3 burning questions for offense as South Carolina football begins spring practice
On Wednesday, 96 days after the Gamecocks’ disappointing 2025 season came to an end, hope will again spring eternal.
South Carolina will hold its first of 15 spring football practices, beginning the work to prove that the immense amount of offseason change will result in winning.
Though the Gamecocks return their two stars from last year — quarterback LaNorris Sellers and edge Dylan Stewart — there is so much that is new.
The obvious: Half of Shane Beamer’s assistant coaches were hired within the past few months. Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles is most notable, but there will also be new voices leading the offensive line (Randy Clements), edges (Deion Barnes), running backs (Stan Drayton) and special teams units (Matthew Smiley).
Beyond coaching, though, South Carolina lost 38 lettermen off last year’s squad, replacing them with 17 true freshmen and 25 transfers.
Naturally, all that change creates a lot of unknowns. Here are three burning questions we have about the USC offense heading into spring practice:
1. Where do the new faces slot in on the offensive line?
The biggest concern about the 2026 Gamecocks was also the biggest concern about the 2023, 2024 and 2025 South Carolina football team: the O-line.
In a way, it would be silly to take away much about the offensive line during spring ball. Guys are still getting acclimated, learning the scheme and probably getting reps at multiple positions.
Given that USC has allowed over 40 sacks in each of the past three seasons, it would be reasonable for a fan to wait until about the third game of the season before getting excited about a line turnaround.
In saying that, spring practice will be the first opportunity to see a ton of new faces. While N.C. State transfer Jacarrius Peak — who was expected to be the starting left tackle — will miss spring with an injury and four-star freshman Darius Gray isn’t enrolling until the summer, there are still nine new offensive linemen.
Throughout spring, it’s going to be interesting to monitor, one, what positions the coaching staff is trying them at and, two, which of them are overtaking the returners.
2. Does Sellers look more comfortable?
Again, this probably isn’t going to be a question answered during spring practices, but we might get some early insights into Sellers’ relationship with Briles.
Think back to this time last year. The narrative around the Gamecocks’ offense was all about how OC Mike Shula said he didn’t want Sellers running as much and seemed to indicate he needed to change.
Hindsight being what it is, that was concerning.
So fast-forward to 2026 and, well, it’s going to be interesting how Sellers speaks of Briles and vice versa.
For the third-straight season, the Gamecocks quarterback is about to begin spring practice with a different offensive coordinator. By this point, one could imagine Sellers knows what he needs — or, at least, has a solid feel for what allows him to play free and what causes performances like he had in 2024.
What running back emerges?
Again, history tells us that predicting production after spring ball isn’t always smart. Heck, even after that.
For instance: Last season, Oscar Adaway was the No. 1 running back through spring and fall practices, eventually starting the season for USC. By the end of the year, he was maybe the fourth-string running back.
Things change.
But the running back room is wide open heading into spring. The Gamecocks return three guys from 2025: Jawarn Howell, Isaiah Augustave and Matt Fuller, who had the most production of the trio.
The Gamecocks also brought in three transfer tailbacks from powerhouse schools: Christian Clark (Texas), Sam Dixon (Ohio State) and Jabree Coleman (Penn State), who played under Drayton (USC’s new RBs coach) with the Nittany Lions last year.
One could make a reasonable case for any of the six to emerge as the No. 1 running back by the summer. More likely, two to four guys will begin to really stick out in the scrimmages and provide an idea of a possible depth chart.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 7:00 AM.
