Dowell Loggains shares advantages and disadvantages of naming a starting quarterback during spring
South Carolina’s quarterback room transformed this offseason, adding multiple experienced transfers and three-star Dante Reno from the high school ranks.
One of the two returners, redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers, showed promise in his brief appearances last season. Some fans are already calling for him to be the starter for this upcoming season.
But offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains isn’t ready to name a starter yet. He said there are advantages and disadvantages to taking that step during the spring.
“We’ve had thirteen practices, so guys have had good days, bad days, continual growth, you’re going to have that,” Loggains said.
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While Sellers has a year under his belt learning the system from Spencer Rattler, it won’t look the same.
“We’re going to evolve it to fit our players, whether it’s LaNorris or Robby (Ashford) or Dante or Luke Doty or Davis (Beville),” Loggains said. “Whoever the quarterback is, it’s gonna change. It won’t look the same as it did last year because we built that thing to fit Spencer.”
He said an advantage of naming the starter early is that everyone would know. On the other hand, Loggains said they consider that a lot can happen over the summer.
“What happens if one of these young kids, or all of a sudden a new guy, is a little better because he’s been through it all and the second time executing it, he’s better at it,” Loggains said. “You evaluate everything. We’ve had thirteen practices, obviously we’re not ready to do that right now.”
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In his second spring, Sellers has shown Loggains that he rarely makes mistakes.
“He’s very consistent,” Loggains said. “He’s gotten better everyday, he learns from his mistakes. I think the best thing about LaNorris, outside the talent and all that other stuff, is most of the time, he doesn’t make the same mistake twice.”
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Loggains said he’s “semi-pleased” with the state of the quarterbacks and that there’s still progress to be made.
“The disadvantage to not naming the guy is, there’s still five quarterbacks out there and it’s like, ‘hey, who do we follow, who do we lead,’” Loggains said. “And it’s the mentality of do your job … keep the main thing the main thing, worry about the things you can control.”
He said another disadvantage can be that the locker room already has their starter in mind.
“To be honest, most time the locker room knows before the coaches know,” Loggains said. “‘Cause it is their team and good teams are led by their locker room.”
Loggains said the players will help decide the depth chart through their performance.
“At some point, coach Beamer and myself, and the rest of the offensive staff will sit down and talk about this,” Loggains said.
