Phil Steele Expresses Concern Over South Carolina’s Defense for 2025 Season
Phil Steele, widely recognized for his deep insights into college football and his annual preseason magazine, has made his evaluation of South Carolina for the 2025 season. Steele’s analysis typically carries a lot of weight, making his concerns about the Gamecocks’ defense particularly noteworthy.
During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show on Thursday, Steele discussed several SEC teams but singled out South Carolina as a major concern. Despite the Gamecocks receiving preseason buzz and possibly landing in the Top 25 after narrowly missing out on a College Football Playoff berth last year, Steele has reservations.
One of his main worries is the defensive front, which he feels has been significantly weakened. The team loses much of its dominant defensive line from last year, with only preseason All-SEC first-team selection Dylan Stewart returning. Steele also pointed to South Carolina’s difficult 2025 schedule as a major challenge.
“I’m probably lower on South Carolina than most people. Last year, I was higher on them than everyone else,” Steele noted. “They do have Superman at quarterback in LaNorris Sellers, and they have one of the best defensive players in Dylan Stewart, but defensively, my concern is that last year they had seven dominant defensive front players, and this year only one of those returns. So their defensive front won’t be as strong as last year.”
Steele also expressed caution about the Gamecocks’ offensive line, which returns only two starters. On the positive side, he sees potential in quarterback LaNorris Sellers and expects wide receiver Nyck Harbor to make an impact.
Regarding South Carolina’s schedule, Steele pointed out the difficulty of their road games, including matchups against Missouri, LSU, Mississippi, and Texas A&M, where they may be underdogs. Additionally, they’ll host tough teams like Oklahoma, Alabama, Clemson, and play Virginia Tech at a neutral site.
“That’s a brutal schedule South Carolina has, and it’s one of the main reasons I have them ranked lower than most,” Steele said.
Although Steele expressed concern over the Gamecocks’ road-heavy schedule in 2025, South Carolina actually performed better on the road than at home last year, including significant victories at Oklahoma and Clemson. The team ended the 2024 regular season on a six-game win streak after starting 2-2 at home, with losses to LSU and Ole Miss.
As always, the season ahead is unpredictable, and fans will have to see if Phil Steele’s analysis proves accurate or if this marks one of the rare times the veteran expert misses the mark.
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