South Carolina walk-on kicker perseveres to starting role in senior season

South Carolina walk-on kicker William Joyce opened the Gamecocks’ 2025 season as the program’s next starting kicker.

A program that has had a long history of star kickers, including Ryan Succop, Elliot Fry and Parker White, Joyce looks to live up to that legacy in his one season as South Carolina’s placekicker.

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South Carolina’s newest starting kicker may be new to the role, but he isn’t new to Shane Beamer’s program. Joyce joined the Gamecocks ahead of Beamer’s first season as head coach in 2021.

“William’s always been a talented kicker, and he’s continued to commit to the program and work hard and try to be the best teammate that he can be,” Beamer said. “He’s had a role on this team in previous years, but obviously his role now is bigger than what it’s been. But, just proud of him. He enjoys being a part of this program, and we’ve treated him the right way. … And he’s earned it. … Excited to see him grow because he’s really earned this opportunity.”

In many situations where a kicker isn’t on scholarship and spends years as a backup, they’ll look to transfer somewhere to play and maybe get on scholarship. However, Joyce stayed committed to Beamer’s program.

“This place is my home,” Joyce said. “I’m from Spartanburg right up the road, so I love it here. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

A three-year member of the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll, Joyce graduated from the University of South Carolina in May 2024 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. The redshirt senior is now seeking his MBA on top of kicking for the Gamecocks.

Joyce is a graduate of Spartanburg High School, where he became the Region 2 AAAAA Specialist of the Year in 2020.

The Vikings produced many Division I kickers when Joyce attended school there. Sunday’s matchup even included a matchup between himself and fellow Spartanburg graduate and Virginia Tech Hokie John Love, who kicked for the Vikings following Joyce’s departure for South Carolina.

“When we were in high school, we were competing every day,” Joyce said. “He’s a really good kicker. He’s already had a great career; he’s going to continue to have one.”

Those battles at Spartanburg helped prepare Joyce for intense kicking competitions like the one he faced heading into the season.

The 2025 battle for starter wasn’t his first time being truly in the hunt, either. Joyce said he was also in the hunt for the starting spot against Herrera in 2024. Even after losing the job last year, he continued to try and put good film on tape to try again the next season.

Joyce didn’t learn he earned the starting role until moments before the opening game against Virginia Tech.

“Really, I had to kick well all the way up until the game,” Joyce said. “We were all taking reps up until like, Saturday, I guess. So really, around then is when I found out that I was definitely going to start out there.”

The redshirt senior didn’t get many opportunities to kick a field goal in his debut. But when he got his one shot, he nailed it. After an overturned touchdown from LaNorris Sellers to Nyck Harbor that made it fourth down, Joyce made a 27-yard field goal to push South Carolina’s lead to five points in the second quarter.

The made field goal increased the inexperienced senior’s confidence as he heads towards Week 2 against South Carolina State.

“It did a lot (for my confidence). It was a good ball, I was happy with it,” Joyce said. “But really, where I got my confidence was in pregame. I felt like that’s when I really got to take a breath and got a lot of the nerves out. I was hitting well, I felt better, and having Mason (Love) holding, our operation was really clean on Sunday.”

Something Joyce and the kickers do pregame is find their range for that day, which depends on wind or weather. However, neither was a factor on Sunday in a closed-roof Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Joyce wouldn’t get into the specifics of his range with the media on Tuesday. However, before South Carolina’s opener against the Hokies, the redshirt senior felt comfortable from around 51 yards out.

“I felt good at 51. Hit some more from farther back too during pregame,” Joyce said.

Joyce knows the fight isn’t over, just because he earned the spot for Week 1. It’s a relief that a lot of years of hard work paid off, but he continues to fight every week to keep that payout.

“I have to keep performing week in and week out to maintain that job out there on the field,” he said.

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