South Carolina Head Coach Shane Beamer Gives an Update on Injuries and Where His Roster Stands Entering the Season

South Carolina will begin fall camp on Friday. Before the players prepare for the start of the season, Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer met with media members to provide an update on his team. Beamer speaks on key injuries and his excitement level about his current roster.

As kickoff against Kent State is four weeks away from Saturday, the vibes are high both inside and outside the building according to Coach Beamer.

"Lot of buzz and excitement in our building and outside our facility," Beamer said.

Coming out of the summer and going right into fall camp, Beamer said the staff switched things up in order to help the players when the season gets tough later in the year.

"Overall thought it was a really, really good summer," Beamer said. "We did some things different this year with how we trained. [We did] some things to learn more about our team from a physical standpoint and a character standpoint. We purposefully made it hard for those guys and learned a lot about our team."

When asked about why he is excited about this particualr team, Beamer points to the investment level of his players. Though many had the chance to leave, they decided to return for 2026.

"Their conviction since they came back in January," Beamer said. "There's a lot of guys that could easily be somewhere else right now that were on that team in 2025. They all chose to come back. You're investment level equals your expectation level. We have a group of guys that went through some hard stuff in 2025. We're better because of what we went through."

Injury Update

South Carolina is a relatively healthy football team entering camp. Two of their stars seem to be on track for an early return.

"No real updates injury wise. Same situation with [Jacarrius] Peak and Dylan [Stewart]. They won't be practicing full tomorrow, but definitely on track. They got good updated from doctors at their appointments last week," Beamer said.

Outside of Peak and Stewart, there are only a couple more names to add to the injury list. Josiah Thompson has been out all offseason, however the Gamecocks' overall depth takes a hit with two more names being out for significant time.

"The only other guys that will be out tomorrow Josiah Thompson, Josh Smith who got injured during the spring, and Jackson Rep, unfortunately got injured over the summer so he'll miss the season. Everybody else will be able to do something tomorrow on the field," Beamer said.

Late Roster Additions?

Will Bryan Thomas Jr. return? — Sep 6, 2025; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks linebacker Bryan Thomas Jr. (46) celebrates a sack against the South Carolina State Bulldogs in the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Last week a ruling from a Colorado judge opened the door for players from the class of 2022 to have one more year of eligibility. As Beamer points out, teams are still awaiting word on the official rules which means there may not be an addition to the team for the season.

"Yeah we've had some discussion. Really we're kind of in a holding pattern until we get more clarity from NCAA [and the] SEC. I don't think anybody is doing much of anything right now. Is there anything imminent? No. Is there any player I've had a discussion with if this passes, ' we want you to come back?' I have not. Never say never. We'll always do what's best for our program, but don't anticipate anything changing," Beamer said.

The ruling may in fact help other collegiate sports, but with camp starting and the season beginning soon, it may not change rosters for most college football teams.

Add us as a preferred source on Google