How Beamer landed Spencer Rattler and made South Carolina ‘the talk of the nation’
All landing Spencer Rattler took was a slight nod.
Brad Stogner, speaking with Shane Beamer during his son’s official visit to South Carolina in recent weeks, asked the USC coach if he’d had any communication with Rattler since he announced his intention to transfer from Oklahoma.
Beamer hadn’t had much, if any, contact with the former five-star signal-caller to that point. After all, Rattler was going to have his choice of schools. Getting closer to home in Arizona felt realistic, too.
“You ought to talk to him. I think he might have some interest,” said Brad — the father of former Oklahoma tight end and eventual USC signee Austin Stogner.
Beamer did and, in short order, landed the highest-profile transfer in the history of South Carolina football.
“I had to step outside and scream so I didn’t scare anyone in my own house,” Beamer quipped of when Stogner and Rattler informed him they were committing to USC.
That Rattler and Beamer linked up made sense on paper. Beamer spent three years on staff at Oklahoma before becoming the head coach in Columbia, and he was part of the Sooners staff that recruited Rattler to Norman out of high school. The Gamecocks also had needs at quarterback with Zeb Noland set to graduate and Luke Doty continuing to rehab from a season-ending foot injury.
Actually landing Rattler, though, was a coup as large as any over the last two decades of program history.
The former five-star recruit entered the transfer portal in late November after being benched in favor of freshman phenom Caleb Williams during OU’s win over archrival Texas. He started the season as a Heisman front-runner, but quickly faded from award discussions and was in need of a new home.
UCLA made a run. Ole Miss, too, was a logical landing spot — although it’s unclear how much contact it actually had with Rattler.
Calls and texts flooded Rattler’s phone. Even his longtime private quarterback coach Mike Giovando’s phone rang off the hook with folks poking around at Rattler’s interest in their programs.
“I think once that season got over with he was like, ‘OK, let’s go. Time to move on and let’s write a new chapter. Let’s start the story over and let’s figure out what’s going to be best,’ ” Giovando told The State on Monday night. “And that’s where he’s at right now.”
Landing Rattler at South Carolina eventually became a full-court press after Brad Stogner’s suggestion. A Zoom video call with Beamer, Rattler and just about everyone who works in the Long Family Football Operations Center eventually came to pass.
There was some thought Rattler might want to visit. He didn’t need to.
Stogner, who he’d played with at Oklahoma and was part of the same Sooners recruiting class, had already been to Columbia. He loved it. Those thoughts were quickly passed on to Rattler.
A foray into the pro-style offense of offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield gave Rattler a feel for the kind of plays he might run at the NFL level. His comfort with Beamer, too, played a major role.
Combined, he’d heard enough to commit.
“South Carolina football was the talk of the nation I think on Monday night,” Beamer said. “And that resonated with a lot of prospects across the country as well.”
The Gamecocks have spent little time in the national spotlight in the modern era of college football. Steve Spurrier gave South Carolina its greatest era of success with three consecutive 11-win seasons.
Landing a player like Rattler reverberated around college football. Beamer said he had Class of 2023 recruits texting him about the move as soon as news broke.
National pundits flooded social media channels in awe and with praise for what Beamer and his staff were able to pull off. South Carolina, as Beamer put it Wednesday, was trending.
That said, there were character concerns with Rattler outside the building. It’s been peddled before that he’s not the easiest teammate. Giovando assured he’s no longer the same kid who drew criticism for his behavior on the Netflix show “QB1: Beyond the Lights” as an elite high school prospect.
Beamer, too, echoed those sentiments.
“I don’t know who writes the narrative or comes up with the narrative,” he said when asked about any possible concerns with Rattler. “All I know is what I saw during my time with him in Oklahoma and I saw a guy that wants to win, that is immensely talented (and) comes from a great family.”
With Rattler completing his signing on Tuesday, next comes actually getting on campus. Giovando told The State he and Rattler have plans to train over the next month. It’s largely expected Rattler will arrive on campus sometime in January.
South Carolina still has business ahead of it. USC will meet North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl later this month. There are still holes to fill — presumably with transfers — over the next month or so.
The offseason chatter and excitement surrounding South Carolina’s newest signal-caller, though, is just beginning.
