How will South Carolina’s QB room shake out in 2025 ... and beyond?
There is one certainty with South Carolina’s quarterback room: LaNorris Sellers will be the starter in 2025. That is a guarantee. Everything beyond that is not.
There is, of course, the question of Sellers’ backup. If the spring game gave us anything, it was just enough highlights to produce months worth of fodder about guys who might not even play. That exhibition sparked real debate about who was going to be No. 2 on the QB depth chart.
Right now, the favorite seems to be graduate student Luke Doty, a guy who most fans didn’t even know was a quarterback considering, well, he hasn’t been the past two seasons. Though he played QB early in his USC career, Doty has mostly contributed at wide receiver and on special teams the past two seasons.
But let’s say Doty lands the role as the backup quarterback. There’s suddenly a ton of intrigue in who’s named the third-string quarterback.
If you start to look past the 2025 season, Doty (graduating) will be gone and, if all the mock drafts are accurate, so will Sellers. That means South Carolina’s third-string quarterback in 2025 could be the starter in 2026.
The candidates for third string are true freshman Cutter Woods, who dazzled with a couple throws in the spring game, and redshirt freshman Air Noland, the Ohio State transfer who didn’t look as sharp.
Does the winner of the Woods-Noland competition automatically become the favorite to be the 2026 starter? Does the loser perhaps look toward the transfer portal? Do they battle it out in spring ball?
Does South Carolina bring in a high-level transfer — i.e., Spencer Rattler — to bolster the competition? Do the Gamecocks land a prized prospect — *cough* Landon Duckworth *cough* — who has the talent to start immediately?
And then what happens if things go awry in 2025? What happens if Sellers, for whatever reason, returns to school in 2026? What’s the domino effect of that — or, in other words, who decides to transfer?
Drama around the quarterback position is endless; just ask Tennessee. Schools and coaches can plan all they want for the perfect scenarios, hoping that their recruiting visions come to fruition, but that’s not always the case.
Heck, South Carolina brought in quarterback Dante Reno just last year and he’s already gone. Everything is so fickle.
So, as of now, all we know is who’s going to start for South Carolina. Beyond that is where things get fascinating.
25 QUESTIONS FOR THE 2025 SEASON:
No. 25 — What South Carolina positions have the most question marks heading into season?
No. 24 — A Gamecocks victory over Va. Tech would be biggest season-opening win since when?
No. 23 — How will South Carolina’s QB room shake out in 2025 and beyond?
No. 22 — If USC beat Bama or LSU in ’24, would national conversation be different right now?
No. 21 — Can the Gamecocks’ offensive line take a step forward in 2025?
No. 20 — What former South Carolina football player will get his jersey retired next?
No. 19 — Can South Carolina get to the LSU game undefeated?
No. 18 — Will Fred Johnson be South Carolina’s next great LB?
No. 17 — What’s the most important stretch in USC’s 2025 schedule?
No. 16 — Can South Carolina’s defense stay elite despite all its roster turnover?
No. 15 — What South Carolina school records could be broken in 2025?
No. 14 — What’s the ceiling for USC’s running backs, with or without Rahsul Faison?
No. 13 — Can South Carolina’s special teams get back to Beamer Ball standard?
No. 12 — Have Gamecocks found right balance of high school football talent, transfers?
No. 11 — How will Shane Beamer go viral this year with South Carolina?
No. 10 — Is South Carolina too young at wide receiver?
No. 9 — Is this South Carolina’s easiest schedule in the Shane Beamer era?
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
