Shane Beamer shares how LaNorris Sellers has grown as a leader

LaNorris Sellers will enter his second full season as South Carolina‘s QB1 this fall, with many expecting him to make a leap in his redshirt sophomore season. After a successful freshman year, Sellers is likely settling into more of a leadership role during the 2025 offseason.

While Sellers may not be the loudest voice in the room, Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer assured that his QB1 is the leader of the team for a reason. Beamer spoke highly of Sellers following a strong showing during spring training.

“He’s still quiet. But I do see him being willing to speak up more than what he did last year,” Beamer said at the end of spring training. “At this time, he was trying to earn the starting job at this point last year and was still a freshman, and hadn’t even finished a year on campus, or, I guess, yeah, he had been in a year at that point, or a year and a half. You know what I mean. He was still a freshman, he hadn’t started yet. I see him. He’s still quiet, but certainly, let’s just be real. He’s the leader of the offense. He’s the leader of this football team.”

After redshirting during his true freshman season in 2023, Sellers didn’t disappoint during his first campaign as the Gamecocks starting QB. In 2024, Sellers completed 65.6% of his passes for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions.

Expected to build on that total during his third season with the program, many see Sellers as one of the top NFL prospects, and perhaps the top quarterback prospect in next year’s draft cycle. With that in mind, big things are expected of Sellers in 2025. His head coach finished with a definitive statement on the matter.

“So whether he likes it or not, he’s got to embrace that [leadership] role in his own way,” Beamer continued. “Don’t be somebody you’re not. But he realizes that his voice carries a lot of weight, and I’ve noticed him being willing to speak up and be assertive, whether it be encouraging or being demanding towards wide receivers and route running and things like that, as well.

“He’s done a nice job in his own way. Don’t be somebody that you’re not, but also understand that you’re the quarterback, and people on this team respect the heck out of you. Use that voice to lead, because there’s certainly a void of leadership from last year’s team with what we lost.”

South Carolina will kick off its 2025 regular season against Virginia Tech inside Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sunday, Aug. 31. All eyes will be on Sellers for that matchup.