South Carolina Football Position Preview: Quarterback
By Kevin Miller
The opener of the South Carolina football season is 144 days away, which means now is a totally appropriate time to preview the fall roster. Probably the easiest position to preview for the 2023 season is quarterback. Spencer Rattler is the starting quarterback for the Gamecocks, and there are zero controversies to discuss regarding the position this offseason.
Last season didn’t begin how Rattler or Gamecock fans would have preferred, but #7 was much better at the end of the season as the offense was simplified. New Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains’ seems to favor a looser brand of offensive football that plays right into the strengths of his senior signal caller, so South Carolina fans are optimistic that the 2023 offense will look more like the one from the end of the 2022 season than the mess that Marcus Satterfield led much of the year.
Rattler is one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the country, and if Loggains can help him unlock his full potential, the Carolina offense will be in for a special season this fall. Rattler has mentioned on numerous occasions how much more comfortable he feels in Loggains’ offense than he did in Satterfield’s. The reports out of the program during spring practice have indicated that Rattler has had a very strong offseason up to this point.
Behind Rattler, Luke Doty is the backup as things stand today. Doty has some starting experience and was a highly-touted player coming out of high school. However, Dakereon Joyner will likely play some snaps at the position as a wildcat option. Joyner is slated to play running back and wide receiver this season, but it seems unlikely that the sixth-year senior wouldn’t take some snaps from center as much of his effectiveness has been seen at the position.
Another player to watch in the quarterback room is true freshman LaNorris Sellers. Sellers enrolled early this winter and has gone through less than one semester of workouts and spring practice, but he is already turning heads. The 6’3″, 230-pound quarterback has an arm that rivals Rattler’s (tight end Trey Knox said he can “just flick his wrist” and throw the ball 60 yards) and has reportedly run 4.4-second and 4.5-second 40-yard dash times.
4-star young players Tanner Bailey, Braden Davis, and Colten Gauthier round out the quarterback room. The entirety of six quarterbacks (seven if you count DK Joyner) was rated 4 stars or higher by the recruiting industry, and the group is probably the greatest collection of talent at the position in Carolina history. There is only one quarterback on the field at a time (most of the time, anyway), so it is expected that at least one of the backups may transfer after spring practice.
The 2024 recruiting class contains another blue chipper in 4-star Dante Reno. Reno has a strong arm and is extremely “football intelligent,” coming from a coaching family. He, Sellers, and Tanner Bailey seem like the three top contenders to be the quarterback of the future after Spencer Rattler moves on to the NFL (with the potential of a Luke Doty gap year).
If all goes well in Columbia this fall, Spencer Rattler will build off of last season’s end-of-year success and put together one of the top quarterback performances in school history on his way to the NFL Draft. The schedule is difficult, but having lofty expectations for Rattler is not unreasonable for Gamecock fans. If this hope becomes reality, the success of 2023 will propel the South Carolina football program into a future that is increasingly bright.