What Jalen Hurts taught Spencer Rattler about coming in from transfer portal
When South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler was a freshman at Oklahoma, he saw firsthand what it was like to be a transfer quarterback coming into a program with the expectation to be a starter.
Rattler’s freshman season in Norman was Jalen Hurts’ lone season with the Sooners after a long career at Alabama, and Hurts was able to come in almost seemlessly and have instantaneous success.
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Rattler at the time probably wasn’t thinking he would have to apply those lessons to his own transfer portal experience, but three years later he was in the same boat Hurts was needing to do the same thing.
“I learned a lot from Jalen Hurts. I came in as a freshman and watched him work and the way he did his thing. I try and learn from that and put it in my own experiences,” Rattler said.
“We have great young guys–LaNorris Sellers, Tanner Bailey–who look up to me and Luke Doty. We help them out a lot, as much as we can, and it’s like a family in there.”
Rattler came over to South Carolina ahead of the 2022 season, needing to come in quickly and ingratiate himself into the team while also chiseling out a leadership role.
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That’s something Hurts did well at Oklahoma and something Rattler had to mirror with the Gamecocks. Shane Beamer–the tight ends coach at Oklahoma at the time–had a front row seat to both situations.
“To me, it’s beyond the football part. It’s showing your teammates, in my opinion, you’re a guy they want to follow. That you’re a leader, that you’re about the right stuff. Spencer showed that when he came in last season. I think it was really good for Spencer. Spencer was at Oklahoma when Jalen Hurts came in. We were all there together,” Beamer said.
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“Spencer had a chance to watch Jalen and how he handled that transition coming in. Jalen Hurts came into Oklahoma and I don’t want to say shut up but he went right to work to earn the respect of his teammates with how he worked. Spencer did the same thing. He went right to work and earned the respect of his teammates.”
Rattler didn’t have the same statistical year at South Carolina Hurts did his lone season in the Big 12, but Rattler took plenty of lessons away from playing behind a now-MVP candidate in the NFL.
“Just watching him work,” Rattler said. “Watching his demeanor on how he treated everybody and how he worked.”
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Rattler returns for his second season with the Gamecocks with expectations of having a more consistent season compared to 2022.
He’ll have to do it under a new offensive coordinator in Dowell Loggains, but likes what he’s seen so far.
“It’s gone really smooth,” Rattler said. “I think this offense compliments our strengths very well and the product on the field should look really good.”
