South Carolina quarterbacks have a new way to learn from mistakes this season — and it involves a fake piece of poop. According to LaNorris Sellers, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Shula keeps the prop in his office to make lessons from film sessions stick.
“It looks like real poop,” Sellers said Tuesday. “You can sit it in your hand and it looks like poop.”
Sellers explained when a quarterback makes an error that shows up on film, Shula will direct the player to go to his office and pick up “the dump off his desk.” The player then leaves the room, retrieves it and hands it to Shula, who throws it on the table, saying, “That’s what you just did to me.”
Sellers said he hasn’t had to do it often, but did mention reserve quarterbacks Air Noland and Cutter Woods have had more frequent encounters with the prop as they learn the system.
“If you don’t know it, you’re going to make some mistakes,” Sellars said. “But it happens quite a bit.”
The ritual, while unusual, has become part of the Gamecocks’ quarterback culture. Shula, who served as a senior offensive assistant at South Carolina last season, returns to play-calling duties for the first time since he was in the NFL with the New York Giants in 2019.
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Sellers, coming off a breakout redshirt freshman season, aims to build on that success under Shula’s guidance and position himself as an early contender for the Heisman Trophy in 2025.
After stepping in as the starting quarterback last year, Sellers finished the season completing 65.6% of his passes for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns with seven interceptions. One of the most physically-gifted quarterbacks in college football, Sellers also rushed for 674 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
Shula’s return to play-calling allows him to implement his own approach. For Sellers, that means building on last year’s momentum, refining his mechanics under a coach with more than 25 years of NFL experience and continuing to establish himself as one of the premier quarterbacks in the SEC — all while making sure the lessons, even the ones involving a fake piece of poop on the desk, truly stick.
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