South Carolina Reloads Through the Portal: Beamer Banking on Experience, Leadership in 2026 Turnaround
COLUMBIA - The transfer portal has become college football’s version of free agency - fast, chaotic, and absolutely essential. For Shane Beamer and South Carolina, it’s also become a lifeline.
Over a whirlwind two-week stretch, the Gamecocks brought in 43 new players, 25 of them from the portal. That’s not desperation - it’s strategy.
And while there’s certainly some hope involved, this wasn’t a “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” situation. There’s a method to the madness.
Every potential addition went through a full vetting process. Meetings with Beamer himself.
Sit-downs with position coaches. Presentations from the strength staff, trainers, and academic advisors.
And yes - with name, image and likeness (NIL) deals now a permanent part of the landscape - there were open conversations about the financial side of joining the program. It’s not taboo anymore; it’s reality.
Now, with the portal closed and winter workouts underway, the focus shifts to March 4 - the first day of spring practice. The question is simple: what kind of team is South Carolina building?
Will this group echo the 2024 squad that surprised plenty of outsiders with a 9-4 season, led by veterans like Kyle Kennard and Demetrius Knight? Or will it resemble the 2025 team that stumbled to 4-8, lacking leadership and cohesion?
Beamer’s leaning toward the former - and he’s got reasons.
“I knew we were going to be better in 2024 than people thought on the outside because we had so much veteran leadership, older guys coming back,” he said. “They’re not just older guys [this year], but they’ve got a lot of production.
They’ve played a lot of football. They have a ton of experience.
They’ve been through battles.”
That’s been a key theme for Beamer this offseason: experience. Not just age, but guys who’ve been through the grind and know what it takes to win. He’s already seeing signs of leadership from the new arrivals - and that’s not by accident.
Part of the portal process, Beamer explained, includes calling coaches from a player’s previous stop. The goal? Make sure they’re bringing in the right kind of people.
“And it was very evident that we brought in a lot of guys that either were captain-type guys at their school or had those leadership qualities,” he said. “And I’m seeing that already just in the first few weeks of workouts - guys that are willing to speak up and lead.”
Beamer’s also emphasizing a no-entitlement culture. He wants hungry players, not ones expecting a red carpet. And sometimes, that message gets delivered the hard way.
Take junior left tackle Josiah Thompson. A starter since he arrived, Thompson had postseason talks with Beamer about his future. Everything seemed fine - until Jan. 5, when Thompson called to say he was entering the portal.
“Completely blindsided and shocked me,” Beamer said.
Nine days later, Thompson was back on the team. But it wasn’t automatic.
Beamer doesn’t usually offer second chances. He told Thompson that USC had to move forward and find other players.
Thompson understood. And when other schools called Beamer about him, the coach didn’t hold back - he gave honest, positive reviews.
Then Thompson called again.
“Obviously by that point, things had changed here in a lot of ways,” Beamer said. “We had other players go in the portal and reach out wanting to come back.
And I said no, because of how they left and maybe the reasons they left for. Josiah I wouldn’t put in that group.
Josiah and I both had some open and honest conversations and shot each other straight.”
That kind of transparency is part of Beamer’s approach. And with 22 players lost to the portal - including 11 who played significant roles - there was plenty of room to reshape the roster. Only four of those departures were considered major losses, and much of the offensive line turnover wasn’t viewed as damaging, given how the unit performed last season.
Now it’s about seeing how well the replacements fit - and how fast they can gel.
Spring Game in Limbo
As for the annual Garnet and Black Spring Game? Still up in the air.
Spring practice will wrap up in the second week of April, but with ongoing construction at Williams-Brice Stadium, it’s highly unlikely the game will be played there.
“I would not anticipate a spring game taking place in Williams-Brice Stadium,” Beamer said. He added that the program is weighing options that make sense for fans, the team, and the construction timeline. More details should be announced soon.
Signing Day Update
The traditional Signing Day on the first Wednesday in February doesn’t carry the same weight it once did, thanks to the early signing period. South Carolina only expected to officially add two players on Feb. 4.
One of those, long snapper Matthew Oh, has already been announced. The other, wide receiver Stone Furrey - a Dutch Fork High product and the son of receivers coach Mike Furrey - is committed but hadn’t been officially announced at press time, pending paperwork.
So while the fireworks may have been minimal on Signing Day, the real action for South Carolina came through the portal. And if Beamer’s instincts are right, this group might just have the leadership and battle-tested edge to flip the script in 2026.