Luke Doty details why he’s stayed at South Carolina even as role shifts

Luke Doty grips either side of the lectern inside the Long Family Football Operations Center and begins to smirk.

Doty, now in his fourth year in the program, is an old hat. He’s one of those “that guy is still there?” players who crop up in college sports circles year after year. He’s been through two head coaches, three coordinators and a pair of positions — and was relegated to backup after Spencer Rattler’s arrival in Columbia last year.

So, in an ecosystem where quarterbacks enter the transfer portal at breakneck rates, why is Doty still at South Carolina?

“I think it kind of goes back to when I was being recruited. My parents always told me that, ‘If you take football out of it, would you still want to go to the school? ... Would you enjoy it without playing football there?’ “ Doty explained on Monday. “And my answer has always been ‘Yes’ for here.”

That Doty has been largely limited to a backup role the past year-plus isn’t so much an indictment on his ability. He’s a Myrtle Beach High alum and former top 100 recruit who, albeit semi-raw when he arrived, has flashed athletically in spurts during his time at USC. He’s a capable thrower and an electric athlete in his hands.

Doty, though, is a product of circumstance.

He came to Columbia amid the messy end to the Will Muschamp era, spending time at quarterback and receiver as the Gamecocks slogged to a 2-8 season in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Doty promptly ran away with the competition under center over Jason Brown and Colten Gauthier in spring 2021 ahead of Shane Beamer’s first fall.

But before Doty could cement himself, he was rolled up on during a drill in August and was forced to miss most of fall camp and the first two games of the season. He played in six games in 2021, but was hampered by his injured foot. The injury eventually worsened and he was shut down for the year after a 44-14 loss at Texas A&M.

“Looking at Luke is kind of like looking at myself in a sense,” said Dakereon Joyner, who’s bounced from quarterback to receiver during his time at South Carolina and has also steadily seen his role change. “I’ve been through the similar path that he’s going on right now. All I can do is continue to encourage him, because he’s a Carolina kind of guy. He wants to be here and Luke will continue to be here, I think. And I think he’ll eventually get it get his time to shine.”

In a different scenario, Doty would’ve returned as a starter in 2022. That was until South Carolina landed Rattler out of the portal in December 2021 and pushed Doty down the depth chart almost immediately. Under most modern circumstances, quarterbacks in Doty’s position would’ve transferred. He didn’t.

Doty backed up Rattler, while also offering to help where he could outside the quarterback room. Special teams coordinator Pete Lembo had jokingly floated the idea of Doty joining the kickoff and punt team during the season, but it never came to fruition.

By the postseason, the Gamecocks intended to not play Doty in the bowl game to preserve his redshirt. When the NCAA passed a waiver that wouldn’t count postseason competition toward a player’s allotted four-game maximum to maintain a redshirt, Lembo broached the idea more seriously. Doty jumped at it and was included on both units throughout bowl prep and in the Gator Bowl loss to Notre Dame.

“We’ll see,” Doty said through a smirk when asked if he’d appear on special teams again this year. “Coach Lembo will have to holler at me and we’ll go from there.”

The 2023 campaign projects much the same as 2022 for Doty. Rattler is back and locked in as the starter. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Doty is unlikely to see any extended game action at quarterback.

But in a room that includes Gauthier, second-year passers Tanner Bailey and Braden Davis, and freshman LaNorris Sellers — who’s impressed in his first few weeks at South Carolina — Doty still feels a responsibility to the group and squad at large, he says.

“I don’t know how much you guys talk about (Doty), but this guy is as good a teammate, as good a leader, as positive a person as I’ve ever seen in a very short time,” offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains told The State recently. “Luke Doty is a stud (in) the way he lifts up his teammates, the way he gets along with everyone in the building, the way he helps them and the way he helps LaNorris.

“We’re not talking about him for what he accomplishes on the field — but the leadership that he has and the way he positively affects people, we should talk about him more.”

Doty is on track to go to medical school when he wraps his undergraduate work. At this rate, he may well finish his PhD before his playing career in Columbia ends. After all, he insists he isn’t going anywhere.

“Regardless of the the quarterback situation or anything going on, I know that this is where I need to be,” Doty said. “This is where I want to be.”