Who's the new guy in South Carolina's QB room?

When South Carolina began fall camp two weeks ago, an unfamiliar face wearing a green jersey was working with the other quarterbacks.

The green jerseys are worn only by quarterbacks during practice, while the rest of the players wear white and garnet jerseys. So when a new quarterback was spotted — wearing No. 34 — the immediate question became, who is he?

His name is Brandon Cunningham, a true freshman who graduated from T.L. Hanna High School in May. He joined the Gamecocks in the summer as a walk-on as the sixth member of the quarterback room.

Cunningham originally attended one of South Carolina’s football camps last summer, where he impressed head coach Shane Beamer. But as Beamer got to watch him play as a quarterback, he thought maybe a different position would be in his future at the college level.

“We talked to him about,” Beamer said, “‘With your size and the way that you run, not saying that you can’t play quarterback at the next level, but we really think you could potentially be a receiver or defensive back, because you’re tough, you’re athletic, you’re a good football player, you can run.'”

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But Cunningham was adamant that he would play quarterback in college. As a senior at T.L. Hanna, he started under center and became an all-region selection. He also ran track in high school, posting personal bests of 10.5 in the 100m and 21.5 in the 200m on his way to Upper State Athlete of the Year honors.

Then, earlier this summer, Beamer learned that Cunningham had been accepted into South Carolina as a student but wasn’t planning on playing football.

“So then I immediately called him up. I think it was his graduation day, actually, and I called him up,” Beamer said. “I’m like, ‘Hey, bud. If you’re coming here and you want to play football, we’d love to have you. That conversation that I had with you last summer has not changed. We think that ultimately you’re a receiver or a defensive back, but if you’re interested, do that.'”

The offer was too good to pass up. Cunningham cancelled any summer plans he may have had and decided to walk on. Soon after graduation, he was on campus and starting summer workouts and classes with the rest of the team.

“He was probably planning on just having a heck of a summer hanging out in the Upstate,” Beamer said. “And then a week later, he’s getting his face blown off by Coach (Luke) Day out here at summer workouts. So proud of him from that standpoint.”

Cunningham is listed as an “athlete” on South Carolina’s official roster. He and Luke Doty are the only two players with that designation. Both are working at quarterback in fall camp.

While Cunningham is taking snaps as a quarterback, Beamer still thinks a position change could happen later on in his college career. But for now, he’s another depth piece and added arm in the quarterback room, which is what Beamer wants for this season.

“I do think long-term, his position is probably receiver or defensive back,” Beamer said. “… Obviously, we’ve got Luke, we’ve got LaNorris (Sellers), we’ve got Cutter (Woods), we’ve got Air (Noland), we’ve got Jimmy Francis. But when you start talking about, we get into the season and all that as well, we need more than five. We’d like to have six arms. So he’s working as a quarterback right now.”

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