How South Carolina’s Luke Doty keeps growing as a leader in his final spring season

In a world where college athletes can essentially come and go as they please, Luke Doty is becoming an anomaly. He’s stayed at South Carolina for the last four years with no desire to enter the transfer portal.

Why? He likes the school, with and without football.

“My parents told me whenever I was being recruited, and it’s something I still think about nowadays, ‘if you took football out of it, would you still want to be at the university? Would you still want to go to school here would you still want to, you know, have a life here?’” Doty explained. “And the answer for me, South Carolina was always yes. It still is right now and it always will be.”

Of course playing football for the Gamecocks has been an added bonus. In the early days of spring football, months out from Doty’s final season, the Gamecock is a welcoming face for the new South Carolina offensive transfers.

It’s also giving Doty another layer to his preexisting leadership role.

“When he saw I was transferring, Luke was the first person who texted me,” said Robby Ashford, who left Auburn to come to South Carolina. “He was like, ‘man, so excited to have you.’”

For someone new to South Carolina, like Miami (Ohio) transfer Gage Larvadian, Doty’s presence can help ease the transition process for the new wide receiver as he learns the offense. It also helps Ashford, who views Doty as a familiar face in his new locker room.

Doty and Ashford knew each other from Elite 11 football back in high school, when they were 16 years old. They didn’t reunite until this spring, when Ashford moved to Columbia.

“He’s still the same guy,” Ashford said. “He can create a conversation with anybody. It’s just his personality.”

Doty has been a flexible offensive option for USC football over the last few seasons. He’s filled in as a backup quarterback, sitting behind now-former QB Spencer Rattler and filling in as a wide receiver.

Since Doty sits in with both the quarterback and receiver room, he’s gotten to know the offense from both perspectives. He’s also the most senior member of both rooms.

It’s very similar to former Gamecock Dakereon Joyner’s role. The two have been given the task to manage a new position by head coach Shane Beamer to help add depth to some offensive skill positions.

Doty embraces what he built in his nearly five years in Columbia, focusing on “compartmentalization.” Whatever he’s on the practice field for at that moment, that’s the task at hand. It’s simple — and effective.

“Just being able to flip the switch wherever I’m at has really kept me focused on doing everything the right way at each of those positions and just keeping me straight on and off the field,” Doty said.

The Gamecocks are only a few days into spring practices, and will continue training until the team’s spring game on April 20. Doty’s already settling back into a similar schedule he had last year: take reps as both a quarterback and as a receiver. He’s an athlete at heart.

“Making sure that I’m getting reps in every single place I could possibly play,” Doty said, “just so whenever that time comes, I’m ready for wherever it is. So it’s been a lot of fun.”

With the transfers South Carolina added this offseason, Doty has high expectations for himself and the team.

“Obviously we brought in a lot of playmakers this past recruiting cycle,” Doty said. “A lot of new guys, a lot of experienced guys and a lot of guys that know how to make plays and have been doing it for a while. So I think when we step on the field, April 20 and we kick it off in August, it’s gonna be really fun to watch.”