Shane Beamer emphatically defends idea that South Carolina can win an SEC title in 2025
By Mark Kern
Published:
Shane Beamer and the South Carolina Gamecocks enter the 2025-26 college football season with some big-time expectations. The team just missed out on making the CFP last year, but an argument could be made that the team was playing nearly as well as anybody at the end of last season.
The Gamecocks bring back star quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who is being looked at as a guy who can win the Heisman Trophy. The defense has playmakers all over the field, led by sophomore defensive end Dylan Stewart. With all of this talent coming back, the expectation is that the team will be contending for a spot in the CFP.
He was asked at SEC Media days was it doable for the Gamecocks to win the SEC, and the coach gave an emphatic answer that should have the fans extremely excited. Beamer was fired up here:
“It is very doable,” Beamer told Paul Finebaum during Monday’s SEC Media days. “I mean, we were 2 points away last season from being in the College Football Playoff, and having a chance to compete for a national championship. We play in the toughest conference in America. Every year is different. Every Saturday anybody can beat anybody. In other conferences, you look around and look at the schedule, you can chalk up a win. You can’t do that in this league. Every single Saturday is a war. We have shown it in the past too Paul. My last year as an assistant coach with Steve Spurrier in 2010. We beat Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Clemson and Alabama.”
As Beamer alluded to, the Gamecocks were right there last season, winning their last 6 regular season games, including the season-finale at in-state rival Clemson. Expectations are high for Beamer and his team, and rightfully so. They have the talent that can go compete for a conference championship. And as he said, if a team is the best team in the SEC, then that team is more than capable of competing for a national title.
South Carolina opens the 2025 season at Virginia Tech on August 31.
