It almost didn’t happen. That wild run. That Citrus Bowl bid. And that straight-up video game, 5-touchdown explosion against Mizzou. None of it. Because at one point, somebody tried to buy LaNorris Sellers out of Columbia for big-boy millions—you know the kind of number that makes an athlete second-guess what ‘home’ really means. But Sellers? He stayed. And now? The quarterback from Florence is walking into 2025 with the SEC on red alert, carrying an Eli-Cam blueprint and a chip so big you can see it from Neyland.

In 2024, South Carolina wasn’t supposed to be dangerous. It was supposed to be a “maybe we figure it out” kind of year. Instead, it turned into LaNorris Sellers’ coming-out party. The redshirt freshman didn’t just light up Columbia—he cracked the sky open. 2,534 passing yards. 18 touchdowns through the air. Another 674 and 7 scores on the ground. That’s backyard football stats in the world’s meanest conference.

LaNorris Sellers literally handed Shane Beamer his signature win over Clemson, came two possessions away from the College Football Playoff, and dropped absolute clinics on teams that should’ve known better. Ask Missouri about that comeback tuddy last time out. Ask Wofford about the 56–12 bullying on national television. And ask Kalen DeBoer how close it got in Tuscaloosa — 27-25, and ended the season with 9-4.

Now here we are. 2025 SEC Media Days. The air is thick with coachspeak and NIL rumors. But when LaNorris sat down across from Richard Johnson of SEC Network, he didn’t dodge. He dissected. Especially when the convo turned toward the Manning Passing Academy and new OC Mike Shula’s influence. “Eli Manning and Peyton Manning—their expertise from the NFL,” Sellers said, leaning into the mic like a vet. “Different play fakes, being quicker with the ball, showing the eyes, reading defenses. John Gruden was there giving us film breakdowns and all that too.”

The mental side. The eyes. And the timing. That’s where Sellers took the leap. He didn’t just show up to Thibodaux, Louisiana, to shake hands and take selfies. He went full notebook mode: “Shula tells me all the time, whatever worked with Cam would probably work with me just because we play so similar. But it’s also stuff from Eli Manning—since he used to coach him—that he uses with me too. If he can coach Eli Manning and Cam Newton, that’s a wide variety.”

So now Sellers has a cheat code. A blueprint that mixes raw athletic chaos with cold-blooded precision. And it’s not just theory. Shula’s NFL resume is wild. He coached Newton as QB coach and later OC in Carolina. Mike Shula’s the guy who coached Cam Newton through his wild ride from Rookie of the Year to MVP, and then flipped the switch to help Eli Manning fine-tune his pocket rhythm in New York. That’s two quarterbacks from opposite planets. And yet, Sellers might just be the hybrid.

Sellers moves like Cam. Low center of gravity. Shifty feet. Tough to bring down. But he’s starting to think like Eli. Letting plays breathe. Manipulating safeties with his eyes. Knowing when to check down and when to launch. That balance is rare. That balance is dangerous. So you’ve got Sellers—a kid with one full year under his belt, already playing like a problem—now coming into 2025 with that level of mentorship? That should scare some folks. Because the only thing scarier than raw talent is raw talent with a system.

LaNorris Sellers’ $8 million loyalty

Last month, The Athletic dropped a bomb: LaNorris Sellers reportedly got offered $8 million to hit the portal. That’s not a typo. One Power 5 suitor straight up put a mansion-sized bag on the table. And Sellers? He said No thanks. Stayed right in Columbia. Stayed close to home. Close to everything he ever knew.

On Day 1 of SEC Media Days, Shane Beamer didn’t mince words when talking about it. “Why the hell would you leave?” the Gamecocks coach snapped when asked if he had tough talks with Sellers about the portal noise. “He’s coming off the season as a starting quarterback where he wins nine games. He’s playing as well as any quarterback in the country at the end of last season… He’s coming back on a really good team, and he loves being here.”

Beamer didn’t sound worried about losing him. Maybe he was naïve, but the coach insisted they didn’t even have “in-depth conversations” about it. Sellers knew what was up. “Everything I needed was in South Carolina, I grew up there. My family’s there. Anything I needed was an hour and five up the road for me. School pretty much takes care of rent and all that. So it’s not like you really need too much. Anything I need is at South Carolina. There’s no point in me going somewhere and starting over.”

You can’t fake that kind of loyalty. Especially not when you’re staring down seven-figure offers to bounce. But this wasn’t just a sentimental choice. This was football calculus. Sellers knows what he has in Mike Shula—a guy who molded Cam Newton into an MVP and coached Eli Manning through some of his most efficient years.

With every rep, every read, he’s blending Cam’s backyard brawling and Eli’s boardroom decision-making. It’s a Frankenstein QB recipe, stitched together by a coach who’s lived both lives. That’s why Sellers is still in Columbia. That’s why he turned down $8 million. The last time South Carolina won a conference title? 1969. That was the black-and-white TV era. But with Sellers at the controls, the drought doesn’t feel impossible.