COLUMBIA, S.C. — Sometimes recruiting doesn’t end when the letter of intent is signed. For Landon Duckworth, it turned out that the most important relationship in his early college career was already years in the making — he just didn’t know it yet.
A Connection That Predates South Carolina
When Duckworth, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound dual-threat quarterback out of Jackson, Alabama, committed to South Carolina, he did so with one significant unknown hanging over the decision: he had no idea who Shane Beamer was going to hire as offensive coordinator.
It was a leap of faith — and it paid off in a way nobody could have scripted.
Less than a week after the December signing day, South Carolina named Kendal Briles its offensive coordinator, the program’s third in as many years. For most people in the building, the hire meant getting acquainted with a new voice and a new system. For Duckworth, it was a reunion.
The history between the two stretches back to 2022, when Briles — then the offensive coordinator at Arkansas — extended Duckworth his first Power-5 offer and brought him in for his first visit at that level. When Briles moved to TCU, he didn’t leave Duckworth behind. He re-offered him and continued recruiting him to Fort Worth.
Duckworth ultimately chose South Carolina over those other options, including a late push from LSU, without knowing Briles would follow him there. Fate, it seems, had other plans.
The Highest-Rated QB of the Beamer Era
The significance of Duckworth’s arrival shouldn’t be lost in the noise surrounding LaNorris Sellers and the starting quarterback competition. Per the 247Sports Composite rankings, Duckworth enrolled as the No. 10 quarterback and No. 132 player overall in the nation — the highest-rated quarterback signed under Beamer’s tenure in Columbia.
That alone makes him one of the most important developmental assets on the roster, even if his immediate role is limited.
He graduated high school early to enroll this spring, a decision that signals both ambition and the kind of program buy-in that coaching staffs covet in young quarterbacks. Rather than take the traditional path and arrive in the summer, Duckworth put himself in the building early — gaining reps, learning the playbook, and building chemistry with a coaching staff he already had a head start on knowing.
Where He Stands Now — and What Comes Next
Realistically, 2026 is unlikely to be Duckworth’s year to shine. Sellers enters the season as the unquestioned starter, and redshirt freshman Cutter Woods is currently positioned as the primary backup. For now, Briles has Duckworth running with what he called the “third group,” alongside Bowling Green transfer Lucian Anderson III.
“Those guys aren’t getting a ton of reps, but he’s getting reps,” Briles said. “So we’re able to coach them, and they’re able to get out there and go. Then, obviously, with all the routes on air and individual stuff, we’re getting to work with them.”
It’s a measured role — but not an invisible one. There is a scenario where Duckworth pushes Woods for the No. 2 job before the season begins, which would be a remarkable development for a true freshman still learning the speed of the college game. With no public spring game scheduled this year, fans may not get a clear window into where that battle stands, but inside the program, the competition is real.
What’s equally real is the impression Duckworth has already made on Briles, who has had eyes on this quarterback for three years now.
“He’s done well,” Briles said. “I’ve been impressed with his growth from — you know, we had some OTAs before spring ball — his knowledge then to now. I can tell he’s really studied and worked at it.”
That kind of early praise from an offensive coordinator who has coached quarterbacks at multiple Power programs carries weight. Briles isn’t prone to empty compliments — he’s evaluating Duckworth against a standard shaped by years of developing signal-callers at the highest level of college football.
The Long Game
The most honest read on Landon Duckworth’s 2026 season is this: he’s playing the long game, and doing so intelligently. Every rep in the third group, every film session, every individual route on air is a deposit into a future that could pay significant dividends for South Carolina’s offense.
Briles already knows what Duckworth can become. That’s the advantage of a relationship that started three years and two programs ago.
“He’s got a ton of talent,” Briles said. “He’s got a lot of want-to. Excited about the future.”
For a program looking to build sustained offensive success under its third coordinator in three years, that kind of continuity between a coach and his quarterback prospect — however that continuity came to be — might be exactly the foundation South Carolina needs.
