The Verdict: A huge opportunity for fans to help
In South Carolina, the verdict is published by the Clerk of Court. In other words, when a jury has reached a verdict, the Clerk of Court, not a member of the jury, announces the verdict to the courtroom.
But in every jury trial – whether criminal or civil – there is no mistaking that the jury, and only the jury, is the finder of all facts.
Starting in August and running throughout the season, I will be writing a weekly column called The Verdict - presented by the Goings Law Firm. And much like a jury, I will try to base my findings and opinions on facts. But unlike a jury, I want to hear from the gallery, both what I got right and what I got wrong.
The Verdict is in: fans have an unbelievable opportunity to help in this rebuild.
Saturday was not what anyone dressed in garnet wanted. That was as rough of a night in Williams-Brice Stadium as I have experienced. And I was upset at times sitting in the stands watching that performance. But I stayed to the very end, and I stood for the alma mater, and then I left the stadium and pretty much forgot everything that I had just witnessed.
And I am not overstating that.
I left the stadium, headed home, and by the time I let my head hit the pillow, I was already over the Clemson game. Why? Because when I wrote for months about staying focused on the “big picture,” I meant it. Losing to Clemson did nothing to detract from Shane Beamer’s rebuild. Like I mentioned last week, Carolina was playing with house money entering the Clemson game. Yes, of course, I would have loved to beat Clemson, and losing to the bitter in-state rival is never fun, but this loss had no significant detraction for Carolina. Losing to Clemson is a minor bump in the big picture.
Because despite losing to Clemson, Shane Beamer is still ahead of schedule when it comes to his rebuild in Columbia. The Gamecocks were projected to win 3.5 games by Vegas. Carolina has a chance to double that win total with a bowl victory. Carolina beat Florida. Carolina beat Auburn. Carolina was 5-2 at home. Carolina is bowl-eligible for the first time since 2018. Carolina surprised a lot of people in 2021.
But how does that have anything to do with the future? How does a surprisingly successful 2021 season have anything to do with being ahead of schedule?
The answer is simple: recruiting.
Recruiting is the lifeblood of any winning college football program. And coaches that can recruit routinely beat coaches that cannot recruit (see: Dan Mullen and Kirby Smart.) When teams are somewhat equally matched, coaching can win you a game you probably shouldn’t win. But in college football, rarely are two teams evenly matched. In college football, the team with the better players wins. Florida tight ends coach Tim Brewster summed it up best when he said, “there’s a tremendous amount of quality coaches in college football today, but the best ones are the ones who know that getting talent in recruiting translates to wins on Saturday.”
So how does this inaugural season help with recruiting in the big picture? Let’s break this down.
Recruits, in my opinion, are looking for three things when they are going through the recruiting process. First is the overall health of the program. Despite what rival fanbases or national pundits may argue, the health of the Carolina program is in a good spot. The Gamecocks have elite facilities, a coach who is committed to building a winner in Columbia, and an early track record of exceeding expectations in the SEC. The product Shane Beamer can sell, while not sexy (especially on the offensive side of the ball), is encouraging. While much more tactfully and tastefully done, I’m sure, Beamer can go into recruits’ homes and point to this strong first season in spite of injuries at the quarterback position, a horrific offensive line, and a linebacking corps with serious deficiencies.
The second thing they look for is great position coaches. Carolina is in a great position there, as well. The work defensive backs coach Torrian Gray has done in one season in Columbia is downright impressive. I don’t want to call him a miracle worker, because that takes away from the hard work and talent our defensive backs have, but he took a former walk-on and made him one of the best safeties in the SEC. He took an after-thought in Darius Rush and made him maybe the surprise performer of the Gamecock defense. And he instilled the confidence Cam Smith needed to perform at an All-SEC level.
But the hiring of Torrian Gray didn’t just translate to on-field success, but also success on the recruiting trail. Look at Carolina’s current defensive back class. It’s impressive. And Gray won some serious recruiting battles in landing some of these guys. The same can be said for wide receivers coach Justin Stepp, tight ends coach Erik Kimrey, defensive ends coach Mike Peterson, special teams coordinator Pete Lembo, and a slew of others.
But the third thing recruits look for is fan buy-in. That’s why the pre-game atmosphere before the Clemson game was huge. That’s why a jam-packed student section thirty minutes before kickoff was huge. The Clemson game was a massive recruiting weekend for Carolina. And despite Carolina laying a big ole egg, the returns from recruits were overall positive. Why? Because they like the health of the program, they like the coaches, and they could envision themselves playing in front of a raucous William-Brice Stadium.
Fan support is critical during Shane Beamer’s rebuild. And with the changing landscape in college football, fan support is even more crucial.
Carolina fans love to point to areas the Gamecocks are lacking. “We don’t have the trophies. We don’t have the tradition. We don’t have the big-time boosters. We are a small fish in a big pond.” But Gamecock fans rarely talk about the areas we have an advantage in. And one of Carolina’s biggest advantages in the state of South Carolina. A year ago, I put out a tweet that many of you have seen where I laid out why I thought Shane Beamer was the right guy for the job. One of the points I made was that Shane understood the state of South Carolina.
South Carolina is a very social and close-knit state. If you’re from Western North Carolina, you may not know a soul out in Eastern North Carolina. If you’re from Valdosta, Georgia, there’s a good chance you don’t know anyone from Gainesville, Georgia. But how many people in Anderson know somebody down in Charleston? How many people down in Beaufort know somebody up in Columbia? This state is easily navigated and very intertwined.
In the current college football landscape, togetherness and stability will be crucial. Coaches are leaving one blueblood program for another. Coaches are saying one thing and then doing the other within a blink of an eye. The by-product of all this anarchy and change at the top of the sport is that more and more players are entering the transfer portal. What are these players looking for? Yes, many want a shot at the NFL, but all of them want a place of stability where there is a lot of fan support.
Carolina fans do their part by filling the stadium on gameday, but we now have a new avenue to show players why they should be Gamecocks. With the state of South Carolina’s Name, Image, and Likeness Deal, Carolina is in a great spot to support our football players financially. And the best way to do that is through the Garnet Trust.
There is plenty of information on Gamecock Central and the Garnet Trust to explain the nuances of this organization, but to put it bluntly, Garnet Trust is a way for Carolina fans to play an active role in preserving and accelerating Shane Beamer’s rebuild. To put it even more bluntly: Garnet Trust is a way for fans to legally give money to players.
I can hear some of you screaming from the top of your lungs that you don’t believe in Name, Image, and Likeness and that it’s ruining college football. I had similar beliefs at one time, as well. But this is the future of college football. And it would be the most South Carolina thing ever to fall behind the Georgias and Alabamas and not take advantage of the situation.
Garnet Trust allows for fans to donate $25 per month (or any other amount they wish). I want you to think about if Carolina had one thousand fans donate $25 per month. That would be $300,000 generated a year. Now think about this. If 20% of Williams-Brice Stadium on a normal Saturday afternoon paid $25 per month to the Garnet Trust, that would be $4.8 million dollars generated. You think a five-star recruit would give Carolina a strong thought with that kind of fan support for their football players? You think a star quarterback in the transfer portal would take a second look at Carolina with that kind of fan support?
Carolina is well ahead of schedule in its rebuild. Fans have an opportunity to help in that rebuild, as well.
You can find more information on the Garnet Trust at GarnetTrust.com.
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