The 2025 South Carolina Gamecocks get going Wednesday when spring practice begins.
Coming off a 9-4 season that saw South Carolina win its final six regular-season games, including a thrilling 17-14 victory at Clemson, and nearly slip into the inaugural 12-team playoff, expectations are higher for this USC team than maybe any other in over a decade.
But before we even discuss the 2025 playoff, let’s look at five questions that loom as the Gamecocks begin spring ball.
1. Can QB Air Noland push LaNorris Sellers?
Let’s not be silly. Sellers is the 2025 starting quarterback. It’s not known if Noland is going to come in and challenge Sellers as QB1, but certainly he can push him.
Think about it: Last season, the battle for starting quarterback was between Sellers and Robby Ashford. From day one of spring ball, Sellers was head and shoulders the best quarterback in the room.
Maybe that changes this spring. Maybe Noland — the former four-star prospect who transferred from Ohio State — helps Sellers elevate his game even more. And perhaps Noland opens the door for South Carolina to create packages and concepts for him to see the field.
Even last season, the Gamecocks threw Ashford in at quarterback at a number of times during the season — and might have dont that more, but a number of his opportunities ended in fumbles.
So there is a path where Noland gets a couple snaps a game — allowing him to get valuable game reps while also forcing opponents to have to scout and prepare for more than one QB.
Some might want to make the case that there is still a backup quarterback competition, but the only other scholarship quarterbacks are redshirt freshman Dante Reno — who was a fourth-stringer last year — and true freshman Cutter Woods. Considering that, Noland is the heavy favorite to earn the No. 2 spot.
2. Does LB Fred Johnson look elite right away?
As last season wrapped, coaches or seniors were asked for names of youngsters they expected to step up in 2025. Without hesitation, almost everyone mentioned Fred Johnson.
“He’s a dude that a lot of fans haven’t really seen,” safety Nick Emmanwori said. “In practice, he’s made some crazy plays that we are all kind of like, ‘Oh.’ I can’t wait for him to show what he can do next year.”
A former four-star linebacker out of Norfolk, Virginia, Johnson earned playing time as a true freshman by being a stud on special teams. Though he only had a half-dozen tackles, he played in all 13 games.
The issue was that Johnson was behind a log jam in a linebacker room that included starters Debo Williams and Demetrius Knight, as well as Bam Martin-Scott, who finished third on the team in tackles. But all of those guys are headed to the NFL, which creates almost a wide-open path for Johnson to start at linebacker.
Though the Gamecocks added a pair of transfer linebackers in Justin Okoronkwo (Alabama) and Shawn Murphy (Florida State), Johnson is the linebacker to watch in 2025. The question is how impressive will he look right away. After being hyped up so much for what he did behind closed doors, he has expectations to live up to.
3. Who looks like the top running back?
It seems unlikely that South Carolina does what it did in 2024 and give one running back (Rocket Sanders) over 100 more carries than any other tailback.
In all likelihood, South Carolina’s running back room will be more of a by-committee effort using the talents of returner Oscar Adaway, Utah State transfer Rahsul Faison, redshirt sophomore Jawarn Howell and redshirt freshman Matthew Fuller. The two names to really focus on, though, are Adaway and Faison.
Both are veterans who will turn 25 years old before season’s end.
Adaway is the familiar name, having transferred from North Texas to USC last offseason and carrying the ball 77 times for over 300 yards — including an impressive touchdown in the Citrus Bowl. Faison, who’s had a winding college journey, totaled more than 1,100 rushing yards at Utah State last season and seems to have the talent to start in the SEC.
Both will play a ton, but only one will start. What to watch for in spring practice: Does either look the part of RB1? Does one of them look faster and shiftier and more powerful, or is it neck and neck?
4. Which transfer defenders are in the mix?
South Carolina’s stellar 2024 defense lost seven starters, which leads to the obvious question: Who the heck is going to replace them?
Other than Fred Johnson, let’s look toward the guys South Carolina snagged in the transfer portal — especially considering the Gamecocks had great success with transfers in 2024, finding edge Kyle Kennard (Georgia Tech) and Knight (Charlotte) from the portal.
Of the 14 transfers South Carolina brought in this offseason, eight play defense.
It will be interesting to see how many seem to be in the mix for a starting spot from the jump. At linebacker, Okoronkwo and Murphy are likely battling for a starting spot. N.C. State cornerback transfer Brandon Cisse might be able to fill the starting spot left by O’Donnell Fortune.
With the top four defensive tackles from last year gone, the three transfer DTs — headlined by former five-star Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy (Texas A&M) — will have great opportunities to see the field. The same goes for the lone transfer edge, Jaylen Brown from Missouri.
5. Who is kicking and punting for this team?
For the first time since 2017, South Carolina will enters a season without both its returning kicker and punter.
Back then, kicker Parker White and punter Joseph Charlton took over for Elliott Fry and Sean Kelly, respectively.
This year, two guys are going to have to replace outgoing kicker Alex Herrera and longtime punter Kai Kroeger, who started all five years for the Gamecocks. The candidates to lead the next wave of South Carolina special teams are, well, limited.
Currently, the Gamecocks have just three punters and kickers on their roster: Mason Love, Peyton Argent and William Joyce — though freshman kicker Max Kelley will be on campus this summer.
The favorite to win the punter job is probably Love, who impressed coaches as Kroeger’s backup last season. As for kicker, that’s truly up in the air. Love, Argent and Joyce all lost the competition to Alex Herrera last season and, well, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to think South Carolina could try and snag a kicker during the spring transfer portal window that opens April 16.
Oh, and if that’s not enough special teams competition, South Carolina also needs to replace long snapper Hunter Rogers.
Beamer Ball will have a new look in 2025.