Spring football has begun for the Gamecocks, with its first open practice on March 19, and South Carolina has made adjustments since last season. With players departing or declaring for the NFL draft, there are many new faces on the roster looking to prove themselves in the spring.
Ranking 18th nationally in commitments and 11th in the SEC, South Carolina has 26 total commits in 2024-2025. Some notable freshmen stepping on the South Carolina campus are four-star wide receivers Malik Clark and Donavan Murph, as well as safety Kendall Daniels.
Beyond high school, the Gamecocks acquired around 13 transfers from the transfer portal. Some of those players include junior defensive back Brandon Cisse from NC State, graduate student running back Rahsul Faison from Utah State and ESPN's No. 2 JUCO recruit, junior defensive lineman Zavion Hardy from East Mississippi Community College.
Head coach Shane Beamer spoke on how the team felt being back in the facility after last season.
“Since they came back in January, it’s a group that’s very confident because they know that we have a chance to be a really good football team," Beamer said. "But very hungry as well about the way that last year ended."
During the postseason last year, South Carolina appointed Mike Shula as the new offensive coordinator after the departure of Dowell Loggains who became the Appalachian State football head coach. Shula is not new to South Carolina as he was promoted from offensive analyst and worked very closely with redshirt sophomore quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
In a recent press conference addressing the media, Shula discussed what he has seen from the new additions on offense between transfers and freshmen.
“The energy has been great. We have ... The whole mix," Shula said. "The guys that have come in from other schools, and then the freshman, I think there’s a really good urgency for guys to do their job right to finish on every play."
As Sellers was able to evolve over this past season getting more comfortable as the Gamecocks starting quarterback, Shula wants to build around him as he continues to grow and add to his skill set.
“As we’ve seen last year, he is a pretty good runner, so we don’t want to take that ability away from him. We want to enhance. but we want to do it on our own terms,” Shula said. “We want him to run because he wants to, not because he has to.”
The Gamecocks added three offensive linemen through the portal and also had some upperclassmen step up. Redshirt junior Boaz Stanley, who transferred from Troy, has stood out as a contender for the job for the center, while Tree Babalade, a redshirt sophomore, has stood out to possibly fit into one of the guard positions.
Not only do the Gamecocks want to build with the offensive line, but the team also wants to grow the talented wide receiver room with returners such as sophomore Mazeo Bennett Jr., junior Nyck Harbor and redshirt senior Jared Brown.
"I'm a leader, but I'm more of a lead-by-example type of guy," Bennett Jr. said. "I feel like they look at me, and they see me doing it right, and it is going to help them do it right."
While recruiting the 2025 high school class, South Carolina signed six wide recivers to join the team this season. Wide receiver coach Mike Furrey said he felt that players wanted to play for Sellers, and that attracted potienal recruits to play for South Carolina.
“We knew we had the six wideouts coming in, so we didn’t want to bring someone in that was going to take reps away from them. That would allow them to grow, but at the same time, we didn't want to miss on something. Maybe a kid that wanted to be here at South Carolina wanted to come here and help this team win," Furrey said.
Junior defensive back Jalon Kilgore spends extensive time with the new freshmen receivers, matching up with them in practice, and said he was impressed with their skills.
“All of (those) guys are looking good, especially the young guys. They’re fast, they can run, they can catch, they can jump, so it is going to be exciting to see them, especially in the spring game, just let them run loose,” Kilgore said .
While the offense is rebuilding and adjusting to try new changes, so is the defense. The 2024 defense was talented, and many of the players declared for the NFL Draft. While the team can't replace the players who had seasons such as Nick Emmanwori and Kyle Kennard, the Gamecocks can try and find players who want to step up into those open roles.
At the end of last season and continuing from the spring, sophmore Fred "JayR" Johnson emerged as one of those players that could step up. Johnson was able to be behind last year's linebackers and has a chance this year to be in the lineup.
At the March 25 news conference, defensive coordinator Clayton White spoke about what he has seen from him so far in practice.
“It’s little things like that, (not just) on the field for a guy like him as athletic as he is. It's really my job and his job to meet each other halfway to make sure he can maximize his potential," White said.
White also spoke about how the last couple of spring practices have been for the adjusted defense.
“A lot of guys (are) eager to learn our defense, and (I'm) trying to expose them to enough things so where they can learn and grow fast and also make mistakes and learn from their mistakes,” White said.
As South Carolina continues spring practice, the team will be able to showcase its young, new roster at the annual Garnet and Black spring game on April 18 at Williams-Brice Stadium. The game will kick-off at 7:30 p.m.