it will be a big challenge for us on Sunday. And then, like I said, I’ve got a ton of respect for Brent Pry. I think the world of him. He was a graduate assistant coach when I was a player at Virginia Tech. He gets Virginia Tech. It’s real and genuine with him, his love of Virginia Tech, his appreciation for my dad, the kind of person he is, and certainly, he’s doing a great job with that program, and somebody that I got a lot of respect for. We’re looking forward to competing on Sunday.”
Will you release a depth chart? Are we going to get to see one, or are we going to have to piece it together on Sunday?
“You’ll piece it together. And again, I’ve got respect for y’all, and I understand you have a job to do, and it’s not trying to be any kind of gamesmanship. I called Brent Pry last week, and I told Brent Pry that I was not going to release a depth chart this week because I didn’t want him to release one, and then we don’t release one, and he’s like, ‘What the heck?’ So I called him last week to tell him that I was not releasing a depth chart. It’s not any kind of trying to keep secrets from Virginia Tech, to be totally honest. I’m just trying to avoid unnecessary overreactions, which is what a depth chart is when it comes out. I mean, we still got position battles going on out there on the practice field, and if I had released a depth chart, it was going to have a bazillion ands and ors on there, because that very much is the case at a lot of those positions.
“So again, I’m respectful of the job that you guys have, and I’m not trying to make things more difficult on you guys, but that’s what I was just trying to avoid. As I looked at what’s best for our team right now, it’s not putting anything out on paper. I’m not sure what we’ll do on Sunday leading up to the game. I can tell you with about, I think we do it with about 28 minutes left on the clock in pregame warm-ups, the first offense will come together and run plays against the first defense. That’ll be a great look at it. That gives you a 28-minute head start before kickoff. And then after that, we go down and we kick an extra point. So you’ll see our starting snapper, holder, kicker at that point, and then we turn around and we punt, so you’ll see the starting snapper, punter, and we punt to the starting punt returner, so you’ll be able to knock that off before kickoff as well. I’m not trying to be a smart you know what. That’s truly what’s going to happen as well if we don’t put anything out before then, but Steve (Fink) and I will talk about it. But Dabo (Swinney) and Kirby (Smart) didn’t put a depth chart out before this game last year. Everybody survived, the players, the coaches, the teams, the fans, the media, and I’m sure this year will be no different with us as well.”
Any update on injury-wise or anybody that might miss the game for a non-injury reason?
“No, not at this point. We’re pretty healthy. Nothing new injury-wise, other than what we talked about last week. A couple of guys are coming back from some soft tissue injuries, hamstrings, groins, things like that that I don’t think will keep them from playing on Sunday, but may limit how much they do play. But no, we’re in pretty good shape as of today compared to last week.”
What’s the tone that you want your team and your players to set in this first week?
“We said it a lot last year, and it’s the same thing now. Just be who we are. And I mean that like going into the game and the way that we play, don’t all of a sudden start acting different now, because it’s game week — players and coaches. Be who we are. In game ones, because it is the first time doing it for real, there’s going to be, I don’t want to say kinks, but there are things that happen that you’ve got to work out during the game, because it is game one. Just be a team that plays with great poise throughout the game, no matter what’s happening, good or bad, you continue to play with poise and confidence. And then be the team that we want to be, just in our style of play and how we execute and the effort, physicality that we want to play with.”
With Jordan Dove taking over as defensive line coach in Travian Robertson’s absence, can you explain what the responsibilities of a position coach are in the course of a game, and what Dove will be asked to do?
“Most of the work is done during the week, from a preparation standpoint, in the meetings as you’re putting together the game plan for what we want to do, the position meetings that we have. So most days for us is, for example, we had a team meeting at 8 a.m., and then we had a 20-minute special teams meeting, and then we have about an hour of offense-defense meetings before we went on the field. So when we have those offense-defense meetings, sometimes it’s the whole offense together, sometimes it’s a whole defense together for part of it, but most of the time you’re in your own position rooms. So when we’re in those own position rooms, Jordan Dove is in there, like he is every day with the defensive tackles, and he’s talking about our game plan and Virginia Tech and whatnot. And then during the game, most of the work is done. At that point, Jordan is typically in the press box for us. He does a great job of watching what’s happening and being able to convey to Travian and the rest of the defensive coaches, kind of what’s happening with the offensive line and defensive line during the series. And then, really, the biggest responsibility is the substitutions. That’s something that we talk about as a staff the morning of the game. We’ll meet on Sunday morning, and I’ll talk to each coach about, ‘How are you planning to play the players?’ And in that meeting, Jordan will talk about, you know, here’s who we’re starting, and here’s kind of what the rotation is going to be, and here’s when so and so is going in. And then during the game, Clayton (White)’s obviously making the calls. There are certain calls where Clayton may tell Sterling or Travian that he wants some sort of twist or movement up front with the defensive line, and then he’ll let them call it. But those are all things that those guys have talked about during the week, if that makes sense.”
With Rahsul Faison getting cleared, what was that process like for you of working with the compliance staff over these last few months? Is there a lot of back-and-forth communication every day, or can you kind of just explain to us how it went?
“Yeah, it’s not much because there’s really only so much that I can do. And I knew that our compliance people were working really, really hard. I knew the NCAA had a lot on their plate, on top of ‘Sul’s eligibility case as well, and that there were a lot of moving parts. So for me, it was when needed. Erin or Angie or whoever would reach out to us, or reach out to me and say, maybe, ‘The NCAA needs this, or you have an answer for this,’ and whatnot. But very little, I’ll be honest. It was just kind of supporting them with whatever they needed and trying to be patient. Certainly, you want an answer, and I want to call them every day and say, ‘What have you heard? What have you heard?’ I didn’t do that often, but really, it’s just being able to support in any way. They did most of the legwork. And when I say that, it’s primarily the statements that we needed to provide, the data that we needed, the records that we needed from other schools and things like that. Credit ‘Sul and the way he handled this situation, but then our administration and the way they worked with ‘Sul and the NCAA to get stuff done.”
Virginia Tech has a lot of transfers who are playing various positions this season. What is the challenge of preparing for them in terms of how they’re going to be used? And how have you guys kind of tackled that?
“That’s what’s hard about game one. I mean, I have my own process during the week, or if you ask me, on a normal week, okay, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, at whatever time, 9 a.m., 9:40 10:20, 11:32 p.m., I can tell you exactly what I’m doing between now and the Clemson game, just because it’s such a routine every day during the week. But game ones, you get a little bit off because when you’re trying to get a feel. Unfortunately, it’s game one. We’ve had the summertime to do this. But when you’re trying to get a feel for their personnel, you’re not just watching Virginia Tech. So I spent most of my time on Monday morning watching Texas State, because that’s where their best pass rusher just transferred from, and watching a cut up of him, or watching Hawaii because one of their defensive backs just transferred from Hawaii, or watching Rice because their starting safety just transferred from Rice. Offensively, watching a whole lot of West Virginia, because they’ve had players that have transferred in from West Virginia. Watching Wake Forest because one of their top receivers just came from Wake Forest. Watching Tennessee because they got a receiver who’s going to probably start from that came from Tennessee. But then they’ve also changed numbers, so it’s okay, he wears whatever number he wore the previous school is going to be this number, so you’re trying to find him on the video. Not to mention, you got guys from Virginia Tech, 26 for them is now wearing zero this year.
“So it’s a lot, but in all, and I’ll laugh, but I mean, it’s serious, it’s a lot of just watching other people and trying to get a feel for their personnel, trying to project how they’re going to use them within their system. And then you also add the challenge of two new coordinators offensively and defensively that weren’t in college football last year. So it’s a lot. You’ve got to be careful that you’re not chasing and trying to prepare for everything, and then you’re not good at anything. That’s a big challenge in the first game, for sure. So we have to make sure that we have a good feel for their personnel. But it’s always about us, though. I don’t mean that any disrespect to Virginia Tech. It’s always about us, like what we’re doing schematically, how we play and whatnot. But also like any opponent, you want to have a good feel for that opponent, their personnel, their schemes.”
Luke Doty mentioned that Nyck Harbor reminds him a lot of Xavier Legette in terms of his mindset currently compared to this time last year. How have you seen him grow in how he carries himself?
“I think he’s having fun, for sure. Not that he wasn’t last year, but last year, when he started practice, it was the first time he had practiced in a year, because he was doing track, and he’s still trying to learn everything. He was trying to develop that relationship with Mike Furrey, a new receivers coach. So I think he’s much more at ease now in a lot of ways, because he went through spring practice and he went through the summer. So I see him having fun. And then really, I just say the fundamentals of the position, of running routes, how to get open, how to block, catching the ball, running after the catch. He’s just so much farther along. Still has a ways to go, but he’s so much farther along from last year at this time to now, just because he’s spent more time in football.”
When Doty was in here, he talked a little bit about his relationship with Sellers and how he tries to help him out. As a coach, how valuable is that to you to have a kid who’s been around here for so long, just to be able to share his knowledge and experiences?
“Yeah, huge. Anytime you have an older team, a veteran team, it helps. We had that last year with so many guys. This year we don’t have as many older guys and and I was just meeting with some of the players on our team, and we were talking about the 2021 season. Luke was here, Nick Barrett was here, and Bradley Dunn was here. But there weren’t a lot of other guys that were leaders, if you will, on our team, that were here then. So to be able to say that to have a guy like Luke and some of those older guys who’ve seen everything.
“No matter what happens on Sunday or at any point this season, it’s not going to be anything that they probably they probably haven’t already experienced as a player here, good and bad on the field. But especially with LaNrris, he has a guy like Luke that can talk to him and help him. Luke, one being a talented player, but just a great person, a great leader, they sit next to each other in those quarterback meetings, and there’s communication going on back and forth. I just think he’s a great resource for LaNorris in the meetings, on the field between series. Luke has a really valuable role in this team.”
When you get the call that Faison’s been cleared, what does that do for the team, the running back room, and how much more dynamic is that group with him back in the fold?
“It was awesome. You’re optimistic, but until you hear, you don’t know. And this week, it was getting to be crunch time, obviously, because it’s game week and you need an answer one way or another, because you’re getting ready for a game literally during that week. I was really proud of ‘Sul for how he handled this whole situation. If it ever affected him, he never showed it. He was the same guy each and every day. Just went out there and worked and got better. That was an awesome phone call for me. Erin Abbey called me and told me that we got word that he was cleared and that I could let ‘Sul know. And he was at home already in the afternoon, so I FaceTimed him and told him, and that was a pretty cool moment that I won’t forget, just seeing the joy in his face, and all he kept saying was just, ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,’ because he’s so appreciative of the opportunity.
“He came and saw me yesterday just to thank me again as well, which is awesome. So that was a really special moment. A lot of emotions. And then certainly it makes a room that was already good, in my opinion, even better. And I told you guys, I believe last week, that trying to offset it publicly, whether ‘Sul was eligible or not, we were going to play multiple running backs. And now that he’s eligible, he’s going to play, and then there’ll be other guys in that room that will also play. So it makes a room that I was really excited about already makes that room even better, and gets me even more excited to just add to the depth and the personnel in that running back room.”
Mike Shula said that more receivers, particularly freshmen, might be able to get into the game than he would have initially expected. Do you agree with that assessment, and do you have any estimate of how many of those freshmen might see the field Sunday?
“Indirect depth chart question right there. I see what you did there. Yes, I would agree with what Mike said on that one. When we signed those receivers, we signed them with the intention of getting them ready to play early. And they’ve come in; going through spring practice was huge for them. Everybody went through the spring except Donovan Murph, but he was basically out there every day during spring practice. And now that we’ve gone through the preseason, they’ve just continued to get better. They still have a ways to go, but they’re dynamic players who are really going to help us. We’ve got a really good receiver room already with some of those other older receivers, but yeah, absolutely, I think you’ll see a small group of them that are going to play a lot on Sunday. And I would say that there’s a chance that you see all of them play a little bit on Sunday.”
Like you said earlier, we’ll learn who the starters are on game day, but where are you at right now with special teams? Do you feel like you have an answer in your mind as to the questions you had about that group coming in with who you want to see start?
“I’m a lot closer than I was on August 1 when we started practice. Just to be completely honest, I wish we kicked a little better today and Monday, Sunday, whatever day it was. Sunday in the football world, Monday in the real world. Not that we were bad, but being a perfectionist, you want to hit everything. I’m confident in those guys once we get into Sunday without a doubt. But we’ve come a long way. They’ve all improved. I like where we are on special teams, not just punters, kickers, snappers, but coverage units, return units, all that. It’s a big point of emphasis for us, and we need to be really good at it on Sunday. And we’ve got quality, talented guys, don’t get me wrong. More than one at each position when I talk about the punter and the kicker and the kickoff person as well. Just want to see more and more consistency all the time from those guys and confident that we will.”
What have you heard from players, maybe recruits, about the Nike deal?
“A lot of excitement. Certainly grateful for our partnership with Under Armour for so many years. They’ve been a great partner and a great friend to Carolina athletics, and will continue to be over the next year until that contract runs out. But the response from our team and the response from recruits has been really, really, really positive as well. It’s something that has come up with some recruits that we’re recruiting right now. During the recruiting process, that was one of the questions in my office with some recruits on official visits was what the apparel contract looks like going forward. To have it resolved, appreciate Nike. I mean, they wanted us. Appreciate Jeremiah (Donati), Jeff Crane, and the rest of our administration for their communication and getting this done without a doubt. So I think it’s a great day for South Carolina. All the players I know and the recruits that I know feel the same way.”
How many starting positions are still up for grabs?
“Well, competition is a core value of our program, and we say we compete every day. So all of them. Okay? I’d be a hypocrite if they weren’t. That’s just the case. Now, is it going to be hard for somebody to beat out LaNorris Sellers at quarterback? Yeah, probably so. But we’re competing each and every day in practice.”
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Category: General Sports
