Dowell Loggains sums up LaNorris Sellers' spring
With 14 spring practices complete and one big scrimmage to go in the form of the Garnet and Black spring game Saturday, South Carolina doesn’t seem set on necessarily naming its starting quarterback any time soon.
Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains spoke this week about the pros and cons of naming a starter early versus entertaining a continued competition into fall camp, while head coach Shane Beamer said there isn’t yet a set timeline for a decision.
In what is an open competition, but one many outside the program expect LaNorris Sellers to ultimately win, Loggains seemed happy Thursday with the progress of his young, dynamic quarterback, calling him solid and consistent.
“It’s a lot of fun to coach him because he’s so positive,” Loggains said. “He doesn’t have bad days, I tell him he’s a robot all the time. But it’s also one of his best characteristics, he’s very consistent. He has gotten better every day, he learns from his mistakes.”
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South Carolina fans got their first glimpse of what the 6-foot-3, 240-pound redshirt freshman is capable of this time last year when he played in the Gamecocks spring game.
They got another brief peek at his ability last season when Sellers played in three games and completed all four of his passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns adding five carries for 51 yards and a score.
A big, dynamic runner and natural thrower of the ball, fans were dazzled by the upside. But the usually more grounded coaches were of course focused this spring on Sellers doing all the little things that are required to be the leader of an offense at this level.
“I think the best thing about LaNorris, is outside of talent, all that other stuff, is most of the time, he doesn’t make the same mistake twice,” Loggains said. “And Coach Parcells used to say dumb players do dumb things, smart players seldomly do dumb things. He seldomly does dumb things and takes care of the football.”
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Expectations have started to run rampant among Gamecock Nation about what Sellers is capable of, though Loggains is also quick to remind everyone that Sellers is still young.
“Got to play a little bit last year, which obviously helped, and it’s his second year in the system,” Loggains said. “But the system won’t be the same — you guys know it, I know it, he knows it — we’re gonna evolve it to fit our players, whether it’s LaNorris or Robbie (Ashford) or Dante (Reno) or Luke Doty or Davis (Beville), whoever the quarterback is. It’s gonna change, it won’t look the same as it did last year, cause we built that thing to fit Spencer. And now we’ll change it to fit whoever the quarterback is this year.”
As for an announcement on who that quarterback is, fans may have to wait a little longer.
“Whether it be quarterbacks or other positions, they have the ability when the lights come on to really step up and show, you know what, this guy’s a gamer,” Beamer said, speaking to Saturday’s spring game. “And the quarterback position is no different. Obviously we’ve been evaluating everything every single day since we started practice in March as well. As far as naming one and where we are, you know, whatever we do, our players know that competition’s a core value, so we will continue to compete at every single position through the summertime.
“Dowell and I haven’t talked about it as far as our time frame wanting to do anything, but like I said, even if there was some sort of announcement after spring practice, like all positions, that position has to continue to prove it and earn it and compete.”
