Shane Beamer breaks down "science" of making spring game rosters
By: Alan Cole - Southcarolina.rivals.comAt this time last year, Shane Beamer kept things as simple as possible when deciding on the spring game rosters.
“Last year I just sat in a room and did it by myself,” he said. “I just gave it to the coaches and said, ‘Here it is. If you see any issues, let me know.’”
Another year later with another spring game approaching, it is time for Beamer and his coaching staff to divide up the roster again. The annual garnet and black game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium, the second consecutive year the game will be in primetime and the third spring game of the Beamer era overall.
Beamer confirmed on Tuesday that the spring game will operate under the same format it did last season in an attempt to “make it as much like a game as we can.”
As for what he is going to do this season with splitting up the rosters, there is still a lot to consider. The Gamecocks are banged up in the secondary right now, notably with injuries to Keenan Nelson Jr. and David Spaulding that Beamer mentioned as limiting what both players can do in practice right now. Jordan Strachan and Mo Kaba are still working back from their respective ACL injuries, and beamer confirmed that defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway is still not participating in practice right now either.
All of it has created a tricky puzzle for Beamer to piece together, and one that will go down to the wire through the week.
“You’re thin on the nickelback position for example,” he said. “It’s one of those where, okay, if we only have two nickels I know one is going to be on this team and one is going to be on the other team. You want to have your offensive line to gel, so do you keep the first- team offensive line and the second-team offensive line together, or do you mix and match?”
Figuring out how the first and second team players will line up on each side is a challenge in itself, but working through the rest of the roster might be the most crucial piece of all. South Carolina is still trying to finalize a lot of its depth chart, a process that becomes even more magnified with another transfer portal window set to open up on Saturday.
Beamer said that starting on Sunday morning at 7 a.m. and rolling through the next three days he will have one-on-one meetings with every player on the roster about how their spring went, where they stand in the pecking order and what their next steps might look like. The spring game will play an important role in these conversations — and the staff’s decisions — for a lot of these players.
Whether it is the running back position, where South Carolina only has three scholarship players available and will likely be relying on a lot of walk-ons to play a big role in the spring game, or a secondary which will be tested without some of its top players, Saturday will be a crucial day for the roster’s depth.
“It’s also keeping in mind as the game goes on we’re less likely to have our guys that are proven here in the games,” Beamer said. “So it’s making sure you’ve got enough guys to finish the game and things like that as well. I’m kicking around some different ways of doing it this year.
“It’s a science putting together the rosters for the garnet and black game. It’s not as simple as it looks.”
Television coverage for the spring game is set for SEC Network+.
