Spencer Rattler gets fresh start with Gamecocks at South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Looking back, Marcus Satterfield jokes that maybe he was too blunt.

As South Carolina’s oft-criticized offensive coordinator from a year ago, and with the Gamecocks desperately needing a quarterback, Satterfield didn’t sugarcoat things the first time he spoke on the phone in December with Spencer Rattler.

Yes, the same Spencer Rattler who was one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal and the same Spencer Rattler who unceremoniously went from Heisman Trophy front-runner to riding the bench last season at Oklahoma.

“You’re pissed and I’m pissed. Let’s come together and see what we can do, play pissed off,” Satterfield pointedly told Rattler.

Satterfield, who had to shuffle through four quarterbacks last season while trying to piece together an offense, was only getting started.

“Dude, people think you suck. You know what? People think I suck, too,” Satterfield told Rattler, who won 14 straight games as OU’s starter, including a Big 12 championship, before being relegated to the bench behind freshman Caleb Williams. “I’ve got a chip on my shoulder, and I can’t imagine how big the chip on your shoulder is. Let’s use that.”

As soon as Satterfield got off the phone, he immediately thought, “I hope I didn’t offend him.”

Clearly, he didn’t. Less than two weeks later, Rattler committed to South Carolina — a huge offseason win for head coach Shane Beamer and the team — and he has reveled in the challenge of helping the Gamecocks capitalize on their late-season momentum from a year ago, when they gutted out seven wins, all the while rewriting the final chapter of his own college football career.

Rattler and South Carolina will close out spring practice Saturday with the annual Garnet and Black spring game at Williams-Brice Stadium (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+ and ESPN+).

“A lot of guys don’t get another chance, to start over where they’re really wanted,” RattIer told ESPN. “I was just happy to get away from a toxic situation and get somewhere…