Former South Carolina QB retired from football. Now he’s back in the SEC
Former South Carolina quarterback Tanner Bailey is headed to Auburn.
Bailey, a three-star quarterback in the Class of 2022, spent two seasons at South Carolina as a backup to Spencer Rattler before entering the transfer portal and later announcing his retirement last winter.
A year later, the Alabama native is coming out of retirement and joining the Auburn football program.
“Everybody that knows me, I’m a lifelong, die-hard Auburn fan,” Bailey told the Montgomery Advisor. “For me, if you ask the 5-year-old Tanner: ‘What’s your lifelong dream?’, this is probably what it is. It’s awesome, I’m super excited.”
Bailey was part of a two-QB class in 2022 for USC that included Braden Davis.
According to the Advisor, Bailey enrolled at Auburn following his retirement and was seeking a degree in criminal justice. Bailey graduated in December and, soon after, the Auburn coaches reached out.
“I wanted to take time off to know personal development, personal growth,” Bailey told the Advisor. “Then, the coaches hit me up early December, just seeing if I’ll be interested. We’ve been talking the last few weeks. I was super optimistic. So I was hoping it all fall through, and it did. I’m super excited.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 1:49 PM.
