COLUMBIA, S.C. — The SEC and its 16 members traveled to Tampa, Florida from July 20-23 for their annual SEC Media Days to kickoff the 2026 football season. Head coach Shane Beamer was accompanied by starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers, senior wide receiver Nyck Harbor and starting defensive back Peyton Williams.
Much like their in-state rivals, it was a disappointing season for the Gamecocks in 2025 as they had high hopes of possibly being one of the 12 teams in the College Football Playoffs. They also had one of the preseason favorites to win the Heisman award in Sellers, but things quickly came crashing down with a disappointing opener in Atlanta, GA at Mercedes Benz Stadium against Virginia Tech. They managed to win the game 24-11 but went on to win just three more games afterwards to finish the season with a 4-8 record and 1-7 conference record.
The Gamecocks suffered a five-game losing streak in their final seven games of the season. It should be noted that South Carolina suffered huge losses to their coaching staff before the 2025 season, which included offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains being replaced by Mike Shula, and the Gamecocks had one of the tougher conference schedules in all of the SEC last season. They had to face a Vanderbilt team that had a remarkable 2024 themselves along with a road game against LSU, home games versus Oklahoma and Alabama in back-to-back weeks and two back-to-back road games against Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
Beamer didn’t make any excuses for their 2025 season and his confidence is still there for the 2026 season after another off-season of changes to his coaching staff which includes replacing Shula with Kendal Briles as offensive coordinator.
“We’ve got a lot of guys still on our team that were here in 2024, when we were two points away from being in the College Football Playoff. Last year at this time, most of you guys picked us very high because of the players we had returning. This year, we won’t be picked very high. I get that, but we’ve got the same players that you picked us high for last year,” Beamer said.
The Gamecocks have revamped their roster, especially on defense, by signing four-star defensive end Julian Walker from Dutch Fork High School, four-star corner back J’Zavien Currence from Rock Hill, S.C. and four-star defensive lineman Aiden Harris and Noah Clark both from the neighboring state of North Carolina.
“I like the freshmen that we brought in. It’s a very mature freshman class,” Beamer said. “I like the transfers that we brought in. Winners. We’ve got seven new transfers that have either won a national championship or participated in the College Football Playoff at their previous school.”
The Gamecocks 18th nationally ranked class and the return of Sellers and star studded defensive Dylan Stewart was not enough to convince the SEC media members that they would get back to the 9-3 season in 2024 that had them on the brink of a CFP berth. They were picked to finish 11th out of the 16 teams in the conference after being projected to finish fifth a season ago.
Like last season, those predictions could be wrong and the Gamecocks are hoping that it will be wrong in their favor this year.
“I mean, all you guys picked us high last year,” Beamer said. “And the same reasons you picked us high last year — like those same players are back this year, which just blows my mind.”
Stewart and Harbor were the only two players picked on the preseason all-conference list for the SEC. Stewart was picked as first-team guy and Harbor was listed as third-team. Stewart was also the only Gamecock to land on the preseason all-American list.
“Everybody thinks we suck, so you know it is what it is,” Beamer said. “We don’t pay a whole lot of attention to that. Just kind of leave us alone, let us go to work, and we’ll see everybody in September.”
In addition to bring in a new offensive coordinator and highly rated freshman, Beamer did a complete overhaul of the offensive staff that he discussed in detail during the SEC Media Days.
“Got a new offensive coordinator in Kendal Briles. Got a new offensive line coach in Randy Clements and a new running backs coach and associate head coach in Stan Drayton. Those guys are proven coaches and recruiters that have made us better already,” Beamer said.
The defensive side of the ball remained untouched because despite a 4-8 season, the Gamecocks still had a solid unit on that side of the ball even though the numbers doesn’t show it. They finished 10th in the SEC in total scoring defenses allowing 22.08 points per game and allowed 136.7 rushing yards per game. The reason the numbers on defense don’t tell the full story is because their offense struggled so much that the defense had to spend too much time on the field. Gamecocks’ offense averaged roughly 27-28 minutes per game on the field compared to their defense averaging 31:52-32:55 minutes per game on the field.
“It’s year six in this system with Clayton White, our defensive coordinator, who doesn’t get enough credit for how good he is at what he does. He’s one of the best defensive coordinators in the entire nation. Since 2021, we lead the SEC in takeaways defensively. We’ve got to continue to be that aggressive opportunistic group,” Beamer said.
Sellers acknowledge his struggles last season, but is very optimistic that he will perform much better in Briles’ system this season.
“I don’t what to feel what we felt last year. I don’t like to lose either,” Sellers said. “Just do whatever it takes to win those games.”
Sellers appeared in all 12 games last season, but was knocked out of the Vanderbilt game early with an injury. He finished the year with 2,437 passing yards, 270 rushing yards, 18 total touchdowns and eight interceptions. His passing yards, rushing yards and touchdowns were all down from the season before but his turnovers went up. He did prove to NFL scouts that he could stay healthy last season, but his numbers suffered. This season, Sellers will need his durability and productivity to match in a positive way.
“Just being more consistent,” Sellers said. “My footwork, anticipation, building those relationships with the guys, the new guys, and the coaches.”
South Carolina will open the season at home on Sept. 5 against Kent State and won’t face their first big test until Sept. 19 when Mississippi State comes to Columbia for a 4:15 p.m. kickoff.