サウスカロライナ大学

Early history (1892–1965)

Carolina fielded its first football team on Christmas Eve, in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1892 versus Furman. At that time the football team was not sanctioned by the university. They provided their own uniforms and paid their own train fare in order to participate in the game. They were nicknamed the "College Boys" by The News and Courier and their supporters wore garnet and black.

USC won its first game in its third season, on November 2, 1895, against Columbia AA. The squad designated their first head coach, W. H. "Dixie" Whaley, the following year. The 1896 season also saw the inaugural game against arch-rival Clemson on November 12, which Carolina won 12–6. From 1902 to 1903, coach Bob Williams led the Gamecocks to a 14–3 record. In 1902, South Carolina beat Clemson, coached by John Heisman, for the first time since 1896, the first year of the rivalry. "The Carolina fans that week were carrying around a poster with the image of a tiger with a gamecock standing on top of it, holding the tiger's tail as if he was steering the tiger by the tail", Jay McCormick said. "Naturally, the Clemson guys didn't take too kindly to that, and on Wednesday and again on Thursday, there were sporadic fistfights involving brass knuckles and other objects and so forth, some of which resulted, according to the newspapers, in blood being spilled and persons having to seek medical assistance. After the game on Thursday, the Clemson guys frankly told the Carolina students that if you bring this poster, which is insulting to us, to the big parade on Friday, you're going to be in trouble. And naturally, of course, the Carolina students brought the poster to the parade. If you give someone an ultimatum and they're your rival, they're going to do exactly what you told them not to do."

As expected, another brawl broke out before both sides agreed to mutually burn the poster in an effort to defuse tensions. The immediate aftermath resulted in the stoppage of the rivalry until 1909. 1903 also heralded the program's first 8-win season with an overall record of 8–2. Future senator and former star player for South Carolina and UVA, Christie Benet led the Gamecocks from 1904 to 1905 and 1908 to 1909. 1904's captain Gene Oliver played against Georgia with a broken jaw.

The Board of Trustees banned participation in football for the 1906 season after the faculty complained that the coarseness of chants and cheers, yelled by the students at football games, were not gentlemanly in nature. Within months The Board of Trustees reversed their decision after hearing pleas, and receiving petitions, from students and alumni alike. Play was allowed to resume in 1907. A hastily assembled football team, coached by Board of Trustees member Douglas McKay, competed in an abbreviated season that same year, and the squad won all three games. In 1910, South Carolina hired John Neff from UVA. Norman B. Edgerton coached the team from 1912 to 1915. A. B. Stoney played on the team. Yet another UVA grad, W. Rice Warren coached the 1916 team. Frank Dobson led the war-torn 1918 team to a 2–1–1 record. Coach Sol Metzger led the 1921 team to a 5–1–2 record, losing only to Billy Laval's Furman. Branch Bocock coached the 1925 and 1926 teams.

Billy Laval, a Columbia native, came to USC from Furman. Laval accepted a three-year contract worth $8,000 per year to coach the Gamecocks, which made him the highest-paid coach in the state. From 1928 to 1934, he led the Gamecocks to seven consecutive winning seasons and a 39–26–6 overall record, which included a perfect 3–0 Southern Conference campaign in 1933. Laval is one of only two South Carolina football coaches to have produced seven consecutive winning seasons (Steve Spurrier is the other, from 2008 to 2014). In 2009, The State called him "the greatest collegiate coach" in the history of South Carolina. Laval left USC after six seasons to coach multiple sports at Emory and Henry College, partly due to differences over his contract with the USC athletics department. 1934 was the first season that Williams–Brice Stadium was used. Prior to this, South Carolina played its home games on the school's campus. Don McCallister led the Gamecocks for three seasons before being replaced. His final record is 13–20–1.

Under coach Rex Enright, who came to USC from his post as an assistant coach at Georgia, the Gamecocks produced another undefeated Southern Conference season, (4–0–1), in 1941. After the 1942 season, Enright joined the United States Navy serving as a lieutenant and working mostly in their athletic program in the United States. After three head coaches (James P. Moran, Williams Newton, John D. McMillan) who had gone 10–10–5 combined in four years with one bowl appearance, Enright returned to the Gamecocks in 1946 as head football coach, and remained until 1955 when he resigned for health reasons. He hired Warren Giese as his successor, and continued as athletic director until 1960. The Rex Enright Athletic Center on the South Carolina campus was named for him and the Rex Enright Award (also known as the Captain's Cup) given to the football captains of the previous season. Enright gave-up his coaching duties in 1955 due to reasons related to poor health. Enright retired with the distinction of being the head coach with the most wins and losses in school history (64–69–7), and he still retains the record for most school losses and is 2nd in wins. Warren Giese, who was previously an assistant coach at Maryland, was hired as head coach in 1956, and he led the Gamecocks to a 28–21–1 overall record in his 5-year tenure. Giese employed a conservative, run-first game strategy, but he enthusiastically adopted the two-point conversion when it was made legal in 1958. That year, he also correctly predicted the rise of special teams after the NCAA relaxed its player substitution rules. The Giese era included two 7–3 campaigns (1956 and 1958), an 18–15–1 ACC record, and a 27–21 victory over Darrell Royal's 1957 Texas squad in Austin. Griese was replaced after a 3–6 season in 1960. Marvin Bass was hired away from Georgia Tech, where he served as defensive coordinator, as the Gamecocks head football coach. He posted a 17–29–4 record in his four-year tenure and was replaced after five seasons due to the team's struggles and low fan support.

Paul Dietzel era (1966–1974)

Paul Dietzel arrived in Columbia prior to the 1966 season, having previously coached at LSU, where he won a national championship, and Army.

In 1969, he led the Gamecocks to an ACC championship and an appearance in the Peach Bowl. As a result, Dietzel was named ACC Coach of the Year that season. Soon after, South Carolina left the ACC and became an Independent program prior to the 1971 season. Dietzel finished his USC tenure with a 42–53–1 overall record (18–10–1 ACC). In addition to the 1969 ACC title, Dietzel's legacies at Carolina include his improvement of athletic facilities and his penning of a new fight song, which is still used to this day ("The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way"). Amid growing fan unrest after an upset loss to Duke, Dietzel announced that he would resign at the end of the season, which ended in a 4–7 record.

Jim Carlen era (1975–1981)

Jim Carlen, previously head football coach at Texas Tech and West Virginia, took over as coach in 1975. Under his leadership the program achieved a measure of national prominence. Carlen led the Gamecocks to three bowl games, coached 1980 Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers, and produced a 45–36–1 record during his tenure. The Carlen Era included consecutive 8–4 finishes (1979–1980) and only one losing season in seven years. The 1980 season was headlined by senior running back George Rogers, who led the nation in rushing with 1,894 yards. For his efforts, the Downtown Athletic Club named Rogers the winner of the 1980 Heisman Trophy award. Rogers beat out a strong group of players, including Georgia running back Herschel Walker. Behind the Rogers-led rushing attack, the Gamecocks went 8–4 overall and earned an appearance in the Gator Bowl. In addition, the 1980 Gamecocks defeated a heavily favored Michigan squad coached by the legendary Bo Schembechler. The 17–14 victory in Ann Arbor, which made Rogers a household name, was one of the biggest wins in both the Carlen Era and the program's history. Carlen retired from coaching after seven seasons at USC.

Joe Morrison era (1983–1988)

Joe Morrison was hired in 1983 following a one-year stint by Richard Bell. After a 5–6 mark in his first year, the "Man in Black" led South Carolina to a 10–2 record, No. 11 final AP Poll ranking, and a Gator Bowl appearance in 1984. It was also before the 1984 season began that the team removed the Astroturf that had been in place at Williams–Brice Stadium since the early 1970s and reinstalled the natural grass that remains today. The 1984 season included victories over Georgia, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Florida State, and Clemson. The 1984 defense was called the "Fire Ant" defense. In 1987, the Gamecocks posted an 8–4 record, No. 15 Final AP Poll ranking, and another Gator Bowl trip. The 1987 Gamecocks were led by the "Black Death" defense, which held seven opponents to 10 or fewer points and yielded just 141 points in 12 games played. Morrison coached his last game in the 1988 Liberty Bowl, as he died of a heart attack on February 5, 1989, at the age of 51. He finished his USC tenure with a 39–28–2 overall record, three bowl appearances, and three seasons with 8 or more wins. Due to his on-field success and "Black Magic" image (he traditionally wore all black on the sideline and introduced black uniforms into the team's rotation), Morrison remains a popular figure in Gamecock lore. Morrison also began the tradition at Carolina, with his first game in 1983, of the pre-game entrance of the football team to the beginning of Also sprach Zarathustra, the theme from the film "2001: A Space Odyssey". This is still part of the Carolina football game day experience over 30 years later.

Sparky Woods era (1989–1993)

Following Morrison's death, Sparky Woods was hired away from Appalachian State as head coach in 1989 and coached the Gamecocks until the end of the 1993 season. He posted winning seasons in 1989 and 1990, but could not produce another winning campaign during his tenure. Woods led the USC football program through the transition to the SEC and has the distinction of being South Carolina's first head coach in SEC play, as the Gamecocks entered the conference in 1992. Woods' overall record at South Carolina was 25–27–3.

Brad Scott era (1994–1998)

Brad Scott left his post as offensive coordinator at Florida State and took over as the Gamecocks head coach in December 1993. Despite modest preseason expectations, he led USC to a 7–5 record and a Carquest Bowl victory over West Virginia in his first season. The bowl win was the first post-season victory in the program's long history. However, Scott was unable to capitalize on his early success. USC only had one non-losing record in SEC play during his tenure, only one other winning overall record, and won only six games in his final two seasons. Scott was fired by athletics director Mike McGee after a 1–10 season in 1998 in which the Gamecocks lost their final ten games of the season. Scott's final record at South Carolina was 23–32–1 in five seasons.

Lou Holtz era (1999–2004)

Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz came out of retirement and was hired as USC's head coach in 1999. He inherited a relatively young SEC program (joined in 1992) that posted only three winning seasons from 1990 to 1998. USC won just a single game the year before Holtz's arrival and, subsequently, went 0–11 in his inaugural campaign.

It didn't take long for Holtz to improve the Gamecocks' fortunes, however, as he engineered 8–4 and 9–3 records in the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In addition, USC won consecutive Outback Bowls over Ohio State and produced the most successful two-year run in program history (at the time), going 17–7 overall and 10–6 in SEC play. The 2000 and 2001 campaigns also saw USC's return to the polls, as the Gamecocks turned in No. 19 and No. 13 rankings in the Final AP ballots for those years. After consecutive 5–7 finishes in 2002 and 2003 (in which the team was ranked in the Top 25 during both seasons), Holtz ended his USC tenure on a winning note with a 6–5 record in 2004 before retiring again. Holtz finished with a 33–37 overall record at South Carolina.

In 2005, USC was placed on 3 years probation by the NCAA for actions during the coaching tenure of Lou Holtz, all of which were self-reported by the school. Five of these actions were considered major violations, and included such activities as impermissible tutoring and non-voluntary summer workouts as well as a "lack of institutional control". Coach Holtz pointed out following the close of the investigation, "There was no money involved. No athletes were paid. There were no recruiting inducements. No cars. No jobs offered. No ticket scandal, etc."

Steve Spurrier era (2005–2015)

Former Washington Redskins and Florida head coach Steve Spurrier was hired in 2005 to replace the retiring Lou Holtz. Spurrier led the Gamecocks to a 7–5 record and Independence Bowl appearance in his first season. As a result, Spurrier was named the 2005 SEC Coach of the Year. The 2006 season saw an 8–5 record and a victory over Houston in the Liberty Bowl. In 2007, the Gamecocks started the season 6–1, but would lose all of their next five games. South Carolina posted consecutive 7–6 records in 2008 and 2009, returning to postseason play with appearances in the Outback Bowl and PapaJohns.com Bowl. They also defeated a Top 5 opponent for the first time ever in 2009 when they upset then-No. 4 Ole Miss 16–10 at home on a Thursday night.

In 2010, Spurrier scored another first with the first SEC Eastern Division Championship in school history and the program's first win over a No. 1 team in program history, with a 35–21 victory over top-ranked, defending national champion Alabama. In 2011, Spurrier led USC to its most successful season in program history. The Gamecocks posted an 11–2 overall record, went 6–2 in SEC play, and defeated No. 20 Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl to earn Final Top 10 rankings in the AP and Coaches' Polls (No. 9 and No. 8, respectively). The University of South Carolina was investigated in 2011–12 by the NCAA regarding an estimated $59,000 in impermissible benefits provided to student-athletes including football players including discounted living expenses at a local hotel. The school imposed its own punishment, paying $18,500 in fines and cutting three football scholarships in each of the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and reduction in official recruiting visits for the 2012–13 year. The NCAA accepted these self-imposed punishments.

In 2012 Steve Spurrier, once again, led his South Carolina football team to double-digit wins during the course of the regular season campaign. The 2012 regular season culminated with the annual season-ending game against arch-rival Clemson at Clemson's Memorial Stadium. In 2013, Spurrier and the Gamecocks finished with another extremely successful 11–2 season capped by a 34–22 victory over the No. 19 Wisconsin in the 2014 Capital One Bowl. South Carolina finished with the highest ranking in school history in the AP poll, ranked at No. 4 in the country.

On October 12, 2015, after a 2–4 start to the season, Spurrier announced to his team that he would be resigning, effective immediately. Offensive line coach/co-offensive coordinator Shawn Elliott was named the team's interim head coach. Elliott led the Gamecocks to victory the following week against Vanderbilt but lost the final five games of the season. Many of South Carolina's most successful seasons came during the Steve Spurrier era, including a SEC East Division championship in 2010 and three consecutive eleven win seasons (2011–13). Spurrier also boasted a 6–4 record against the school's in-state rival, Clemson, including five consecutive wins during the 2009–2013 seasons.

Will Muschamp era (2016–2020)

Auburn defensive coordinator and former Florida head coach Will Muschamp was named as South Carolina's new head coach on December 6, 2015.

The Will Muschamp era began with a victory over Vanderbilt by a score of 13–10. After a 2–4 start, Carolina won four of their final six regular season contests, including a 24–21 victory over 18th-ranked Tennessee. The Gamecocks' 2016 campaign ended with a 46–39 overtime loss to South Florida in the 2016 Birmingham Bowl. In 2017 Muschamp led the Gamecocks to a 9–4 season. The season started with a neutral site win against NC State in the Belk Kickoff Game in Charlotte, North Carolina. In conference play South Carolina defeated five SEC schools: Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas, finishing second in the SEC East. They finished the season with a 26–19 victory over Michigan in the Outback Bowl. The 2018 season saw Muschamp and the Gamecocks finish with a 7–5 regular season finish and a 28–0 loss to Virginia in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, NC. South Carolina finished the 2019 season with a mark of 4–8, highlighted by a road upset over Georgia.

The 2020 season was played with a conference-only schedule, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Gamecocks started off the season 2-2, with a win over then No. 15 Auburn. The Gamecocks then lost three straight, allowing 159 points in the process. Muschamp was dismissed as head coach on November 15, 2020, after starting the 2020 season with a 2–5 record with Mike Bobo being named interim head coach for the rest of the season.

Shane Beamer era (2021–present)

On December 6, 2020, University of South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner announced that the school had hired Oklahoma associate head coach/tight ends coach Shane Beamer as its head coach. Beamer, the son of legendary Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer, led the 2021 Gamecocks to a 7–6 record, including a 38–21 win in the Duke's Mayo Bowl over North Carolina.

The Gamecocks' 2022 season displayed significant growth under Shane Beamer's leadership in his second year as head coach. Despite inconsistent offensive production and a lackluster rush defense throughout the season, the Gamecocks finished on a high note, posting an 8–5 record and finishing the season ranked at No. 23 in both the Coaches and AP poll, their first top 25 finish since the 2013 season. Additionally, Shane Beamer became the first coach in program history to win back-to-back games against top ten opponents after beating #5 Tennessee and their in-state rival #8 Clemson in weeks 12 and 13, respectively. South Carolina's dominant 63–38 victory against Tennessee set the record for most points scored by an unranked team against a top-five team in college football history. During the same game, South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler gave a legendary performance, throwing for 438 passing yards and six touchdowns, breaking the school record for most touchdown passes in a single game. The Gamecocks were invited to play against the #21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. Although South Carolina played a competitive game with a relatively depleted roster, they ultimately lost to the Irish by a score of 45–38.