Offseason decisions loom as Gamecocks prepare for bowl game against North Carolina

Shane Beamer stood at the podium at the front of South Carolina’s defensive meeting room and took a brief moment to himself.

One year ago Sunday, news broke that Beamer was slated to be the next head football coach at South Carolina. Three-hundred and sixty-five days later, the former Oklahoma and Georgia assistant stood at the front of a room full of reporters headed to his first bowl game as a head coach after guiding the Gamecocks to a 6-6 record in 2021.

“It was during that (Kentucky) game that Coach (Ray) Tanner called me and asked me — I’ll never forget — he said, ‘Are you ready to do this?’ “ Beamer recounted. “And I told him, ‘I’ve been waiting to hear you say that for a long, long time.’ “

While Beamer’s momentary pause for reflection was well-deserved, the incessant nature of college football means the first-year head coach is now heading for another month filled with decisions. Will offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield return in 2022? Who’s going to be USC’s QB1 against North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and beyond? What changes are coming to South Carolina’s roster?

Whether Satterfield returns is perhaps the most pressing question of Beamer’s first full offseason in charge in Columbia. It’s not exactly revealing state secrets to say the South Carolina offense has been bad. Really, it’s been worse than bad.

The Gamecocks finished the regular season ranked 96th in passing offense, 103rd in rushing offense and 115th in total offense nationally. Those numbers were good for 13th, 12th and 13th, respectively, in the Southeastern Conference.

Beamer has remained hush-hush on whether he has any staff changes planned. Sunday, he responded with a simple, “Yes,” when asked whether each of the assistant coaches would remain in their given roles through the bowl game.

“We’ve got to be more gotta be more efficient, we’ve got to be more consistent and operate at a higher level — there’s no denying that,” Beamer said in regard to what has to be better offensively. “And that’s in every area. We’ve got to be better in all areas, starting with me.”

Naturally, South Carolina’s offense also enters bowl season unsure of where it might go under center.

That the Gamecocks have a question mark at quarterback is perhaps the most consistent part of this season’s offense. Each of Luke Doty, Zeb Noland and Jason Brown won a pair of games at signal-caller for South Carolina this year. It had been Brown’s show over the past four games, but he was pulled in favor of Noland after an 8-of-19, 67-yard start to the Clemson game in the regular season finale.

Beamer told reporters Sunday he hadn’t given the quarterback situation much thought since his first regular season wrapped two weeks ago. Who can blame him? Beamer and his staff have been on the road recruiting since an open contact period opened up after the regular season finished up. Beamer himself said he was down in Miami with a recruit earlier in the day on Sunday and he’d barely had a chance to think since he got back around midday.

“This afternoon at four o’clock when we had a staff meeting was the first time that we’ve all been together since last Sunday morning, when we met as a staff,” he said. “So we’ll hash all that out and kind of figure out where everybody is at all positions as we get into bowl prep.”

Whatever direction Beamer does go during the bowl game at quarterback shouldn’t preclude further offseason changes. The expectation is South Carolina will make a play for a veteran quarterback through the transfer portal between now and spring ball. Who that actually is, though, remains to be seen.

The Gamecocks will bring back both Brown and Doty, while Noland will exhaust his eligibility. Colten Gauthier is also back in the fold. So, too, is four-star freshman quarterback commit Braden Davis.

“Jason is disappointed with the way that he played (against Clemson),” Beamer said. “It didn’t really go well for anybody that night. So we’ll we’ll get up (to Charlotte) and we’ll compete.”

As for this year’s roster, Beamer said Sunday he met with between eight and 10 players last week to discuss using an extra year of eligibility and potential NFL draft decisions. Per those conversations, no one had decided to leave of yet.

“I told those guys, let’s just get through last week, let’s get through exams and then we’ll circle back here in a couple of weeks when it’s not as fresh off the Clemson game,” Beamer explained.

News broke of Beamer’s hiring minutes after the Gamecocks were throttled in their regular season finale at Kentucky in 2020. Now heading toward his first bowl game, South Carolina’s first-year head coach is in the midst of a handful of changes, or non-changes, that could mean plenty toward what his second season in Columbia looks like.

That time to reminisce and reflect deeper? That’s coming after the season. There’s still work to be done.