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South Carolina

LaNorris Sellers' confidence grows as he steps into leadership role this year

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Jul 14, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers answers media questions during SEC Media Day at Omni Atlanta Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

LaNorris Sellers is far from being the most outspoken person. He doesn’t say too much as his answers in press conferences rarely go beyond a few short sentences.

Sellers, who helped lead South Carolina to a nine-win season in 2024, lets his play on the field do the talking. Going into his second year as the Gamecocks’ starting quarterback, he’s being asked to step into a leadership role.

“(The coaches) pushed it on me more last year,” Sellers said at SEC Media Days last week. “This year, they’re more chill about it, and it’s something that I’ve taken on from the last two years of being in the system.”

Going into last season, Sellers was still one of the younger players on the team as a redshirt freshman. South Carolina had more than enough veterans to handle the duties of being vocal as leaders. But most of those older players have since graduated and moved on to the next phase of their lives.

Seeing there was a void to fill, head coach Shane Beamer knew Sellers would have to embrace the idea of becoming a leader in his own way. While plenty of expectations have been placed on the redshirt sophomore, Beamer believes he’s handled all of it well.

“There are a lot of expectations, but he’s earned that. He’s a heck of a quarterback,” Beamer said. “… For as much as things have changed around him over the last year, he’s still the same person, as far as how he handles his business, his work ethic, the way he treats people and goes about things day to day. So that gives me a lot of confidence.”

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Compared to last year, one difference Sellers has noticed about himself is that he’s “a little bit more confident.” He feels he can talk more with his teammates and still be who he’s always been, being happy and having fun.

While it hasn’t been hard being more vocal around his older teammates, he admitted it’s more challenging to do the same with the newcomers. That’s mainly because he doesn’t know them as well yet.

“I mean, I met some of them in January,” Sellers said. “So, going on month seven with them, I’m just learning them, getting to know them to build that relationship.”

So far, though, his teammates, older and younger, have been impressed by his leadership qualities.

“He carries a super calm but leadership demeanor,” freshman quarterback Cutter Woods said at Pigskin Poets. “… He’ll speak up when he needs to. When he does speak up, it’s normally a really good time to speak up. But he definitely leads by example, and he’s definitely an example to follow because he’s been super successful.”

In 2024, Sellers’ first year starting under center, he threw for 2,534 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also had a lot of success on the ground, running for 674 yards and seven touchdowns.

Despite wanting him to be more of a leader, Beamer ensured that South Carolina doesn’t need him to be Superman, like he did on many occasions last season. He believes that those around Sellers will step up and add to what he can do.

“We’re gonna be better around him,” Beamer said, “when you just look at our offense, with guys that we return and people that we brought in, the depth that we’ve added at a lot of spots, and we need to continue to be great around him and confident that we will be.”

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