The South Carolina football social media team provided a glimpse of winter training with their videos in the weight room and on the field. Of course there is no football, as the Gamecocks will start training under the command of the first year coach Shane Beamer on Saturday.
But even without football, there can still be competition. Whether fighting a plate or a tug-of-war battle, pushing sleds or raising the bar, Gamecocks are competing as they can before spring training begins, and everything is being tracked.
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Beamer puts players outside under the boot camp lights a few nights a week to create spirit and camaraderie.
“We want to be about competition. We want to deal with many different things, but two of them are competition and endurance, and that is physical and mental endurance, ”Beamer told TheBigSpur.com in an individual interview.
“This is what we want to build in these competitions. We didn’t want to do exercises in the early morning, 5:30 as some schools do. I didn’t want to take the time that Luke Day have in the weight room or in the football time that the NCAA allows us to have. We took advantage of this by going to the field and doing some football activities, but starting every night with some competitive training. The players did an incredible job with him. It’s nice to see these guys go after him in the field. “
Beamer took on a program that ended last season with a 2-8 record and hobbled to the finish line after the former head coach Will Muschamp was fired with three games remaining in the season. Several players withdrew, while many fought on the field for the final games of the year.
Given the way the season ended in 2020, Beamer and his team have done everything they can to bring positive energy and unity back to the team.
“It’s been fun to watch the guys compete, it’s fun to challenge the guys and see what they’re up to,” said Beamer.
“We follow everything. We follow each competitive representative that each player obtains during the time they are on the field. I can tell you what Luke Doty’s record was, what Kevin Harris’s record was, we can show you the individual record of everything, since we started this a few weeks ago. “
Beamer did not want to highlight any particular player or small group of players who are standing out in a leadership role or dominating competitions. Everyone had their days, he says.
“You can have a bad night and come back the next day. We try to be consistent, ”said Beamer. “We had guys who didn’t have a great night, so they went out the next night and dominated. We saw some guys being consistent all the time and leading the way. There are guys that we challenge and that have advanced and taken their game to another level. We are excited about that and the way the guys are working. “
Gamecocks are having lively competitions as NCAA rules allow, before spring training starts. The football social media team gave an idea of what the players are doing so far, but it’s time to launch football and get to work on the field.
South Carolina will begin spring training on Saturday at 9:25 am