It has been three and a half months since Shane Beamer he first introduced himself to the South Carolina football team. The winter exercise program, the first chapter of their time together, ended when the spring camp began.
So, what did the new Gamecocks head coach learn about the players he inherited and the smaller portion he welcomed on campus?
“There are great people on this program,” said Beamer just before spring training began. “We have a large group of guys on this football team, guys who were already here and guys that we’ve added to the program since I was hired.”
With new leadership at the top of the program, leadership from the player level has been important in the overall buy-in for the new coaching staff and a new vision for the program that Beamer has presented to them. Through team training in the practice fields, tests in the weight room and time spent on the premises, Beamer saw different forms of leadership for his players, regardless of how much time they spent in a Gamecocks uniform on Saturdays.
Above all, love your brother …
Because together, we can accomplish anything. pic.twitter.com/UNEzNkhrtI
– Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) March 15, 2021
“We are trying to put our people in as many situations to lead as possible,” said Beamer. “I talked to them about it. We have a lot of really good guys who have this quality of leadership that we are trying to increase and get them into office. For me, you can have 100 guys who are ‘leaders’. If they are doing the right thing on and off the field, they are affecting someone in a positive way, which I think we have a lot of guys doing.
“Your best leaders, vocal or non-vocal, these guys are going to break up over time. I think there are a lot of guys trying to do that. During the competitions we did every night, it was fun to see a lot of guys competing. We put them in many different competitions against many different types of people. I won’t name names, but there are older guys who cheer me up and many younger guys who cheer me up too. It is impressive to see the consistency of the guys night after night after night. “
Today marks the first steps of a new journey.
One that we will all take together. pic.twitter.com/jlXfwP6qpT
– Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) March 20, 2021
Gamecocks return to training grounds on Tuesday for their second spring camp training.