How coaches plan to mold Gamecocks’ QB room after Hill, Hilinski departures
South Carolina needs some depth at the quarterback position, and coach Shane Beamer plans to address it during the offseason.
The Gamecocks are down to two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster in sophomore Luke Doty and incoming freshman Colten Gauthier. Doty finished the year as the team’s starting quarterback, while Gauthier just arrived on campus last week.
USC confirmed that quarterback Collin Hill, who started eight games last season, won’t return and instead will train and prepare for the NFL Draft. Ryan Hilinski, who was the team’s starter for most of 2019, announced last month that he was entering the transfer portal.
“We’ll be creative and, certainly going forward, do everything we can to get those numbers where they need to be at each position,” Beamer told reporters Monday. “And quarterback’s no different than any other position. It’s got to be the right dynamic if we add to that room.
“And I talked to the guys in the first team meeting and talked about it (Sunday) night. We always want to be about competition and competing in everything that we do, and that’s no different when it comes to positions on the team.”
Beamer said Hilinski reached out to him after offensive coordinator Mike Bobo left to take a job at Auburn, but sources have told The State a Hilinski return to USC might be unlikely at this point.
“We’ve exchanged some text messages since Coach Bobo left. And, you know, I’ll leave it at that,” Beamer said. “So, Ryan and I had a great conversation. I was back in Oklahoma when he called me to tell me that he was entering the portal, and we’ve communicated by text a couple times over the last week.”
USC also has two other quarterbacks on the roster in walk-on Connor Jordan and 2017 S.C. Mr. Football Dakereon Joyner, though he played receiver for the Gamecocks last year.
New USC offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield, who worked this season with the Carolina Panthers, got his first look at the Gamecocks’ quarterbacks at Sunday’s team meeting.
Satterfield has some familiarity with Doty. He reached out to the Myrtle Beach High QB back in 2018 when Satterfield was an assistant coach at Baylor, and the two talked about that encounter Sunday night. Doty started the final two games of 2020 and would have been the starter for the team’s bowl game that was canceled because of COVID-19.
Doty completed 60.6% of his passes for 405 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 41 times for 91 yards.
“I like what I have heard so far about Luke and his leadership skills and spirit. He can do a bunch of different things,” Satterfield said. “They all give us a chance to do things on offense, and we can start from there. You got to have a starting point and that is what we got. We are excited about it.”
If the Gamecocks were to add a quarterback — or any player — via the transfer route, it will be a challenge because no school-organized campus visits are allowed during the pandemic. Satterfield said he might consider players he recruited in the past and reach out to former coaches to gauge their opinion on a possible quarterback fit.
From there, Satterfield said coaches would have to rely on film and instinct if the Gamecocks wanted to add a transfer at quarterback.
“Do you vibe with this guy? Does he have personality traits you want?” Satterfeld said. “Challenge them a little on the phone and see if he barks back, and is he competitive? The physical traits, you got to rely on the film and anybody that has seen them before that can report back to you. ... There is a lot of trust if you are going that route.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 3:45 PM with the headline "How coaches plan to mold Gamecocks’ QB room after Hill, Hilinski departures."
