Key questions and talking points for South Carolina football at SEC Media Days
The unofficial kickoff to the Southeastern Conference football season is upon us.
The annual SEC Media Days event begins in Nashville on Monday, while the South Carolina cohort of Shane Beamer, Spencer Rattler, Tonka Hemingway and Kai Kroeger will take their turns speaking on Thursday morning.
This year marks the first time the event will be hosted in Nashville — a departure from its usual site in Birmingham, Alabama, and a shift from Atlanta in 2022. So what all is on tap for the Gamecocks when they get to town? Here are a few questions that should be lingering when the university plane lands on Thursday:
Why did Spencer Rattler return and where does he stack up in the SEC?
Shane Beamer joked last year that he would bring Rattler to SEC Media Days in 2023. That was met mostly with a few laughs and a couple eye rolls. No one expected Rattler to play more than one season at South Carolina before departing for the NFL.
Well, he’s back and he’ll be one of the biggest names in Nashville this week.
Rattler will undoubtedly face questions about his time at Oklahoma, what went down with his benching in favor of Caleb Williams and any other myriad questions from a past in Norman that feels increasingly distant. More interestingly, though, Rattler will be one of six returning quarterbacks in the SEC for 2023. Expect plenty of rankings and thought exercises to be published over the coming weeks as to where he stacks up.
The former five-star signal-caller is a maddening mix of eye-popping arm talent that seemingly too often chooses the big play over the simple one. That wasn’t always the case in 2022. The wins over Tennessee and Clemson were looks into what Rattler can be when it all comes together. And that should downright terrify SEC defenses.
The rest of the quarterback crew at this year’s event includes LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Mississippi State’s Will Rogers, Tennessee’s Joe Milton and Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson. Daniels and Milton may well receive the lion’s share of the hype entering the year, but Rattler will draw plenty of headlines — and questions — this week for himself.
Can a punter win the Heisman Trophy?
OK, I’m half-kidding here, but Kai Kroeger may be one of the most fun names on the list of SEC Media Days attendees this year.
Beamer has notably defended Kroeger not being included as a finalist for the Ray Guy Award the last two years. Frankly, he has a point. Kroeger should be one of the top three or four punters in the country entering the 2023 season. His 44.2-yards-per-punt average ranks second in school history. He was named an All-American by ESPN and The Athletic a year ago.
Oh, and he also has completed six passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns.
The Chicago-area native is generally composed and cordial behind the mic. He’ll be primed for plenty of fun questions as the only specialist at this year’s event. Don’t be surprised if Kroeger ends up being a hit.
What does Shane Beamer have in store for Year 3 at South Carolina?
Beamer hasn’t seen a microphone he doesn’t like. In a day and age in which many college football programs treat the goings-on of their programs like nuclear codes, the third-year head coach is about as open and honest as you’ll get in the sport right now.
That bodes well for the platform afforded at SEC Media Days.
Beamer generally has his handful of talking points. Recruiting is up. Rattler has matured. He’s not worried about the depth of the running back room. (I’m still skeptical, but we’ll see.)
Beamer is never afraid to play salesman at the lectern. He knows recruits are watching. He knows fans are watching.
That said, this year in Nashville should center on what’s next with the Gamecocks. A 7-6 debut campaign and the upsets at the tail end of last year’s 8-5 season have South Carolina trending upward.
How high can the Gamecocks finish in the SEC East in the last season with divisions? USC has a doozy of a 2023 schedule that should rank among the toughest in the country. Beamer won’t shy away from that.
Expect him to spend ample time talking up the Gamecocks and why this year could be the major breakthrough folks in and around Columbia have been yearning for since the Steve Spurrier days at Williams-Brice Stadium.
South Carolina 2023 football schedule
Sept. 2 – North Carolina (at Charlotte) – 7:30 pm, ABC
Sept. 9 – vs Furman – 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
Sept. 16 – at Georgia – 3:30 pm, CBS
Sept. 23 – vs Mississippi State – TBA
Sept. 30 – at Tennessee – TBA
Oct. 14 – vs Florida – TBA
Oct. 21 – at Missouri – TBA
Oct. 28 – at Texas A&M – TBA
Nov. 4 – Jacksonville State – TBA
Nov. 11 – vs Vanderbilt – TBA
Nov. 18 – vs Kentucky – TBA
Nov. 25 – vs Clemson – TBA
