First impressions in with Gamecocks freshman QB Landon Duckworth
.JPG "South Carolina's Landon Duckworth during a 2026 spring football practice.")
Kendal Briles wasn’t able to land Landon Duckworth on the recruiting trail. He still found a way to still become the quarterback’s coach.
As the Gamecocks enter their second week of spring practices, much will be made about the new USC offensive coordinator’s relationship with starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
But down the depth chart is Duckworth, the four-star prospect who graduated from high school early to enroll at South Carolina this spring.
Despite a late push from LSU, Duckworth signed with the Gamecocks not knowing who head coach Shane Beamer was going to hire as USC’s offensive coordinator.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound dual-threat QB from Jackson, Alabama became the highest-rated quarterback signed under Beamer — the No. 10 quarterback and No. 132 player overall in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Less than a week after the December signing day, South Carolina tabbed Briles as the program’s third OC in as many years. At first, it seemed like the only person at USC with any familiarity with Briles was athletic director Jeremiah Donati, who hired him at TCU in 2023.
But it turned out that the person perhaps most familiar with Briles was Duckworth.
Duckworth’s first college offer came in 2022, when Briles — then the OC at Arkansas — invited the young QB on his first Power-5 visit and extended him an offer. When Briles took the TCU job soon after, he re-offered Duckworth and had him take visits to Fort Worth.
Now, they’re paired up at South Carolina; and Briles has been impressed so far.
“He’s done well,” Briles said of Duckworth. “I’ve been impressed with his growth from — you know, we had some OTAs before spring ball — his knowledge (then) to now. I can tell he’s really studied and worked at it.”
It seems unlikely that Duckworth sees the field much in 2026. Sellers, of course, will be the Gamecocks’ week-one starter and — as of now — it’s expected that redshirt freshman Cutter Woods will be the backup.
It is possible, though, that Duckworth could battle Woods for the No. 2 job before the season starts. For now, Briles said, Duckworth has been running with the “third group” along with Bowling Green transfer Lucian Anderson III.
“Those guys aren’t getting a ton of reps, but (Duckworth) is getting reps,” Briles said. “So we’re able to coach them, and they’re able to get out there and go. Then, obviously, with all the routes on air and individual stuff, we’re getting to work with them.”
Without a public spring game this year, fans might not be able to see much — if any — of Duckworth in 2026. But he’ll be in the background, perhaps working his way to becoming a future starter at South Carolina.
“He’s got a ton of talent,” Briles said. “He’s got a lot of want-to. Excited about the future.”
