South Carolina Football: Two 4-star Gamecock quarterbacks leaving program through transfer portal

On Wednesday, South Carolina football quarterback Spencer Rattler announced his intention to forego a 6th year of collegiate eligibility to pursue a professional career. Rattler is expected to be taken in the top half of the 2024 NFL Draft.

However, he was not the only quarterback attrition to hit the Gamecock program on Wednesday.

In the evening, it was announced that two more USC quarterbacks were expected to leave the program.

John Whittle of TheBigSpur.com reported that former 4-star prospects Colten Gauthier and Tanner Bailey are expected to leave the program and are believed to be entering the transfer portal. Neither player saw any significant action in garnet and black and had fallen behind on the depth chart.

Gauthier was a 4-star prospect in the 2021 class according to Rivals, and Bailey was a 4-star in the following cycle according to both Rivals and ESPN.

Gauthier and Bailey exiting the program, plus Rattler’s NFL Draft declaration means that the Gamecocks currently have one scholarship player who is a full-time quarterback. 4-star true freshman LaNorris Sellers is the only quarterback left unless part-time quarterback, part-time wide receiver Luke Doty is considered. Fellow 4-star Braden Davis transferred in the spring.

In the class of 2024, South Carolina football will be bringing in 4-star quarterback Dante Reno to the quarterback room.

With Sellers, Reno, and Doty (sorta) the only quarterbacks on the 2024 roster, it seems likely that head coach Shane Beamer and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains could be looking to add a quarterback through the transfer portal.

Earlier on Wednesday, before the trio of defections were made known, the Gamecocks were named as the “frontrunner” to land Arkansas starting quarterback KJ Jefferson, though, Jefferson came out and said (in a non-specific and undetailed way) that he had not yet made a decision about his future.

If the Gamecocks land Jefferson or another highly-touted transfer, it seems as if the new quarterback would be coming in to compete with Sellers (and maybe Doty) for the starting job. If they are unable to find a big-time portal QB, finding a veteran backup could be the move for the South Carolina football program.