Shane Beamer balances discussions with players considering transfer portal

During the SEC Spring Meetings, South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer spoke about the conversations he has when players want to transfer from the program, explaining that he doesn’t try to convince them to stay.

This comes as the transfer portal has completely changed how rosters are built in college football. For many coaches, player retention is nearly as big a concern as bringing in new talent. However, Beamer doesn’t want to beg any player.

“I never want to beg a guy to stay,” Shane Beamer said. “If he doesn’t want to be part of our program, then go. Like, I don’t want to twist your arm to stay and be a member of our program.”

More important to Beamer is creating an environment that players are benefiting from and want to continue to play in.

“What we try and do is treat our guys the right way and develop them and be consistent with them and honest with them, and hopefully guys want to be a part of that. If [a] guy has an opportunity to go somewhere else for a better situation, whether it be football or off the field, then wish them well,” Beamer said.

“But, when a guy, guys that we’ve lost in the portal when they call to tell me that or they met with me to tell me they were leaving, it was ‘why do you feel this way,’ and ‘what’s leading to this,’ but not begging him to stay and negotiating and things like that.”

South Carolina is currently ranked 46th in On3’s 2023 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings. On3’s Team Transfer Portal Index is designed to “measure a team’s production during the transfer process, compared relative against its roster and not a comparison against other schools.” It is a proprietary algorithm.

For Shane Beamer and the South Carolina staff, their focus remains on the players who are a part of the program.

“If I lose four guys, I’ve got 81 other guys on scholarship that want to be there, and I try to spend my time focusing on them.”

Shane Beamer on how the transfer portal impacts roster management

One thing that is clear is that the transfer portal has changed roster management. This is a complex change, which Shane Beamer broke down.

“You’ve gotta be more flexible from a numbers standpoint. … I was just looking at it in our staff room, as far as we have every position and above that position we have the number of guys that we want to sign in that particular year,” Beamer said.

“Whereas in the past, all of that came from high school. Well now, if on Signing Day you want to sign five offensive linemen, and you haven’t signed five high school offensive linemen, that’s OK because you say, ‘OK well now we’re going to go to the portal.’ … So that’s changed it from that standpoint, but certainly the roster turnover is extreme. I mean every single year is different.”

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