Luke Doty opens up on his relationship with Spencer Rattler, South Carolina quarterbacks

In a quarterback room at South Carolina that’s much changed from a year ago — including the addition of former top-flight recruit in Oklahoma transfer Spencer Rattler to the roster — junior quarterback Luke Doty has remained a constant. Along with Rattler, a redshirt junior, there are three freshman quarterbacks on the Gamecocks roster: Braden Davis, Tanner Bailey and Jalen Daniels.

The newcomers clicked right away with the returning players, Doty said, each bringing their own personality to the table. From Rattler handling his transition as presumed starter like a pro to the freshmen providing some energy, Doty described good vibes from the South Carolina quarterbacks.

“All the guys in there, we all really click,” Doty said. “Tanner Bailey, he’s kind of like the spark plug of everybody. He kind of gets us going, gives us a good laugh every single morning. So I think everybody’s got a really good relationship with each other. Like I said, Spencer came in and just took everything by storm. Took everything under his wing and he definitely took it like a pro.”

Rattler was the top-rated quarterback and the No. 15-overall rated prospect in the 2019 recruiting class according to On3’s Consensus. In two seasons of action at Oklahoma — he redshirted his freshman season while Jalen Hurts led the Sooners — Rattler threw for 4,595 yards to go with 40 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Prior to transferring, Rattler was usurped as the Oklahoma quarterback by star freshman Caleb Williams. He came to Columbia and set a positive tone early.

“And that was just really cool to see,” Doty said, “How he was able to come in and just do everything the right way and kind of set the example for even some of the younger guys that that’s kind of the standard set for South Carolina quarterbacks.”

Bailey was a four-star recruit out of Alabama and in the top 20 at the position in the 2022 class. Davis is a three-star prospect from Delaware. And Daniels was an August addition for South Carolina, a walk-on from Arizona.