South Carolina football is gaining positive exposure on social media.
Shane Beamer started assembling his new technical team shortly after his hiring in Columbia last winter. It is a team with a lot of university experience, in addition to ties with the NFL. Defensive coordinator Clayton White and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield trained alongside current Panthers coach Matt Rhule. Offensive coach Greg Adkins trained in Buffalo under Doug Marrone, while defensive coach Jimmy Linsdey was previously on the team with Lovie Smith of Houston. Mike Peterson, Montario Hardesty and Torrian Gray had passages as professional players, with Gray having trained the Vikings’ high school as soon as their game days were over.
In the past few months, Gamecock’s media team has been making the most of these connections as a way to positively promote a new culture for its current supporters and those who may become part of the program in the near future.
More specifically, they used this as a recruiting tool, showcasing the fantastic campus facilities, giving live previews of off-season training and interviewing an energetic team that is excited to transform the team. We had a great glimpse of it last week with Gamecocks welcoming a group of NFL coaches and scouts to participate on the team’s Pro Day.
Short clips like this can have an impact on potential student athletes, as they generate a little intrigue for those who may not be as familiar with the program. South Carolina does not have the history and success of the more traditional blue bloods in sport, which means that the university may not be the priority for high school students, especially those outside the southeastern United States.
In addition, there is the stress of a recruitment season impacted by COVID that severely limited the number of personal interactions and on-campus visits for players and coaches.
It just means that the athletic program has to work much harder to get the attention of talented players, and social media has become a great source for that. The quality of these creative media productions is excellent, and people are starting to notice.
In fact, a 2020 study by Director Athletic U ranked Gamecocks 9th in the country in terms of social followers on the top four platforms. The following is undoubtedly full of potential customers looking to find their destinations for college, as well as their families.
USA Today also ranked South Carolina’s social media division as one of the top ten in college sports, saying that “few schools have social media accounts as refined as South Carolina’s Gamecocks.”
Joining the social media team, the communication team was very successful in getting new coach Shane Beamer into the national media. He appeared on the Paul Finebaum Show, had interviews with Bruce Feldman at The Athletic and joined Adam Gorney of Rivals Recruiting, all while he continues to build and sell a bright future in Columbia. He’s actually doing a second showing at the Finebaum Show tonight, just before the Lady Gamecocks take on Texas at the Elite Eight, so be sure to tune in.
Beamer is already beginning to see some of the fruits of his work, having a trio of high school candidates recently set official visit dates for the month of June. Getting these visits is usually a good indicator that a school is in the final group of a potential customer, and the use of social media graphics like the one shown below are helping Gamecocks stay in the game with some of the country’s greatest talent.
Obviously, coaches still need to close the deal to sign these prospectuses, but the use of social media is at least helping to get your foot in the door. With spring practice continuing through April, the NFL Draft approaching and a 2021 football season starting in early September, don’t expect to see things slow down on Gamecocks’ social media accounts anytime soon.