How many wins in Shane Beamer’s first season? SEC pundits predict USC’s 2021 outlook

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer took the podium last week at the 2021 Southeastern Conference Media Days for the first time as a head coach.

Speaking before a crowd of writers and television reporters, Beamer sped through his 30-minute address at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama with the poise and precision that has marked his earliest days on the job in Columbia.

The State spoke with a handful of national college football voices to get a gauge on Shane Beamer’s first SEC Media Days appearance and the larger perception of what South Carolina faces this season. Here’s what they said about the Gamecocks’ 2021 schedule. (To start with, here’s that schedule.)

• Sept. 4 vs. Eastern Illinois, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus and SEC Network Plus)

• Sept. 11 at East Carolina, noon (ESPN2)

• Sept. 18 at Georgia, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

• Sept. 25 vs. Kentucky

• Oct. 2 vs. Troy

• Oct. 9 at Tennessee

• Oct. 16 vs. Vanderbilt

• Oct. 23 at Texas A&M

• Nov. 6 vs. Florida

• Nov. 13 at Missouri

• Nov. 20 vs. Auburn

• Nov. 27 at Clemson

—— Ben Portnoy: From the outside, what are your thoughts on South Carolina and what they face in 2021? ——

Cole Cubelic, ESPN/SEC Network analyst: “Both my parents went to South Carolina, my aunt played basketball at Clemson, I probably have 15 to 20 aunts and uncles and cousins that moved to South Carolina. So they’re not going to view this as acceptable, but for me it’s just be competitive. Be in games. Give yourself opportunities to win games late. Because if you’re not in the those games late, then you’re not giving people reason to really pay attention and you’re not teaching your team how to be in that spot two years, four years, six years down the road with something they have to learn, because you just might not be good enough to go win a bunch of games now.

But if you can coach your way into being competitive, well then you get a ball bounce your way here and there, you get a break here and there, somebody makes a big play here and there ... next thing you know you win two or three games you’re not supposed to.”

Ivan Meisel, national college football reporter, On3 Sports: “Well, I was looking at the schedule (last Monday) that was on the screen while he was talking and I’m looking ‘loss, win, loss,’ etc. The math didn’t add up very well. But I think he’s a smart guy. He’s not the typical first-year head coach. He’s had 40 years of experience in coaching and I think that’ll be to his benefit.”

Tony Barnhart, TMGSports columnist/SEC Network analyst: “South Carolina checks all the boxes. The facility commitment they made was way overdue. Their indoor facility is as nice as anything I’ve seen. I’ve toured the building. It’s wonderful.

The only thing that I wish South Carolina had is a stronger in-state recruiting base, and you’ve got to fight Clemson for all of those, right? But when South Carolina has been good, they’ve recruited North Carolina well, they’ve recruited Georgia especially well. Shane knows that because he was part of it. I think they have everything they need. It’s just that they’re going to have to do some traveling in recruiting and sell the vision to high school players. It can be done, because too many other people have done it.”

Blake Toppmeyer, SEC columnist, USA Today: “I’ve kind of waffled between fifth or sixth in the East like probably most people. I think there’s three tiers in the East. There’s Georgia, and then Florida on that top tier — and if you want to divide those two, I think Georgia is on a higher rung. Then you have the second tier where I think it’s Missouri and Kentucky right now. And then you have the bottom three in South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt in no particular order.

I think the game against Tennessee is one of South Carolina’s most important games on the schedule, because I think that can determine which of those teams gets to six wins. I think a lot of these first year coaches stepped into a tough situations with what they inherited and I think (Beamer) is no exception to that. If they can go 6-6 this year I’d call that a very good start.”

Paul Finebaum, ESPN Radio Personality: “The good news is the schedule fairly manageable. It’s July so you can always make an argument. You could say well to do this and that. I think steady improvement is critical. Is a bowl game possible? A bowl game is possible if a couple teams are really not as good as we thought, but it’s hard to fathom that really with the first (year). I remember the first time I saw the schedule pop up — it’s not a bad schedule.

I think it’s about recruiting. If he can continue to generate excitement in recruiting he’ll be fine regardless of what it looks like on the field. But he has to do it pretty quickly. He just can’t let within the league everyone continue to move ahead of you and he especially can’t let Clemson just to make you into a piñata.”

—— BP: What does success look like under Shane Beamer in Year 1 in Columbia? ——

Cole Cubelic: “I think five or six wins and you’re competitive in some of those other games. Like if you show up against Clemson and can push them into the second half and you make some plays and it’s an interesting game, you should be able to find the positives in that. Same thing with Georgia. Same thing with Florida. If you just don’t turn it over five times, don’t be out-gained by 250 yards and if you can do those things — play clean football and also say show some growth over the course of the season. It shouldn’t look the same Week 2 as it does Week 10. Show some growth. Show some improvement. Show adjustments. I think you’ll get that from the staff and if you do, then I think fans should be happy about what the future could bring.”

Ivan Maisel: “Everybody recognizes progress and I think the ability to stay in games, the ability to develop game plans that are effective — it’s hard. As close as he’s been to all of it, he’s still never been in that chair. All of your assistants, they don’t bring you easy questions. If they were easy questions, they’d answer them and do them. So you’re constantly having to make tough calls. That’s a lot. For a young guy with a young family — he’ll have the energy and he’s got a great resource in his dad (former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer). I’m optimistic, but he’s got a hard job.”

Tony Barnhart: “Success looks like they’re competitive in just about every game that they play. They look like a well-coached football team. They don’t get blown out. They don’t make dumb mistakes. They don’t make a lot of penalties — all those things. And to me, that’s what success looks like for a first-year coach whose got some work to do rebuilding this roster.

Here’s a good example: I thought Sam Pittman at Arkansas did a hell of a job last year. They went 3-7, but did they have a successful season? They sure did because they looked like they were a well-coached team, and if officials knew the rules they would have won four games and maybe more. They lost some close games down the stretch. That, to me, if you’re a first-year head coach, that’s what success looks like — what Arkansas did.”

Blake Toppmeyer: “I think improvement over last year would be would be success. I think a good recruiting class would be a big victory. I think being competitive against the teams you should be competitive against — if he can go out and beat Tennessee and beat Vanderbilt. If he can beat or play really competitive games against Missouri and Kentucky, I think that’s a good sign because you’re not going to catch Georgia or Florida in Year 1. You’re probably not going to catch them in Year 2, maybe in Year 3. I think the third spot in the East is kind of for the taking if not this year for South Carolina, then in a short-term future.”

Paul Finebaum: “I think for a new coach, success is always winning a game you’re not supposed to. ... I think other than Vanderbilt, you beat Missouri, you beat Tennessee, you beat Kentucky — you have to concentrate on those games. I mean, I talk to South Carolina fans all the time (and they say), ‘We’re going to beat Florida.’ Calm down. To me the SEC East is, beat the worst teams — which South Carolina is one of — try to try to steal a game against a middle-of-the-packer and don’t think you’re going back into Athens any time soon and pulling that upset.”