Being Spencer Rattler comes with less hype these days.
Spring practice is underway in South Carolina, and the quarterback is learning a new offense for a team that finished 7-6 last season. There is no longer a bright spotlight shining on every move.
At least for now. That wasn't the case heading into 2021. Rattler was the Heisman Trophy favorite and a projected No. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the next Oklahoma QB model off Lincoln Riley's assembly line that produced Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts.
Rattler, one of the stars in the Season 3 of "QB1: Beyond the Lights," had megastar power, too. Off the field, he was among the quarterbacks who cashed in on Name, Image and Likeness with his own logo and a deal with the fast-food restaurant Raising Cane's. On the field, Rattler had won 13 straight games as a starter and had the Sooners in the hunt for another Big 12 championship.
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"I probably would have won another one," Rattler told Sporting News. "We were just doing what we had to do to win. We were chipping away, and I think that was going to make us a better team. Things went left."
A hard left would be an understatement. On Oct. 9, 2021, Rattler was benched in favor of Caleb Williams after one quarter in the Red River Rivalry against Texas. Williams finished the season as the starter, and November losses to Baylor and Oklahoma State cut short that Big 12 championship run. Riley left for USC, and Williams would follow him in January. Rattler hit the transfer portal, too.
Rattler renewed his career at South Carolina. He's found a home in the SEC in 2022, and fans will get a sneak peek at the South Carolina spring game Saturday.
"It's refreshing to move on from where I was at," Rattler said. "It was a crazy year, last year. Unfortunate how it went. It wasn't really in my control, but that's what I'm refreshed from. Getting in a new situation, a positive situation, with great people around me."
Mike Giovando is one of those people. He runs the Elev8 Quarterback Academy in Phoenix and started training Rattler when the quarterback was in sixth grade. Giovando saw the viral reactions after Rattler was benched against the Longhorns. Giovando and Rattler talk at least once a week, and those conversations were tough when Williams took the starting job.
"Sometimes you read stuff about him or somebody said something and it's unfair because you don't know him," Giovando said. "He's a great kid. He's a great guy. He cares about other people, and he cares about teammates. He loves to work, he loves to train and he loves the process."
Rattler was frustrated with the rationale behind the decision. Oklahoma wasn't getting the splash plays, but to him that did not mean the offense wasn't having success.
"It was definitely frustrating knowing that people didn't think we were doing well, but I was at a 75% completion percentage with 14 overall TDs in four or five games," Rattler said. "But it's not about my stats. It was honestly about our winning percentage, and we were winning games."
A poor second-half in a 40-35 win over Tulane was followed two weeks later by a string of close calls against unranked foes. Nebraska, West Virginia and Kansas State all were all within seven points of Oklahoma, and the Sooners offense averaged just 25.3 points per game with Rattler passing for 238 yards per game. Riley decided to see what Williams, a highly-touted freshman, could do.
Giovando stuck with a simple question to Rattler: "How are you going to deal with it?"
"I'm not going to say it wasn't hard at times not to be the guy on the field for him," Giovando said. "I'm sure that drove him bananas wanting to play because you're a competitor.
"Now, I think, 'Man, he's better for it,'" he said. "You're better for things sometimes that happen to you and kind of throw you sideways for a minute."
Rattler's isn't bitter. It comes with a willingness to move forward. Rattler has learned just as much from those experiences, and he hopes that helps other young up-and-coming quarterbacks in the NIL era. A quarterback's value can change in a snap.
"I was never unhappy or nervous to be in that spotlight," Rattler said. "I was blessed to be in that situation and learned a lot from being around the media at a young age. I was used to it coming into college. It is something you learn from."
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer held a high opinion of Rattler before the transfer discussions started. Beamer coached tight ends at Oklahoma from 2018-20. Rattler had 3,031 yards, 28 TDs and seven interceptions as a redshirt freshman in 2020, and Beamer took the South Carolina job the following season. The Gamecocks exceeded expectations and beat North Carolina 38-21 in the Duke's Mayo Bowl.
When former Oklahoma tight end Austin Stogner transferred to South Carolina, Rattler emerged as a candidate to come, too.
"Everybody knows about his talent, but I just think he's a real dude, if that makes sense," Beamer told SN. "He's done a great job of just coming in here, and everyone knows who he is because of what he's accomplished. He had natural respect from his teammates here because of what he's done. He's just come in and been himself and let things happen naturally."
It's a huge get for South Carolina. The only two players who had a higher recruiting rating according to 247Sports.com are Marcus Lattimore (2010) and Jadeveon Clowney (2011). Rattler, however, brings play-making talent to the quarterback position. Last year, South Carolina sifted through Luke Doty, Zeb Noland and Jason Brown at quarterback. They combined for 22 TDs and 11 interceptions. Rattler, who clicked with offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield, will elevate that play.
"Whether it's Spencer Rattler or Luke Doty or our other quarterbacks right here right now, or Jalen Hurts, Caleb Williams, any of the guys who were with him at Oklahoma, as a coach you want to have a system that fits your personnel, not just your quarterback," Beamer said. "We have a system that is flexible enough to do that."
For Rattler, that means learning a pro-style offense. It's a shift from Oklahoma's balanced version of the "Air Raid," but it's one that Rattler feels comfortable with. It's been a new education at spring practice.
"We're getting under center, play-action, and you've got long plays you have to call out," Rattler said. "A lot of verbiage, slides and protections. Knowing where the ‘mike' point is. Who's blocking who?"
"Reading defenses more and learning about football," he continued. "That's honestly what sets you up for the next level. That was a big thing for me when I came here. I wanted to learn more about football and the knowledge of the game."
The return for Beamer is simple.
"The biggest thing Spencer will bring is his experience at the position," Beamer said. "He's made a difference in that room already. That quarterback room right now is him, Luke Doty, who is young, and a bunch of freshmen. The experience Spencer brings to that position group is huge for us."
*****
It's never too early for a redemption story, right? Ohio State's C.J. Stroud is the popular pick to be the first quarterback taken in the 2023 NFL Draft, and Alabama's Bryce Young will try to repeat as the Heisman Trophy winner. Rattler, despite all the career turns, is ranked No. 3 in early rankings.
In a sense, Rattler's stock hasn't changed much, and that's a lesson he's teaching younger quarterbacks.
"It feels great that I get to inspire younger kids coming up who have seen all this change in college football and see what I've been through," Rattler said. "I've seen the success, seen the low points and know that they can do whatever they dream of. It's bigger than NIL and bigger than the spotlight for me. It just means more."
Did Rattler really just parrot the SEC mantra? The Gamecocks have a tough schedule that includes defending national champion Georgia on Sept. 17 and cross-over games against Arkansas and Texas A&M before the regular-season finale at Clemson. Rattler will get more than enough chances to be back on the national spotlight. Expectations have changed. Those are the discussions Rattler and Giovando are having now.
"We talked about it the other day," Giovando said. "Just go play. He can just go play, and there is the opportunity to do something great at South Carolina. They really haven't had a guy like that at South Carolina in my opinion in a while. I can't remember the last quarterback with that kind of talent. Then, playing in a great conference, playing in the SEC, how cool is this? He can go out and do some great things this next year and maybe sneak up on some people again."
Rattler enjoys that vantage point. He's starting over again. For a quarterback who's been turned left and sideways in the last year, it might be headed in the right direction after all.
Being Spencer Rattler is comfortable now, even if the hype returns.
"The pressure is definitely off," Rattler said. "There weren't that many guys or teams that had that kind of hype coming into the season last year like I had. It wasn't anything that I was shying away from. It wasn't anything that I didn't embrace, but all the talk with this and that is not the important stuff. Obviously, I'm still on some radars, and if I have a great year we'll go from there."
