Why South Carolina’s recent QB history is dotted with transfer tales

Consider, for a moment, the quarterback rankings from 247Sports in 2016.

Scroll down the pro-style list, and at No. 13 you’ll find Jake Bentley. He was a late add to the 2016 rankings, having enrolled a year early at South Carolina before jump-starting a short era of modest success. Look lower, down at No. 60, and you’ll find Zeb Noland, a low three-star passer who was the second-best quarterback in Iowa State’s class.

On Tuesday, news broke that Noland was stepping out of his role as graduate assistant to join South Carolina’s thin QB room, in part a product of the sport’s transfer-heavy reality. A few states away, Bentley is practicing to play for his third team, the same number as Noland.

And on the same day Tuesday, Ryan Hilinski, a four-star passer who transferred off the Gamecocks roster this offseason, officially lost the Northwestern quarterback derby to Hunter Johnson, who left Clemson looking for greener pastures and twice failed to secure the Wildcats starting job.

These passers form a tapestry of sorts, their paths interwoven and drawn out. Transfers have become the norm and waiting the exception.

This goes a way toward explaining why South Carolina had such a thin quarterback room in the first place, why it needed a transfer from FCS St. Francis and a grad student who left another college in the spring to fill things out.

There’s a bit of irony that South Carolina’s two most notable passers before Bentley’s ascent were the paradigm of waiting. Perry Orth walked on and broke through in his fourth year in college. Dylan Thompson had moments, but he didn’t take the reins from Connor Shaw until his fifth college season.

Now Orth is selling insurance and training quarterbacks, while Thompson is four years into a career as an NFL staffer. Bentley, who replaced Orth for good in 2016, is still in college, as is Noland, in some ways bookends to five-plus years of movement and change for the Gamecocks behind center.

It’s worth noting that the previous coaching staff signed three four-star quarterbacks in a row heading into the 2020 season. But that didn’t prevent the team from having a room put on shaky ground without presumptive sophomore starter Luke Doty.

The reason for all this churn: waiting. Quarterbacks waiting creates uncertainty.

If you have to wait behind someone with two years of eligibility left, you lose precious chances at securing a job and meaningful playing time. So players look for new opportunities, even as each year shows how things tend to open up where we don’t expect. (Several logical reasons led to Hilinski’s departure, but it’s clear now he would have had a chance at USC with Doty nursing a foot injury.)

All told, of the past nine quarterbacks the Gamecocks had on scholarship, five either transferred away or transferred in, while two more ended up switching positions. The other two have less than two years combined on campus.

So how did it get this way, and how far has each player gone in his journey?

2016

▪ Jake Bentley: Heading into the 2019 season, Bentley was in an odd spot. On one hand, he was within striking distance of a slew of career records. But after being projected as a potential NFL player heading into his junior year, he was back at South Carolina after a prolific but inconsistent 2018 season.

He lasted all of one game before a foot injury. He watched Hilinski take over and have moments. Bentley left that offseason instead of trying to hold off a younger challenger and perhaps earn more hostility from a fanbase that seemed through with him.

He landed at Utah, lost the starting QB battle, played anyway and seemingly never meshed fully with the staff, leaving after the team added another transfer QB. He’ll get one more shot at South Alabama, a Sun Belt school.

▪ Brandon McIlwain: A four-star passer and decorated baseball player, he lasted a little more than a year on campus. He got a shot at football and then was benched. He transferred to Cal, had a short run at QB, was moved to running back and ended up going pro in baseball.

2017

▪ Jay Urich: A reserve who moved to wide receiver and then moved back to QB, Urich’s career ultimately ended with a medical disqualification because of a shoulder injury. This would have been his last season on campus after a redshirt.

2018

▪ Dakereon Joyner: A four-star dual-threat passer, Joyner is now potentially a starting receiver for the Gamecocks. He switched positions his second year on campus, but helped at QB that season (after Bentley got hurt) and is still helping at the position in 2021.

2019

▪ Ryan Hilinski: His transfer this offseason made sense. He never managed to mesh with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who originally appeared set to stay on with the Beamer staff. After starting as a freshman and getting passed by two newcomers as a sophomore, Hilinski ended up at Northwestern.

That he couldn’t take the Wildcats job is notable because Johnson had wanted to avoid waiting at Northwestern and then had to anyway. The former top-30 recruit left Clemson because of Trevor Lawrence’s ascent, but Johnson couldn’t hold off Aiden Smith or beat out Peyton Ramsey in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Now Johnson will start and Hilinski will have to wait.

2020

▪ Collin Hill: A Spartanburg product, he spent four years at Colorado State before following Bobo to Columbia as a transfer. After he quickly secured a top spot, there were some visions from the old staff that Hill would play a sixth year and still be around.

But the team struggled, including Hill, who was benched seven games in. Most coaches from the Muschamp staff left, and instead of sticking around, Hill took his shot at the NFL.

▪ Luke Doty: The Elite 11 passer got some work late last season and was set to start this year almost by default. If his foot heals well, he’ll likely be thrust into the job.

2021

▪ Jason Brown: Another incoming transfer, the former St. Francis (Pennsylvania) starter has seen a lot in less than half a year on campus. He was the No. 4 QB coming out of spring, but with Doty’s injury, he might yet start the opener.

▪ Colten Gauthier: In terms of not shying from competition, Gauthier certainly stands apart. He committed to a roster with a pair of Elite 11 underclassmen, plus a five-star committed in the next class.

Of those three, only one remains, and Gauthier will have both a chance to show something now and to develop if he doesn’t see the field.

▪ Zeb Noland: A Georgia product, he went to Iowa State alongside Summerville, South Carolina alum Jacob Park. After seeing two other passers take the starting spot as a redshirt freshman and sophomore, he joined North Dakota State for two seasons, losing the QB battle to future NFL first-rounder Trey Lance. After coming to Columbia to coach, he finds himself in uniform once more as the sixth transfer on this list.

Those three and Doty will battle it out. Like any QB, there’s a chance they could all find themselves on the wrong part of the depth chart, and then who knows what comes next?

This story was originally published August 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Why South Carolina’s recent QB history is dotted with transfer tales."