South Carolina football head coach Shane Beamer likes what he is seeing during the first few days of the Gamecocks' fall camp. South Carolina started fall camp last Friday, and the sixth-year Gamecock head coach likes what he is seeing early on from his group.
Something that Beamer has noticed early on is how physical his team is. The first few days of camp for teams is usually the first time since spring practices that players get to put their pads on and line up on the line of scrimmage. Beamer told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday evening that he is encouraged by the physicality and intensity that his players have shown through the first few days:
"We don’t have to tell them to pick it up," Beamer said via Gamecock Central. "If anything, it’s, ‘Whoa.’ And you love that about a team. Like, in football, you can’t say you’re physical and tough and not practice that way. We practice that way, and it needs to show up on Saturdays.
“But this team very much likes that, too, and likes the physicality and the toughness and the grittiness and the ruggedness and the grind that it is when it’s 95 degrees out there and hot and humid and you’re in pads and banging on each other for two and a half hours.”
South Carolina is looking to reload following a 4-8 season in Columbia, the worst finish of Coach Beamer's tenure. If anything, the players' eagerness to put last season behind them and start fresh should be encouraging for Gamecock fans.
At the media availability, Coach Beamer was also asked about the status of two of South Carolina's biggest stars, in offensive tackle Jacarrius Peak and EDGE rusher Dylan Stewart. Neither of the starters have been fully cleared for practice just yet. Peak is rehabbing a knee injury he tweaked during a casual basketball game, whereas Stewart has been rehabbing a back injury he played through last season.
Beamer stated that both guys have been present at practice, and that both are on track medically to return at some point:
“Yeah, they’re at practice," Beamer said via GC. "And they’re doing different parts of what they’re able to throughout the day. As far as a timeline, again, we’ll go on what the doctors tell us. And, like I’ve said to you guys for the last month, they’re right on track and progressing nicely.”
Getting both guys back in time for South Carolina's season will be critical if the Gamecocks want to have a bounceback year. Peak is expected to drastically improve the offensive line from a pass-protection standpoint, which will be huge for returning quarterback LaNorris Sellers. Stewart is still one of the leaders on defense, having accounted for 56 total tackles and 11 sacks across his last two seasons.
As for any new injury updates from other players, Beamer said there's nothing new outside of normal "bumps and bruises." South Carolina opens the 2026 season at home against Kent State on Sept. 5.
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