New South Carolina OC Kendal Briles wants to coach LaNorris Sellers. Will he get a chance?

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COLUMBIA — When new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles answered the first of many questions about quarterback LaNorris Sellers, he did so without knowing if Sellers will ever put on a South Carolina football jersey again.

Briles is one of Shane Beamer‘s three new coaches hired on Dec. 11. Just 24 hours after the board of trustees approved his contract, Briles was asked about Sellers, who still hasn’t publicly said if he’s returning or declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.

“I’m probably not 100% in the loop of what’s going on with LaNorris … I feel confident he’s going to be back,” Briles said Dec. 12 after his introductory press conference. “We all want LaNorris to be involved in this football program and be the starting quarterback, hopefully that’s where this thing leads.”

The 6-3, 240-pound dual threat quarterback had a breakout year in 2024 under offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. He went 9-3, finishing with 3,208 passing and rushing yards combined. Loggains left for the head coaching job at Appalachian State last December.

Mike Shula replaced Loggains then was fired Nov. 2 and replaced by interim Mike Furrey. South Carolina went 4-8 this season and Sellers had a combined 2,707 yards.

This will mark Briles’ seventh offensive coordinator position, with his most recent stop a three-year stint at TCU. If he gets Sellers back, the question isn’t how Sellers fits into the Briles’ system.

“It’s really more the offense fitting around him,” Briles said. “I’m not going to go out there and ask him to do something he’s not great at, so we’re going to build the offense around him and the rest of the personnel and do the things that he’s really good at. We want him to be comfortable.”

Briles said he talked to Sellers on the phone before he was officially hired. Beamer said before meeting Briles, he got a text from Sellers, who was watched tape of TCU and told him he was “fired up.”

“I’m excited to work with him, seems like a great kid,” Briles said.

What Shane Beamer said about LaNorris Sellers

South Carolina defensive backs Jalon Kilgore and Brandon Cisse declared for the NFL draft on Dec. 11. Sellers and junior wide receiver Nyck Harbor are the two players on offense most likely to enter the NFL draft with eligibility remaining.

“He still has a decision to make,” Beamer said of Sellers. “He hasn’t made that yet I don’t believe but all my conversations with him have been really positive.”

Beamer had meetings with each player regarding their future. He wants decisions to be made “ASAP.”

“As we’ve told them, ‘I want you here but we can’t sit around and wait forever,'” Beamer said. “There’s a portal that’s getting ready to open up, a financial aspect of it … so ASAP (but) have I put a hard deadline on anyone? No but it’s kind of one of those right now if you want to be here great, if not, cool. But I’m onto 2026.”

Briles brought his assistant offensive line coach Randy Clements with him, filing the job after Beamer fired Lonnie Teasley on Oct. 12. Stan Drayton was hired out of Penn State as the running backs coach.

Sellers was sacked 42 times in 2025, the second most in the nation, and was one of the most pressured quarterbacks in the country. It’s imperative Clements’ unit better protects Sellers or whoever the quarterback is next year.

“It was everything to be able to have him with me … we’ve been in the fires together, and we’re both equally motivated to go out here and get this thing done,” Briles said of Clements.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina OC Kendal Briles on LaNorris Sellers in 2026 offense

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