How Spencer Rattler Has Grown As A Leader For South Carolina
When Spencer Rattler joined South Carolina's football program in the 2021 offseason, everything was new to him. Outside of having a relationship with head coach Shane Beamer and tight end Austin Stogner, Rattler was creating relationships with new people in a different program in another conference and was learning how to run a pro-style offense, vastly different from Lincoln Riley's air raid system.
Things have again been different this offseason for Rattler, but this difference isn't due to being unfamiliar with a new environment. This offseason is different because Spencer Rattler now feels comfortable, both with his role on a team he's now been with for over a year and his new offensive play-caller despite a slightly altered playbook, something noted by Shane Beamer after yesterday's scrimmage.
"Really pleased with where he is right now. I think he's grown as a leader over the Summer and over the year. He's got a great relationship with Dowell [Loggains] and the way that they work together," Beamer lamented. "There is some carryover from what we did last year, but terminology-wise, there's a lot that's different as well. So there's things he's had to learn, but he seems very confident."
One area where the Gamecocks struggled last season was taking care of pre-snap checks and recognitions in a timely fashion. This was due to how the offense was set up and Rattler having never run this kind of offense before. During Saturday's scrimmage, coach Beamer paid close attention to how Rattler operated pre-snap and walked away impressed with his command of the offense, along with with how badly the fifth-year senior wanted to stay on the field.
"I was very cognizant today of the play clock, being able to communicate and get things in and call stuff, [he] didn't have any issues with that - He's a competitor, and he wanted to be out there today. We had some drives where the drive was over, and I was gonna send a new group out there, and he wanted to stay out there. That's just his mentality; I like where he is right now."
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