Shane Beamer snaps at ‘conspiracy theory’ South Carolina wants to run LaNorris Sellers less

Shane Beamer has seen the message board headlines. He’s heard the radio show fodder. And the fifth-year South Carolina head coach is fed up with all of it.

Regardless of any “conspiracy theories” that might be floating around, Beamer made it clear that Gamecocks coaches are NOT purposely inhibiting South Carolina dual-threat sophomore quarterback LaNorris Sellers‘ natural ability to run the ball.

“I don’t know what conspiracy theories are out there, but I’ve never said – and no one in this building has ever said – we need to run the quarterback less. Like I hear all this crap about ‘they’re not running the quarterback enough,’ we’re calling the same God dang plays we called last year, guys. And we’re not saying we need to run LaNorris less,” a heated Beamer said during Tuesday’s press conference. “I know there’s this conspiracy theory going back to the bowl game that we said not to run LaNorris as much. We’re running plenty. And some of those are reads where LaNorris can hand it or pull it and keep it. Some of those are RPOs where he can run it or throw it. And some of those are called designed runs that he runs.”

That said, stats appear to tell a different story, with Sellers running the ball far less this season than last. Through the first three games — or more accurately 2 1/2 games after he sat out the second half of Saturday’s 31-7 home loss to Vanderbilt — Sellers has 24 carries for 45 rushing yards and one touchdown.

Last season, Sellers amassed 674 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 166 carries in 12 games. And through the first three games of the 2024 season, Sellers had 40 carries for 145 yards and three touchdowns, including 10 carries for 88 yards and two scores on the ground Week 3 vs. LSU.

Of course, there are a multitude of reasons for this discrepancy, including Sellers possibly opting to stand in the pocket and throw the ball rather than taking off at the first sign of pressure. But while his star quarterback might not have the same rushing production he had at this time last season, Beamer made it clear it has nothing to do with any coordinated effort to avoid running his dynamic QB.

“And I would say that every week we want to do what we need to do win the football game. We ran him the other night. We ran him against Virginia Tech, we ran him against South Carolina State,” Beamer continued. “And teams aren’t dumb either. In our mind, last week, we wanted to get the ball out of the Vanderbilt quarterback’s hands on some of those zone reads.

“These teams we play, they have good coaches, and a lot of them are going to say: ‘Don’t let 16 (Sellers) carry the ball, because we’ve seen what happens when he carries the ball too.’ So we’re doing what we got to do to win football games each week, and if that means running LaNorris, then we’re going to run LaNorris.”

According to Pro Football Focus, “Sellers posted a 97.5 for his in-game athleticism score in 2024, with 75 plays where he was clocked at 15-plus mph” along with two runs topping out above 20 mph. Sellers’ 852 actual rushing yards — not counting sacks or other non-running plays –ranked 12th among FBS quarterbacks, per PFF, including 581 rushing yards after contact.

It’s that athleticism — along with his 6-foot-3, 240-pound frame — that has NFL scouts excited about Sellers’ potential at the next level. Even longtime ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. recently named Sellers among his most likely candidates to be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft.

“Sellers looks the part. I think he’s going to play some outstanding football this year for South Carolina,” Kiper said on last week’s First Draft.