On his college football show, national analyst Josh Pate weighed in on what he thinks Shane Beamer’s current job approval rating is among South Carolina fans entering his sixth season as the Gamecocks’ head coach in 2026.

“I’d have it at a C+. This is my guess, if we were to poll South Carolina fans – I think it’d come in at a C+,” Pate said.

Beamer’s Gamecocks almost made the College Football Playoff after a second-half surge in 2024, when they finished 9-4.

Because of that, expectations were high for South Carolina entering the 2025 campaign, especially considering the return of star quarterback LaNorris Sellers and elite talent on defense like edge rusher Dylan Stewart.

The Gamecocks were a top-15 team in the preseason AP Poll last year. But following those high preseason expectations, the team collapsed and took a major step back from the year before, going 4-8 and failing to even qualify for a bowl game.

“I think it should be higher than that [C+],” Pate added of Beamer’s current job approval rating. “Only because as much as there may be recency bias baked into a C+, if that is in fact what it is, I would go back one year further. So everyone who wants to say, ‘4-8, 4-8, 4-8’ – I’d say, well, if we’re gonna go back in time, let’s go back in time two years where they were knocking on the door of the College Football Playoff.”

Despite the disappointing 2025 season, Pate believes Gamecock fans should be happy with a nine-win type of season every few years or so, and that underachieving with top players is fine because you aren’t on the level of programs such as Georgia, Ohio State, Texas or Oregon.

His message to South Carolina fans about program expectations was blunt.

“And let’s be honest about where we are. This is South Carolina,” Pate said. “And the truth about South Carolina, especially in the current landscape is, if you’re turning in one of those years in any three or four-year rolling stretch, you ought to be way higher than a C+.

“… You know what else we’re factoring in? We can’t have LaNorris Sellers on this team and be 4-8. We can’t have Dylan Stewart on this team and be 4-8. Well, here’s what I think. Yes, you can, because it’s all part of a natural life cycle at a non-Georgia, non-Ohio State, non-Texas, non-Oregon-type program in the modern age of college football.”

Coming off last season’s 28-14 win over South Carolina in Columbia, Clemon will host the Gamecocks at Memorial Stadium this coming season on Nov. 28.

The Tigers have won nine of the last 11 games in the series and outscored the Gamecocks by an average margin of 18.3 points per game in that span.

South Carolina earned victories in its last two trips to Clemson by a combined four points, but the Tigers hold a 19-12-1 all-time edge at Death Valley amid their 74-44-4 all-time advantage in the series.