How Shane Beamer changed South Carolina football roster at almost every position in portal

COLUMBIA — South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer heavily utilized the transfer portal to rebuild his roster for 2026.

South Carolina added 25 players via the portal, and the class ranks No. 22 nationally and No. 10 in the SEC, according to 247Sports.

The Gamecocks went 4-8 in 2025, the worst in Beamer’s five seasons after going 9-3 (the best) in 2024.

Beamer returned his star trio of quarterback LaNorris Sellers, wide receiver Nyck Harbor and edge rusher Dylan Stewart.

Here’s a look at how the transfer portal changed almost every position for South Carolina.

Is Christian Clark the next star South Carolina running back?

There was a dip in run game success in 2025. Rahsul Faison was South Carolina’s leader with 470 yards and three touchdowns, and Oscar Adaway added 140 yards and one touchdown, but both are out of eligibility.

Christian Clark played in eight games for Texas in 2025, finishing with 236 yards on 55 carries and two touchdowns, averaging 4.3 yards per carry.

Clark brings SEC experience, and South Carolina only returns three running backs who combined had 341 rushing yards in 2025, so Clark might jump up to RB1.

Shane Beamer brings in portal kicker for first time

Texas Tech’s Upton Bellenfant was 6-of-6 on field goals with his longest a 33-yarder in 2025. He played behind Stone Harrington but was the main kicker in 2024 for Buffalo.

Beamer also brought in long snapper Emmet Rhoades to add to his group of transfer specialists.

South Carolina has completely new offensive line

South Carolina lost eight offensive linemen from the 2025 roster and brought in eight new players for the 2026 team.

Josiah Thompson entered the transfer portal but returned 11 days later and will likely start at left tackle for the third straight season.

Jacarrius Peak from NC State has played 2,202 total snaps in his career with only seven sacks allowed, per Pro Football Focus. He allowed just three on 850 snaps in 2025, earning a 73.8 grade for his offense by PFF.

Sellers needs better protection in 2026 so this is a critical position group for the offseason.

South Carolina brings in edges to help Dylan Stewart

Stewart is a 6-foot-5 game-changer on defense and he had 4.5 sacks and three forced fumbles last year.

South Carolina brought in Caleb Herring from Tennessee and Drew Collins from Arkansas State to help out Stewart.

In 2025 Bryan Thomas Jr led the way with seven sacks but he’s out of eligibility. Desmond Umeozulu played behind Stewart and Thomas, logging a sack but he transferred to Alabama.

South Carolina loses backup QB, adds one

Air Noland transferred to Memphis after one season as Sellers’ backup, and the Gamecocks brought in Lucian Anderson III from Bowling Green. Anderson threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns last year.

Cutter Woods showed promise as a freshman, so Woods could be No. 2 behind Sellers or freshman Landon Duckworth might be as well.

Shane Beamer trusts linebacker depth, doesn’t add in portal

One position the Gamecocks didn’t add to using the portal was at linebacker.

Fred “JayR” Johnson, Shawn Murphy and Justin Okoronkwo were key pieces to the defense last year who are returning.

South Carolina adds four wide receivers in portal

South Carolina added four receivers: Jayden Gibson from Oklahoma, NiTareon “Nitro” Tuggle from Purdue, DJ Black from UCF and Charly Mullaly from Holy Cross.

Gibson was injured for the last two seasons but had 375 yards and five touchdowns for the Sooners in 2023.

Tuggle had 500 receiving yards on 34 receptions to go with four touchdowns in 2025. Mullaly had 17 catches for 189 yards in 2025. Black had 273 receiving yards on 22 catches and two touchdowns.

It’ll be interesting to see who rotates in with Harbor, Mazeo Bennett, Jayden Sellers and Donovan Murph.

South Carolina added tight end Max Drag from UCF. He had 19 yards on three catches as a sophomore.

DL Tomiwa Durojaiye could be a game-changer for South Carolina

Tomiwa Durojaiye has spent three seasons at three schools but was a four-star portal defensive lineman out of Illinois in 2025 when he had two sacks.

Losing Nick Barrett and Monkell Goodwine, who were out of eligibility, frees up starting spots.

Quay’Sheed Scott adds to South Carolina secondary

Cornerback Quay’Sheed Scott had 26 solo tackles and one interception in 2025. Beamer lost Jalon Kilgore and Brandon Cisse to the NFL draft and DQ Smith is out of eligibility but still returns Peyton Williams, Vicari Swain and Judge Collier.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Shane Beamer transforms South Carolina football 2026 roster in portal