Spencer Rattler details meeting Dawn Staley

Now that Spencer Rattler is at South Carolina, he has two NCAA championship-winning coaches within his athletic department as resources. One of them is the Gamecocks women’s head basketball coach Dawn Staley. During a recent interview, Rattler relived his encounter with Staley when the two worked together on a South Carolina athletics media campaign.

“Justin King, our head of photography and media team, texted me and said, hey, we got a great idea for this Full House remake introducing all the new guys, and I want you to be in a little clip with Dawn Staley. I was like, okay, I get to meet Dawn; get to meet the GOAT,” said Rattler. “We pulled up to the women’s basketball facility; there were trophies everywhere, cool pictures, and a lot of accolades. She came in with her dog, and you could just feel her presence. She’s a very serious, very respectful, nice lady. But you could tell she’s about her business, and it was a blessing to meet her and just get to talk to her a little bit.”

Staley has been head coach of Gamecocks women’s basketball since 2008. She has led South Carolina to six SEC tournament and regular-season championships, four final four appearances, and has won two national titles, the most recent being in 2022. Staley is also a two-time coach of the year recipient and five-time SEC coach of the year.

Rattler got an opportunity that some could only dream of obtaining, getting to pick the brain of Staley and witnessing her championship mindset up close. Now all the former Heisman hopeful quarterback has to do is use what he took from her on the football field this season. And if he can do that, South Carolina can find themselves in the driver’s seat of the SEC East.

Beamer reveals impact of Ray Tanner, Dawn Staley on South Carolina athletics

South Carolina Gamecocks football coach Shane Beamer is aware of the pros and cons of being a head coach at the college level. And during a recent interview, the Gamecocks head coach revealed that he takes advantage of the two championship-caliber coaches within the South Carolina athletic department.

“I enjoy learning from all coaches, and we’ve got some great coaches here at the University of South Carolina, in all sports,” said Beamer. “And that’s what I love about coaching in college athletics. I can go and visit with so many coaches and learn from them and watch how they handle their teams and things like that.“

One of the pros of being a college coach is having other coaches with different experiences and levels of expertise that you can converse with at nearly any given time right on campus. And Beamer has two of the best coaches to ever do it at South Carolina within shouting distance: women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley and former men’s baseball skipper turned athletic director Ray Tanner.