Shane Beamer on LaNorris Sellers entering 2025 season: 'It's different'

The excitement surrounding the South Carolina Gamecocks going into the 2025 season is just about the highest it’s been under head coach Shane Beamer. It’s also a tribute to the play of starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers.

After breaking out in 2024, Beamer expects Sellers to be even better in 2025. That’s because, as he explained on Always College Football, his young quarterback is continuing to grow. It’s growth he even saw going back to last season, from early games against Kentucky.

“He made some plays in that game with his feet,” Beamer said. “Now, we got hit one time because he missed the blitz pickup and he had to get himself out of trouble, but he made plays in that game. I knew he would continue to get better as the year went on because, if you remember, there was a period of that game where he got knocked out and he wasn’t in the game for a couple of series. The next week, we played LSU, he didn’t play the whole second half. So, really, the Ole Miss game, which I think was game five for us, that was the first game that he played in its entirety.”

Sellers initially came to South Carolina as a four-star recruit in the Class of 2023. He’d break out in 2024, though, completing 65.6 percent of his passes for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also rushed for 674 yards and another seven touchdowns.

“So, he continued to get better throughout the year. He’s continued to get better since the season ended, through January, February, and then March and April with spring practice,” Beamer said. “But, to answer your question, I think his life has changed a lot. You’re the quarterback at the University of South Carolina. You’re already on a pedestal. You’re from South Carolina, an hour down the road from Florence, and you’re even more so on a pedestal. With as good of a player as he is, it’s different.”

South Carolina’s season went better than any experts predicted it would coming into the season. The Gamecocks finished 9-4, just outside of the College Football Playoff discussion. They’d go on to play in a dramatic Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Eve as well before entering the offseason. It’s in the offseason that Shane Beamer believes LaNorris Sellers has taken another step forward.

“Talking to him a little bit, during the season, you’re kind of in your bubble. You go to class, come to football, you’re in your routine. I think for him, and I don’t want to speak for LaNorris, but just in having some conversations with him, I think he realized that after the Clemson game, where you’ve got a month where we’re not playing a game, you kind of be a normal person a little bit more. Certainly, after that Clemson game and the plays he made in that game, if people didn’t already learn about him, they knew more about him nationally, even more so after that game,” Beamer said.

“But I think he’s handled it really well. He’s a great young man, he’s got great humility about himself. He’s very steady. Nothing bothers him. He’s sitting here, one of the premier quarterbacks in college football, and a couple of days ago, he’s texting me for the summer schedule for the workouts, the times each day, because he’s arranging an internship that he’s got to do this summer for his major. Stuff like that. He’s got his priorities in order. His life has changed. He’s handling it well.”

South Carolina is hoping to make another push for the College Football Playoff in 2025. It’s a journey they’ll need LaNorris Sellers to be at his best for the season when it begins on August 31st against Virginia Tech.