Why South Carolina never considered redshirting quarterback Luke Doty
The NCAA made it somewhat of a moot point, but South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp was still emphatic.
He won’t have the chance to redshirt four-star quarterback Luke Doty, as the NCAA has frozen all athletes’ eligibility as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But that option still wasn’t going to be on the table.
“We’ve never had any discussion about redshirting,” Muschamp said.
Because of the singular nature of that position and the tendency for quarterbacks to depart if they don’t see a path to starting, redshirting is often held up as an ideal plan to spread out the timelines of passers who come in back to back in recruiting classes. Doty came in one year after Ryan Hilinski, one of the more decorated recruits the program has landed who himself missed a chance to redshirt because of an injury to Jake Bentley.
But Doty has a different skillset. He’s fast and already chipping in on special teams and at wide receiver. And those skills meant he wasn’t likely going to be limited to just four games.
“He was going to play,” Muschamp said. “(Offensive coordinator) Mike (Bobo) has been extremely pleased with his progression at the quarterback position, as well as a receiver position. Again, we’ve said it before, he’s one of the best athletes on our team, and we need to find ways to get him on the field. He’s got a great competitive edge. He practices really hard. He runs 4.4 and he throws the ball extremely well.”
At the moment, the battle for the starting quarterback job seems to be between Hilinski and Colorado State grad transfer Collin Hill, who has four years of experience in Bobo’s offense. Muschamp joked he wanted defenses thinking Doty behind center was a “Wildcat” formation because that downplays the Myrtle Beach product’s proficiency as a thrower.
Overall, the team hasn’t figured out exactly how it would deal with scholarship situations next year. The NCAA still hasn’t hammered out exactly how much bigger rosters will be able to get. Fullback Adam Prentice said he probably wouldn’t stick around for Year 7 of college, but Muschamp did say a few players spoke to him about wanting to come back for an extra year if things fall into place.
“Parker White’s already told me he’s putting his name on the stadium,” Muschamp said, referring to the kicker setting the school scoring record. “He said, Elliott Fry needs to get ready. It’s coming off. So, I think Parker plans on being here for a couple years.
“I’d love to have them all back.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 2:02 PM.
