There are two coaches in the state of South Carolina who are going to be under a microscope this season: Shane Beamer and Dabo Swinney.
But I don’t think their situations are the same at all.
Let’s start with Beamer.
South Carolina went from nine wins in 2024 to 4-8 last season. You simply can’t have another season like that at South Carolina and expect people to remain patient. Beamer has reached the point where this team has to show significant improvement.
The good news for him is that I think he’s got the team to do it.
The Gamecocks have LaNorris Sellers back at quarterback, they’ve made changes offensively, and Beamer went into the portal and addressed some obvious weaknesses on this roster. The more I’ve studied this team, the more I like it.
I’ve already broken down this schedule game by game, and I don’t think nine wins is crazy.
In fact, I think it’s very possible.
For Beamer, I think seven wins probably cools things down. Eight wins takes him off the hot seat. Nine wins changes the entire conversation and suddenly we’re talking about one hell of a turnaround.
Six wins?
That’s where things could get uncomfortable.
Dabo Swinney is a completely different animal.
I wouldn’t necessarily say Dabo is sitting on a traditional hot seat. You don’t win two national championships and build Clemson into one of the elite programs in college football without earning some equity.
Dabo has earned plenty of it.
But that equity isn’t unlimited.
Clemson went 7-6 last season, its worst season since 2010, and I think the bigger issue is how Clemson got here.
College football changed.
The transfer portal changed roster management. NIL changed recruiting. Players move around more than ever before. Programs have had to completely change the way they build and maintain a roster.
For a long time, Dabo seemed determined to prove Clemson could continue doing things the Clemson way.
That worked when Clemson was winning national championships.
It becomes a much harder argument when you’re going 7-6.
That’s why I think the expectations for these two coaches are different.
Shane Beamer needs seven or eight wins to show South Carolina is headed back in the right direction.
Dabo probably needs nine or ten wins and Clemson back in the ACC championship conversation.
At Clemson, 8-4 isn’t supposed to be the goal.
And then there’s the elephant sitting right in the middle of all of this.
They play each other.
Imagine South Carolina entering that Clemson game with eight wins while Clemson is sitting around seven.
Then imagine Beamer beating Dabo.
Good Lord.
In one afternoon, the temperature around these two programs could completely flip.
Beamer could go from the hot seat to being one of the hottest coaches in the SEC again, while Clemson would suddenly have to seriously ask a question that would’ve seemed ridiculous five or six years ago:
Has the Dabo Swinney era run its course?
That’s what makes this season so interesting to me.
We’re not just watching two coaches trying to save their jobs or quiet their critics.
We may be watching something much bigger.
We may be watching the balance of college football power in the state of South Carolina begin to change.
