Landon Duckworth has plenty of ink on his right arm, but the tattoo that means the most sits out of sight on his chest.
It’s a portrait of his older brother, Michael, and for the South Carolina freshman quarterback, it’s more than a tribute. It’s a reminder of what he lost in the summer of 2021, when Michael died after a gunshot wound, and of what kept pushing Duckworth forward as his football career took off.
“That’s probably my favorite one,” Duckworth said during a USC media day interview Aug. 6, pointing to his chest.
Duckworth said that loss gave him added motivation as he kept developing into one of the top quarterbacks in the Southeast. At Jackson High in Alabama, he helped power back-to-back state championships in his final two seasons and piled up nearly 10,000 total yards with 121 touchdowns over his high school career.
“Losing him … kind of gave me that extra push,” Duckworth said. “I know if he was still here, he would want me to go hard every day. I still have another brother and my mom, so I still do it for them.”
His production went beyond football. Duckworth was a three-sport star in high school, averaging 10.3 points and 5.8 rebounds as a junior while helping Jackson win a basketball state title. He also ran on the school’s state-championship 4-by-100 relay team.
That all helped make him one of the more coveted quarterbacks in the country. 247Sports and On3 ranked Duckworth as the 10th-best dual threat quarterback nationally, and he became the second-highest Gamecock QB recruit among South Carolina’s last 10 signal-caller signees.
South Carolina had to beat out LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss to land him. Duckworth first committed to USC in August 2023, before his sophomore year, then backed off 11 months later to work through the recruiting process more thoroughly. The Gamecocks never stopped chasing him, and he recommitted on July 18, 2025.
Even after South Carolina fired offensive coordinator Mike Shula during last season, Duckworth’s recruitment didn’t cool off. Other programs kept pressing, and new LSU coach Lane Kiffin made a late push. Still, Duckworth stuck with USC, which brought in Kendal Briles as Shula’s replacement.
Briles and Duckworth already had history. Briles offered him when Duckworth was a freshman at Arkansas and again later at TCU, and the new coordinator sees a quarterback he can shape.
“He’s a raw talent,” Briles said of Duckworth. “Where he played in Alabama, he wasn’t asked to do a whole lot and was able to just rely on his ability to just go win.
That’s good, because you have a guy who doesn’t have a lot of bad habits. We’re gonna be able to mold him. ...
I’m excited about his trajectory.”
When Duckworth got to campus, Briles showed him clips of quarterbacks he’d coached before, including former Arkansas passer KJ Jefferson. The comparison makes sense: both are 6-foot-4 dual-threat quarterbacks.
For now, Duckworth is expected to sit behind starter LaNorris Sellers and backup Cutter Woods while competing with Bowling Green transfer Lucian Anderson for South Carolina’s No. 3 job. He’s already looking further ahead, with next season offering a chance to battle for a bigger role.
“Just compete and get better every day. I am sitting behind LaNorris and trying to learn everything from him and from Cutter,” Duckworth said.
“I can’t tell you what is going to happen next year, but I am trying to do everything to get better and be ready. Keep my head down and everything will work out.”
In Other News...
South Carolina's Passing Game Just Took Another Painful Hit
South Carolinas receiver room took another hit this week when Jayden Sellers went down with a lower body injury in practice, a setback that will cost him the 2026 season. Sellers had appeared in seven games last year and was lined up for a larger role this fall, making the loss especially frustrating for a passing game that had already been trying to sort out its depth and options.
The timing makes the injury sting even more for a unit that can least afford to lose experienced targets. Jayden Gibson and Jackson Repp are also already out for the season, leaving the Gamecocks with more questions than answers as they keep working through camp and try to build around what remains in the wideout group. [Read more 🡒]
LaNorris Sellers Now Faces A Tough South Carolina Reality
South Carolinas wide receiver room took another hit in late August, leaving the Gamecocks to sort through their depth just as the season is about to get rolling. Jayden Sellers went down during a scrimmage on Aug. 15, and Jayden Gibson was injured in practice the following week, a tough stretch for a position group that had already been expected to carry more than its share of the load for LaNorris Sellers and the offense.
Shane Beamer addressed the injuries and the state of the receiving corps, but the bigger concern now is how much flexibility South Carolina really has if the room keeps thinning out. Losing one option is difficult enough at this stage of camp, and losing another changes the conversation around who can step up, who can stay healthy and how much the Gamecocks can ask of the passing game once the real games begin. [Read more 🡒]