The South Carolina Gamecocks have arrived to game week against Kent State, but there is still a major question mark at one major position battle. Although South Carolina kickers Max Kelley, Upton Bellefant and Malik Orsan have been competing for the No. 1 spot on the depth chart, head coach Shane Beamer told reporters just a few days before kickoff that there has yet to be a clear guy that has won the job.
Naturally, that might sound a bit concerning for Gamecock fans, given how important having a starting placekicker is in college football. But according to Coach Beamer, it sounds like it's a good problem to have, since all three kickers have been performing so well:
South Carolina special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley said earlier last month that ideally he'd like to name a starting kicker a few days before game day on Saturday. But he backtracked on that a bit last week when asked if there was a timeline on naming one.
"I think kickers are different than, like, if you were figuring out a starting quarterback," Smiley said on Aug. 26 via Gamecock247. So I don't know that there's we haven't established, and in talking to Coach, there hasn't been a conversation of, 'Hey, this is the date, this is the guy. 'We're letting those guys compete and really letting it unfold in front of us. As guys start to say, "Hey, this is my job," and move ahead, we're letting that happen naturally."
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Of course, it would be nice to have some clarity for South Carolina fans about what to expect from the starting kicker position. But having too many kickers that are too good to choose from on the roster isn't exactly a bad problem to have on special teams.
South Carolina is choosing between 3 talented kickers
The Gamecocks are looking to rely on one kicker from the frontrunners for the job. The name that is likely the most familiar for South Carolina fans is sophomore Max Kelley, who was with the team last year. He primarily served as a backup for starter William Joyce, but he was the Gamecocks kicker on kickoffs last season.
His father is former Liberty placekicker Jay Kelley, and he kicked plenty at Gallatin High School in Tennessee, finishing 16-of-23 in field goal attempts and going 57-of-65 in point-after attempts per his South Carolina bio.
Bellefant is a redshirt senior, previously spending time with Alabama, Buffalo and Texas Tech. After taking a redshirt with the Tide in 2022, he did not see any game action in 2023 while he was in Tuscaloosa, so he transferred to Buffalo ahead of the 2024 season. He finished 31-for-31 on extra-point attempts there, and was 18-for-21 on field goals. His 18 good field goals impressively ranked second in Buffalo school history for a single season.
He transferred to Texas Tech before the 2025 season. Although he was primarily a backup behind starter Stone Harrington, his kicking efforts helped the Red Raiders finish 12-2 as Big 12 champions and reach a College Football Playoff berth. He played in seven games for Tech, going six-for-six on his field goal attempts. He made 14 of his 16 extra-point attempts, as well.
The third kicker competing for the job is Orsan, who is a redshirt freshman. He started his college career at Southeast Missouri State last season, taking a redshirt there.
Even if South Carolina trots one kicker out there for the first extra point against Kent State, that doesn't necessarily mean he won the job. Coach Smiley alluded to that last week, as well.
"We're all about scoring points," Smiley said via Gamecock247. "I'm sure Coach would echo this at any position it's not like, 'hey, there's your starting fill-in-the-blank, and the backup is never going to see the field the whole year.' So it doesn't matter who goes out there for the first extra point. The rest of the guys are working their butt off to compete because we've got to keep scoring points."
Who knows, at this rate perhaps South Carolina will alternate between one or two kickers during the first couple of games.
Gamecocks fans will get their first look at South Carolina's new kicker when the team kicks off against Kent State on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET.
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