Hope is restored for South Carolina football following Shane Beamer’s first lost season with the 2024 recruiting class.
Columbia Shane Beamer, the football coach at South Carolina, didn’t hold back as he opened his signing day news conference on Wednesday.
“For me personally, this is the first time in 16 season that I’m not getting ready for a bowl game,” Beamer stated. “Although I’m a positive guy and I adore our athletes, that’s not appropriate and never will be around here. I have to make things right because I’m not happy.”
For the first time since 2014–15 under Steve Spurrier, the Gamecocks signed their second straight class of top–20 recruits after their first losing season under Beamer. Two five-star recruits are included in the 2024 class; Dylan Stewart, ranked No. 17 overall, is the highest-rated out-of-state recruit the team has ever signed.
While missing a bowl game was disappointing, there was a bright side: in the three weeks between the Gamecocks’ 16-7 defeat to Clemson and the opening of the early signing period, the team had the chance to devote all of its attention on recruiting.
“I never, ever, ever want to do it again, without a doubt … but certainly you try to take the negative of not going to a bowl game and try to turn every adversity into a positive,” Beamer stated. “We visited a number of locations that we may not have been able to otherwise. When you go back over the past month and truly concentrate on recruiting, you see the caliber of individuals we have in our program.”
It’s not unheard of to have one exceptional recruiting class, to get it fortunate with a five-star like Nyck Harbor, and to create anticipation that eventually fizzles out. Beamer’s talent at recruiting was a factor in his hiring, and he has built an exceptionally stable roster: Despite taking over the No. 56 class when Will Muschamp was sacked in the middle of the 2020 season, he has already signed at least one five-star in two of his first three classes, and all three have placed in the top 25 nationally.
On paper, at least, the standout members of South Carolina’s 2024 class appear prepared for college. Josiah Thompson, a five-star offensive lineman and the top prospect in-state, is a 6-foot-6, 280-pound tackle who might play on opening day. According to Beamer, Thompson already has a solid bond with the team’s other offensive line signees. South Carolina is home to three-star Blake Franks and four-star Kam Pringle. Franks and Thompson both committed in less than two weeks.
