The South Carolina Gamecock football team begins spring practice on Saturday, March 20. Head coach Shane Beamer spoke to and answered questions from the media on Thursday.
In his opening remarks, Beamer said he was excited about the start of spring ball after pushing back the start date to give the strength and conditioning coaches more time to mold his team.
The Gamecocks have had a lot of alumni coming through the facilities as of late, including Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and Chargers defensive end Melvin Ingram.
Beamer said the impact alumni have had on his team has been powerful.
Beamer said he spoke in a team meeting last week with Connor Shaw, the current director of football relations and former Gamecock quarterback. The discussion was “not about, you know, the glory days and all the great stuff they did, but how they did it and how they held each other accountable,” Beamer said.
Beamer said the adjustment of being a head coach is a whirlwind. In his first 100 days, Beamer has completed his coaching staff and has taken the necessary steps to start turning the program around.
Beamer discussed his program's core values and the team's culture.
“Love’s a big thing for us: Loving playing football here at Carolina; loving being apart of the team,” Beamer said. ”Being positive, as well as trust, toughness, accountability [and] competition.”
Beamer said being a competitive program is important. The Gamecocks track everything that can be measured about their players, Beamer said.
One of the largest questions for the 2021 South Carolina Gamecocks team is who will take the position of quarterback. Last season, freshman Luke Doty took over for graduate transfer Collin Hill in the final two games of the season.
Over the past recruiting cycle, the Gamecocks added three-star freshman signal caller Colten Gauthier. Gauthier comes in at 6-foot-3 and 214 pounds, and some think he might take the spot, according to 247Sports.
“Luke Doty’s going to go out there with the first offense on Saturday morning and take the first rep with the first offense. And then after that? It's wide open competition,” Beamer said.
Beamer said he's looking to name a starter as the spring window closes.
Practice begins Saturday and runs until the annual Garnet & Black game on April 24 at Williams-Brice Stadium.