How South Carolina surprised four-star QB recruit with red-carpet treatment
Trent Seaborn and his family pulled up to the South Carolina football facility at 8 a.m. Saturday and discovered an empty parking lot.
It made no sense. This is peak recruiting season. Junior days are in full swing all across the country. Heck, the Gamecocks hosted dozens of kids just a week earlier. Then the Seaborns saw USC coach Shane Beamer on the balcony, welcoming them to come on inside.
There, South Carolina had gathered a number of assistant coaches, analysts, an academic advisor and strength coaches just for Seaborn’s visit.
“I thought there’s a junior day going on,” Seaborn asked offensive coordinator Mike Shula.
“Yeah,” Shula responded. “The junior day is for you.”
Though it was a two-day unofficial visit where the Seaborn family paid for everything, the four-star quarterback out of Alabaster, Alabama said this past weekend in Columbia felt like an official visit.
“The fact that I was the only recruit up there, it made me feel really special,” Seaborn said. “My parents loved it. They’re absolutely blown away by obviously the facilities and all the physical stuff, but also the people we met. The people that we met are just out of this world.”
Seaborn, who led Thompson High to a state title last season as a sophomore, is already a Top 20 quarterback in the Class of 2027 with a dozen SEC offers. South Carolina’s pursuit began last summer, when then-offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains offered Seaborn and invited him to Columbia for a private workout.
While Loggains was his main recruiter, he did occasionally call and talk with Shula — who served as an offensive analyst last year. When Loggains was hired as Appalachian State’s head coach and Shula was promoted at USC, Seaborn’s connection with South Carolina remained.
That was only furthered this past weekend. As part of the visit, the Seaborns accompanied Shula to Sunday Mass at The Basilica of Saint Peter in downtown Columbia.
“Man, it was beautiful,” Seaborn said. “That was the first church I’ve been to where an organ has played. It was so incredible.”
Mass turned to football. Back at the facility on Sunday, Seaborn, Shula, analyst Davis Koetter and others sat in the quarterback room for over three hours talking football. They went over how Shula’s operating the South Carolina offense. They watched clips of Seaborn. Shula had the QB go up the whiteboard and draw some stuff up.
“I actually thought I did pretty well (on the whiteboard),” Seaborn said. “I was able to regurgitate everything that he put on me. He said I’ve done better than some QBs they’ve seen on a whiteboard.”
Shula was broke down Seaborn’s film and offered coaching points.
“He was telling me, ‘Look through your film and look to where you set and define your drop or where you set up and maybe your drop is a little shaky. And work on that,’ ” Seaborn said of their conversation. “And he said the biggest thing, or the biggest transition from high school to college ball, is knowing your protections and how to adjust that.”
Seaborn is a one of a few future quarterbacks South Carolina has been talking with.
A few weeks ago, Beamer visited 2026 four-star Brady Smigiel in California and, more recently, visited 2026 five-star quarterback Jared Curtis along with Shula. The Gamecocks are also still in contention for 2026 four-star Landon Duckworth — who initially committed to South Carolina before breaking off that pledge last summer.
As far as 2027 quarterbacks, it seems South Carolina has its eyes on Seaborn. As for his decision, the QB said in a perfect world he’d be committing before his junior season begins next August but added that he doesn’t have “a specific timeline.”
“Something Coach Shula advised my dad and I is, don’t rush the process,” Seaborn said. “Take your time. Really be thorough with what college you choose so you can stick with that college.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2025 at 10:44 AM.
