Shane Beamer walked into his bowl announcement press conference in a pair of nice pants, white shirt and a garnet blazer.
He set his tea down on the podium and took a deep breath. The Sunday night press conference offered Beamer a 30-minute window to take a deep breath from the recruiting bender he spent the last six days going through.
“The road has been great. On a lot of trips in a lot of different places it’s hard to keep track of one day to the next with where all we’ve been,” Beamer said. “It’s been fantastic.”
Beamer made sure to mention his lunch date in Miami earlier Sunday and talk about how he and the rest of the on-field coaches spent the week after losing to Clemson bouncing all the way around the country.
There were stops as west as Texas, up to Delaware and then down to Miami but the Gamecocks were out in force throughout South Carolina as well trying to solidify the 2022 class and the ones after it.
Despite having lost the most recent game, a 30-0 defeat to Clemson, Beamer and his staff still focused on positivity and progress as the Gamecocks picked up six regular season wins—the same number of wins as the previous two years combined—and are going to a bowl in year one under Beamer.
“A lot of those guys were here in attendance for the Auburn and Florida games, and the Clemson game, and they saw the atmosphere and they saw the environment or watched it on TV,” Beamer said. “To be able to tell those guys we’re just getting started and it’s just the beginning.”
South Carolina’s recruiting class currently ranks No. 19 nationally (eighth in the SEC).
There are a few key targets still left to decide like four-stars Antonio Williams (receiver) and Jaishawn Barham (linebacker), linebacker Stone Blanton along with former Virginia Tech commitment D’Andre Martin, receiver Zavier Short and receiver Camden Brown.
The early signing period starts Dec. 15 and will run through Dec. 17 with a lot of those players and most of the Gamecocks’ 18 commitments opting to sign then.
“We’re building this thing and year one was a great year for us from a foundation standpoint and a great opportunity to help us elevate the program,” Beamer said. “We’re not far away, in my opinion. That’s been my message.”
Beamer also said he was stopped plenty over his recruiting travels last week to talk about his team and get complimented on the job he, his staff and the players did this year.
The coaching staff is back on the road recruiting this week before the contact period ends right before signing day.
“Being able to get out and hear so many people stop and congratulate us on the season we had and the way we played,” Beamer said.
“It’s cool to hear from other college coaches I bumped into or high school coaches who talked about the effort our guys played with or the fight we played with or the passion our guys played with. That makes you happy to hear that.”
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