South Carolina Football: Former 4-star quarterback retires from football

South Carolina football fans have been doing their best to follow the moves the Gamecocks' former players have been making since entering the transfer portal, but that hasn't been an easy endeavor as over 20 players have exited the program this offseason through the portal.

Some of those players have not found a new home, but 11 of them have.

Wide receiver Juice Wells (Ole Miss), running back Mario Anderson (Memphis), kicker Mitch Jeter (Notre Dame), wide receiver O'Mega Blake (East Carolina), defensive tackle Xzavier McLeod (Georgia), and offensive lineman JonDarius Morgan (UAB) found their landing spots pretty quickly. They were followed up by linebacker Pup Howard (Florida), linebacker Stone Blanton, EDGE Donovan Westmoreland (Kennesaw State), wide receiver/tight end/h-back Zavier Short (Appalachian State), and quarterback Colten Gauthier (Gardner-Webb).

A 12th enrolled at another SEC school recently but announced on Wednesday that he was retiring from football.

Quarterback Tanner Bailey, a former 4-star prospect in the class of 2022, transferred to Auburn, but he will not be playing for the Tigers' football team as he revealed his plan on Instagram to "hang up the cleats once and for all...Typing this was one of the hardest things I've ever done, as I do not take this decision lightly. Thank you, football, for the greatest times and memories a kid can ask for."

Bailey did not go into further detail, but it appears he will be a "normal student" at Auburn.

The former blue chip prospect's exit from the South Carolina football quarterback room was part of the big stretch of changes that have occurred over the past year. Fellow '22 4-star Braden Davis left after last year's spring practice, class of 2020 4-star Luke Doty moved to wide receiver during the 2023 season, 2021 4-star Colten Gauthier entered the transfer portal with Bailey, and Spencer Rattler declared for the 2024 NFL Draft.

Moving forward, it appears redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers will be the starter in Columbia. The Gamecocks signed 4-star Dante Reno in the class of 2024 and also added a walk-on transfer portal commitment from South Carolina native and 6th-year senior Davis Beville who played at Pittsburgh and Oklahoma.