Spencer Rattler grinding in prep for NFL. How his USC days set him up for pro success
Spencer Rattler knows how the drill should operate.
He’s like a film director as he walks to the end zone, talking his actors through their scene. Two wide receivers are huddled next to him, watching intently. Then one gets on his knees a few inches away from the sideline, their bodies facing away from the field.
Rattler walks back to the 20-yard line. He’s the first to go through the drill. He catches the snap, takes a three-step drop and shuffles in the pocket.
Just over a month ago, Rattler did the same thing. Only, then, 80,000 fans inside Williams-Brice Stadium were watching and behemoths from Clemson were attacking him.
In the week after Christmas at a high school in Arizona, things are more relaxed. The stands are empty and reggae music blares through a speaker.
After a few shuffles, Rattle spins around, avoiding an invisible defender, then rolls to his left. He flips his hips and throws to the kneeling pass catcher. The ball is a missile. The receiver has to move his outstretched hands about six inches, but the velocity just about knocks him over.
Rattler trots over to a dad watching on the sideline.
“I might be done on that one,” Rattler says with a grin.
“Ha,” he responds. “That was a nice ball.”
From 30 yards away, Rattler’s longtime quarterback coach Mike Giovando hollers over the mellow music.
“Hey,” he shouts, “that’s the way to start us off.”
Rattler is months away from being where so many for so long have told him he’d wind up. And if he’s taken in April’s NFL Draft, Rattler would be the first South Carolina quarterback to be selected since Todd Ellis was selected in the ninth round back in 1990.
Until that day comes, though, the preparations will be nonstop. There’s the NFL Combine and South Carolina’s on-campus Pro Day in March. Rattler will take part in the Reese’s Senior Bowl in early February. And most days in between, he’ll be at the Exos training facility in Arizona, where his days and diet will be meticulous.
But on this late December day in the Grand Canyon State, Rattler was back on a high school field under the sunshine, training with Giovando as he has since 2012. The only changes are the setting and whatever diverse group of quarterbacks join them.
“There’s not a day that goes by,” Rattler says, “where I’m not thinking, man, I was just in middle school or school — even before that — out here training with Gio and some of these guys.”
Also on the field with Rattler was Kansas’ starter Jalon Daniels, Boise State quarterback C.J. Tiller, a number of highly rated high-schoolers from Arizona and even an eighth-grader named Chase, who probably gave 100 pounds and a million reps to Rattler but worked in with him like they were contemporaries.
“Spencer got to do it when he was young,” Giovando said. “He understands — hey, I was in that little guy’s spot and someone took the time to talk to me, someone took the time to show me the right way. That means a lot to the young guys.
“And, look,” Giovando said, “that’s part of being a leader. That’s part of being mature. That’s part of not being too big or wanting to be out here all by yourself with someone dabbing sweat off you. He’s not like that. He’s never been like that.”
Finding success in tough season
Rattler was asked if he gave any thought to returning to South Carolina for another season. He could have played one more year in Columbia, made tons of NIL money and entered the NFL Draft next season, when the quarterback crop won’t be as good.
He didn’t hesitate.
“No. No,” he said. “No, I was ready.”
He added: “I felt like I had a good year — a great year — and obviously you’re gonna want games back. ... I’m happy with what I did, which is why I declared.”
His South Carolina coaches were just as pleased with Rattler’s year. Both USC head coach Shane Beamer and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who has over a decade of NFL coaching experience under his belt, said NFL scouts who visited Columbia this fall were extremely impressed how Rattler had handled himself throughout the team’s turbulent season.
A former five-star prospect expected to win the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma, Rattler was spectacular during his first season at South Carolina in 2022, helping lead the Gamecocks to an 8-5 record. But what he did in 2023, despite going 5-7, was even more impressive.
“You never want to get upset or be unhappy with your situation,” Rattler said. “You’ve got to make everything out of it. That’s what we all did. Even the guys up front this past year — banged up, they still worked their tails off. That helps me go and that helps all of us go. As a quarterback, you never want to be negative.”
Playing behind a young offensive line that changed weekly due to an ungodly amount of injuries, Rattler at times became a tackling dummy for SEC defenders. He had red on his chest and the bulls charged at him every week. Even his receivers, outside of Xavier Legette, weren’t consistent. His defense didn’t give him much help.
And, yet, Rattler kept getting up. Kept praising his teammates. Kept saying and doing all the right things.
Plenty of quarterbacks across college football posted better stats than Rattler. It would be hard to find a handful who responded better to adversity.
“It was probably the best thing (he) could go through while getting ready for this next step,” Giovando said. “The ultimate goal has always been to play on Sundays. Just because everything doesn’t go perfect for you on Saturdays and you don’t throw 900 touchdowns — a lot of times, that’s out of your control.”
Giovando has seen it all with Rattler. He was training him before he got on the radar at Pinnacle High School and before he committed to Oklahoma. He was there to talk with him during his Sooner struggles, on the phone almost weekly as Rattler waited out his time in Norman before entering the transfer portal. He watched him elevate under Beamer at South Carolina and become a beloved figure thousands of miles away from home.
Told that stores in Columbia are still selling Rattler shirts, Giovando grinned. “That’s pretty sick,” he said.
And now he’s seeing him off to the NFL, fine-tuning to the nth degree things they’ve been working on for over a decade.
“We just wanna be good at everything,” Giovando said. “Handoffs. Under-center. Play-action. Shotguns. Play-action. Play fakes. … He has an unbelievable, quick release but can we get even quicker?”
Setting sights on NFL Draft’s first round
The goal for Rattler over the next few months: Work himself into a top-five quarterback in the draft. Top-five quarterbacks are valued. Are paid. Top-five quarterbacks have a chance to hear their name called on the opening night.
“You really wanna get into that top five as a quarterback in the draft,” Rattler said. “But I’m confident in my abilities and where I’ll end up. The work starts now. I’m trying to get into that first round. That’s the goal — that’s been my goal since I was a kid.”
From the outside, that seems like a long shot. CBS Sports doesn’t think he’s among the top 15 quarterbacks. Pro Football Focus has him at No. 7. Pro Football Network ranked him as the 10th-best quarterback available, behind guys like USC’s Caleb Williams, UNC’s Drake Maye and Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
Right now, those guys are looked at in a different way than Rattler. Partly because they all won more games over the past two seasons. Because all of them have more passing yards than he does. Because none of them were sacked over three times a game. Because none of them were benched in front of the whole country.
“Our goal is to be in the first round. We want to be a first-round draft pick. There’s no reason why he couldn’t,” Giovando said. “If he does what we think he’s gonna do, he’s gonna be right in there with whoever they say the top five are. Well, you can throw all that in the garbage now because college football is done.
“Now? Guess what? It’s 0-0,” Giovando added. “They may project this guy here and that guy (there) — that’s fine. Wherever we go, we go. But we’re gonna be around a long time.”
