Spring practice is fully underway for South Carolina, and coach Shane Beamer believes the last two weeks could not have gone much better as his program continues to gain momentum in his second season.
“It was even more intense [Tuesday] than Saturday,” Beamer said of the Gamecocks’ first two practices in pads. “There’s intensity, physicality, our guys have been practicing with great energy all four days.”
Beamer enters a monumental season as he looks to build on a 7-6 campaign and take this team to what has the potential to be a breakout 2022 season and a major building block for a program on the rise.
Today, as we are continuing our spring football coverage by diving into a pair of groups that includes a star transfer and one of the SEC’s best at his position: Tight ends and special teams.
Catch up on the rest of our spring practice breakdowns here:
Stogner supplies star power
The Dynamic Duo. The Gruesome Twosome. The Columbia Couplet.
Whatever you want to call them, when Spencer Rattler and Austin Stogner announced their dual transfer to South Carolina, it ushered in an even higher-octane level of optimism and excitement into a program that was already ascending as one of the nation’s top rising teams.
But for all of the success that Beamer and Co. saw in 2021, the offense was pretty putrid. The injury to quarterback Luke Doty was at the brunt of it, as the Gamecocks had to adjust on the fly. There also weren’t enough playmakers at the pass-catching spots behind receiver Josh Vann.
So when Stogner announced that he was headed to the SEC alongside his former Sooners partner, it injected some potential star power into this offense – in addition to providing a prime replacement for Nick Muse.
Stogner didn’t light the world on fire statistically for Lincoln Riley, finishing with 47 receptions for 654 yards and eight touchdowns in three seasons at Oklahoma. But the 6-foot-6, 250-pounder provides a unique, versatile weapon in a Marcus Satterfield offense that couldn’t get the passing game off the ground last season. He has some big-play ability, and his presence should help open other opportunities for Vann, Antwane Wells and the rest of South Carolina’s receiving corps.
Stogner’s chemistry with Rattler and Beamer – who coached Stogner for two seasons as the Sooners’ tight ends coach – should be another good friend to the quarterback, just like the fact of leader and starting center Eric Douglas should provide Rattler with a consistent mainstay who he can be in sync with.
E.J. Jenkins will be the top backup to Stogner, and the sixth-year player provides some of his own versatility as a 6-foot-7, 240-pounder who can be moved around formations.
Building on tight end brand
Jared Cook, Hayden Hurst and Justice Cunningham are just a few of the top tight ends to come through South Carolina’s program over the last two decades. The Gamecocks are hoping that production from Stogner – who has two years of eligibility remaining – will help jump start another line of great pass catchers at the position who move onto the NFL.
Eyes will be on Columbia as some of the nation’s top tight ends look on with curiosity as to how Stogner is used in the offense and if he continues to develop under Beamer, Satterfield and first-year tight ends coach Jody Wright. Much in the same way that blue-chip quarterbacks are looking on to see how Rattler will fare in a pro-style offense that is intriguing and exciting but hasn’t proven itself yet as being conducive for strong quarterback development.
Most of South Carolina’s top-ranked tight ends who they have offered are already committed elsewhere. But the Gamecocks are still searching for tight ends in the 2023 class and maybe they can lure more looks their way from the crop of commits. Or pique the interest of tight ends in the next transfer portal cycle as South Carolina has already shown a willingness to hit the portal pretty hard under Beamer.
Special sauce
Punter obviously isn’t a sexy position, but the Gamecocks still return one of the best in the SEC and one of the best in the country in Kai Kroeger, who averaged 42.9 yards on 59 punts last season following his first campaign in which he was named to the SEC’s All-Freshman team by the coaches.
Mitch Jeter is in line to be the squad’s starting kicker after handling some kickoff duties in 2021, and Alex Herrera will compete with Jeter throughout the rest of the spring. They will compete to replace the massive production from Parker White, the Gamecocks’ five-year starter and the program’s all-time scoring leader.
As for return specialists, the clear-cut guy to lead kick and punt return duties is Ahmarean Brown.
