South Carolina enters 2026 with plenty to prove, and Pat Forde sees the Gamecocks as a team living in that uneasy space between promise and uncertainty.
The Sports Illustrated senior writer, speaking at SEC Media Days in Tampa, said Shane Beamer’s group could go in very different directions this season. With a returning quarterback and “some other elite talent,” Forde said South Carolina has a chance to make noise - but he also described the Gamecocks as part of “that kind of fluid middle third of the league where they could go 8-4, they could go 4-8. I don’t know.”
Forde’s read on Beamer was blunt. He said the coach is in a league where repeated down years naturally create pressure.
“I just think the nature of the league (is)...that if you have successive bad years, then everybody’s on the hot seat,” Forde said. “Is that completely fair to him?
I don’t know. But I would say, I would approach this, if I were him, like I need to win.”
For Beamer to keep the job secure beyond 2026, Forde pointed to a list of things that have to go right. He said the Kendal Briles hire needs to pay off, the transfer additions need to hit, the health of the offensive line matters, and LaNorris Sellers has to take a step forward.
“I think LaNorris Sellers has to have his best season, fewer bad plays from him,” Forde said. “Nyck Harbor looks phenomenal a lot of the time, but probably needs to be phenomenal all the time. Run the ball, don’t get sacked 40 times, and then defensively got to be good up front.”
Forde also stressed why the Briles move matters so much. He called it “a high-dollar, high-profile move” that signals urgency, and said the offense should be able to do damage in multiple ways.
“His offenses, when they’re good, they can spread, they can throw, but they can also hit you in the running game,” Forde said. “Tempo - it’s funny listening to [Auburn coach] Alex Golesh talk - a lot of people want to go tempo.
So that usually depends on how good your players are. So we’ll see if he can get the consistent best out of LaNorris Sellers.”
On defense, Forde said South Carolina has been strong as a pass-rushing team for several seasons, with Dylan Stewart central to that identity. But he added that success in the SEC still starts with holding up against the run and creating disruption.
“They’ve been really good rushing the passer for several years,” Forde said. “Obviously Dylan Stewart’s incredibly important in that area. This is one of those leagues where you got to be stout against the run, but if you can’t get after the quarterback and force them to make some mistakes or be inaccurate, then it’s tough to consistently win games.”
Forde’s expectations for Sellers are tied directly to cleaner decision-making. He said the preseason buzz around the quarterback got ahead of where the performance was, and that Sellers at times tried to do too much.
“I think the hype got ahead of itself with him and he just looked like a guy that was trying to score three touchdowns every play,” Forde said. “Just maybe trying to do too much, too much retreating, too much holding the ball, made a few too many errors.
Learn from that, just be a little more buttoned up. Play to play.
A lot of quarterbacks, they eventually realize that an incompletion is not a terrible play. Give yourself a chance next down, even next series, that sort of thing.
He probably needs to make that progression.”
Asked for the best-case outcome, Forde said eight wins is the ceiling he sees for South Carolina. He pointed to several games he believes are there to be won, starting with a favorable early stretch and a handful of SEC matchups.
“I think you can win eight, best case,” Forde said. “Well, first three, it’s nice to have those at home.
SEC opener (vs Mississippi State) is winnable. Kentucky is winnable.
Florida, that’s one of those toss-up games. Arkansas is a road game but you can win that.
I think Clemson’s winnable. You go to find someone else in there [to beat], maybe Tennessee.”
He closed by noting the reasons for optimism around the program: Beamer remains in place, the team is coming off a better-than-expected year, and there is still belief around the roster despite the losses to the NFL.
“Shane Beamer is still the coach and he’s coming off a better-than-expected year,” Forde said. “Some losses to the NFL, but people have renewed faith in him.”
In Other News...
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Preseason camp is about to give Shane Beamer his first real look at a South Carolina roster that still has plenty to sort through, even with the 2026 season already on the horizon. There are fresh faces worth watching on both sides of the ball, including wide receiver Nitro Tuggle and defensive back Gerald Kilgore, while the defense enters camp with the kind of turnover-making reputation that has helped keep the Gamecocks competitive when the offense has been a work in progress.
The bigger question, though, may be how much of last seasons roster churn the staff can absorb before it becomes a problem. South Carolina already knows it will have to replace important production from the transfer market, and the offensive line is once again shaping up as a unit that could keep changing as camp unfolds. If the front five keeps shifting and the departures hit as hard as expected, the first few weeks of practice may say a lot about how steady this team can be once the games start. [Read more 🡒]
Nyck Harbor Just Set The Tone For South Carolinas Season
Nyck Harbor arrived at SEC Media Days looking every bit like a player ready to carry more than just his own workload into South Carolinas season. The junior wide receiver talked about the growth he has made since last year and the responsibility that has come with it, saying he stepped into a leadership role as soon as the season ended. For a Gamecocks offense that will need steady voices as much as explosive plays, Harbors presence matters beyond the stat sheet.
Harbor also made clear that South Carolina is leaning into the idea of being overlooked, using the lack of national attention as fuel rather than frustration. He said the teams mindset is built around hard work and embracing the underdog label, and that message has already started to shape the tone around the program. Even a small off-field detail, like the broken glasses he explained at Media Days, fit the larger picture of a player who seems comfortable setting the tone for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]