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Spencer Rattler Says His Time as Oklahoma's QB 'Was a Great Learning Experience for Me'

Rattler's mercurial three seasons as a Sooner came with both good and bad experiences, but he said it all set him up for another successful year at South Carolina.

John E. Hoover

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
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Spencer Rattler wanted to test himself at the highest level of college football.

That’s not necessarily why he chose to leave Oklahoma, but he said it is the reason he chose last year to transfer to South Carolina.

“You’re playing the best players every single week,” Rattler said Thursday at SEC Media Days in Nashville. “It’s the closest thing to the NFL. This is why I wanted to come here, to compete with the best and prove myself as a player and just, yeah, it’s been great.”

Rattler’s time as a Sooner quarterback was indeed mercurial: he was the subject of a revealing (if mostly uncomplimentary) Netflix documentary as a recruit, he sat as a true freshman behind Jalen Hurts, he won the starting job by default as a redshirt freshman, won a Big 12 championship, was named MVP of the Cotton Bowl, was benched against Texas twice, was subjected to a “we want Caleb (Williams)” chant from the student section after another poor start and eventually lost his job to the No. 1 recruit in the nation — who then left and won a Heisman last year at USC — before transferring to South Carolina.

That’s a mouthful — and really only begins to describe the Spencer Rattler experience at OU.

Spencer Rattler
Spencer Rattler :: BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

“You've got to take it all,” Rattler said. “I think it was a great learning experience for me. Coming here to South Carolina, it helped me a lot to be in this position.”

Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer, who was a Lincoln Riley assistant for Rattler’s first two years in Norman, believes he got a prize when he landed Rattler out of the portal. Rattler passed for 3,031 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2020, completing 67.5 percent of his passes and tossing just seven interceptions. In 2021, he completed 75 percent of his throws for 1,483 yards with 11 TDs and five picks.

Last year in Columbia, Rattler started all 13 games, completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 3,026 yards and 18 TDs with 12 INTs.

Watching those first two years, then observing from afar Rattler’s 2021 season, showed Beamer something.

“The biggest thing, one, is forget about what he did on the field,” Beamer said. “I knew what kind of person Spencer is. It wasn't like I was bringing in a guy to play quarterback that I didn't know. … He had dealt with adversity before at Oklahoma. It wasn't like all of a sudden, this year or last season, we had some tough losses and that was the first time he went through stuff or that 2021 was the first time he went through stuff.

“You guys also remember his first two games as a starting quarterback in the Big 12 as Oklahoma, we lost to Kansas State and Iowa State. You are not supposed to lose two conference games at Oklahoma. That doesn't happen, not to mention two games to start the season when you are replacing … Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts as the quarterback.

Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams
Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams :: CHRIS LANDSBERGER/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

“So seeing Spencer handle Jalen Hurts, see him get benched in the Texas game in (2020) and come back in the second half and lead us to a four-overtime win, I believe, told me everything I needed to know about Spencer as far as a competitor, leader, kind of person he was.

“He's made us better on and off the field. I saw enough. Forget about his talent level on the field because that speaks for itself, but the way he handled himself off the field during my two seasons there was really good for me to see.”

Beamer said watching Hurts transition from Alabama to Oklahoma in 2019 showed Rattler the blueprint for how to step into a new environment and succeed.

“I don't want to speak for Spencer,” Beamer said, “but I would imagine that helped him seeing that when he made the transition to Columbia.”

Rattler has always been projected as an NFL talent. His arm strength and quick release are undeniable. But when Riley signed him, it was presumed he would become a first-round pick in three years. When the 2021 season began, he was widely projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

That didn’t happen, and Rattler is playing college football two years longer than many thought he would.

But this is it, he says. After 1 1/2 years as the starter at Oklahoma and two years as the starter at South Carolina, this really should be Spencer Rattler’s final season in college. He briefly considered heading to the NFL this year, but realized he needed more growth as a quarterback.

Spencer Rattler at South Carolina
Spencer Rattler at South Carolina / Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports

“We weighed all the options, my family and I,” he said. “Talking to certain people. Obviously that next level had a real, you know, choice to pick. I just weighed it out. I thought there were more pros coming back. I graduate in September, get my degree. That's important to my family and I. I just feel like we left a little on the table.”

Rattler’s plan at the moment is to be in the NFL in 2024. But he actually does have his COVID year if he wants it. So theoretically, under the right (or wrong) circumstances, he could be quarterbacking the Gamecocks next year when they come to Norman.

“It's been a while,” he said. “Just expect a lot of loud stadium, big stadium. A lot of Crimson and Cream. It will be a good time. I'll be excited to watch.”

Rattler expressed an appreciation for OU, but also issued a little bit of a warning for the Sooners as they transition to the SEC in 2024.

“Football’s football at the end of the day,” he said, “but this conference is definitely — the physicality, you can tell the difference.” 

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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