South Carolina offense using spring ball to find their strengths

Spencer Rattler ain’t walking through that door. Nor is Xavier Legette, for that matter.

While the South Carolina defense returns most of its difference-makers from a season ago, it’s an offseason of change on the offensive side where the Gamecocks will debut new personnel at key positions — and potentially employ a new-look scheme as well.

“Ever since that last game, that’s what you processed,” South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said in a pre-spring interview. “Like, you’re just sitting there saying, how do we replace (No.) 7 (Rattler)? How do we replace 17 (Legette)? How do we replace 1 (Trey Knox)? Like, you’re losing three guys to the NFL Draft, and see what happens with Nick (Garguilo). But you’re talking about a skill group that was able to throw the football well and was the strength of the offense. And you don’t replace guys like that.”

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For Loggains and the Gamecocks, new personnel may create the need for a new scheme. That doesn’t mean South Carolina will completely reinvent its offense. It will likely feature much of the same terminology and formations as well as many of the same plays as last season — but new players, with different skillsets, will likely bring a new identity.

Redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers is the perceived favorite to win the quarterback job but regardless of whether it’s Sellers or transfer Robby Ashford or multi-positional athlete Luke Doty running the show, the Gamecocks will enter 2024 with a run-game threat at QB — and they hope with more effective threats in the backfield beside him and on the line in front of him.

“You’ve got to play to your strengths,” Loggains said. “And that’s what this whole thing is about. Last year, our best players were our quarterback, our wide receiver, and our tight end. And we’ll have a different set of strengths this year. And we’ve got to figure that out.

“And the running backs are only as good as our offensive line. And this whole thing. You guys know it. I know it. We’re going to go as far as our offensive line is going to go. So, we’ve got to get those guys healthy. We’ve got to develop. And we’ve got to have a great offseason. Getting stronger in the weight room. We’re playing the hardest conference in football. And we understand the challenge. And we’ll go as far as those guys up front go. Because this team will be different. It will look different. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be successful. We’ll just have different strengths this year.”

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South Carolina fans wanting a glimpse at what the Gamecock offense may look like this season, can maybe gain a clue from looking back at Arkansas a couple of years ago when Loggains was an assistant and K.J. Jefferson was the quarterback under Kendal Briles.

It’s not that difficult to imagine the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Sellers standing in the backfield with Rocket Sanders and running a similar offense to the one that Jefferson and Sanders excelled in during the 2022 season.

Sanders has, of course, since transferred to South Carolina while Jefferson will suit up for Gus Malzahn at UCF.

Loggains was also quick to remind everyone that football isn’t played on paper and that sometimes unexpected players emerge in the spring.

“Last year, this time, no one was talking about Legette,” Loggains said. “And everyone knew that Trey Knox was coming from somewhere. And there’s other pieces like, Oscar Attaway and Rocket Sanders (this year). And maybe we win a different style. Maybe we play a different style. And that’s what spring ball is about, is finding out what you have. And then you figure out what you have.

“And I think the good coaches get the best out of their players. And I think this staff did that last year with our best players who are working here right now (at pro day). We maximized their talent. Boy, they’re all talented. And I’d love to have all of them back again. But that’s the fun part about spring ball.”

The Gamecocks are now five practices into the spring with practice No. 6 set for Tuesday morning and the spring game scheduled for April 20 at Williams-Brice Stadium.

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