South Carolina grad assistant coach Zeb Noland goes from sideline to starting QB
In the annals of offseason quarterback competitions, the starting job has been wrestled away by upstarts, underdogs and walk-ons — but a former player turned into a coach and then back into a player is a new one.
At rebuilding South Carolina, a recently hired graduate assistant will be the Gamecocks’ starting quarterback in Saturday’s season opener against Eastern Illinois, the school announced this week.
Zeb Noland played quarterback at Iowa State and South Dakota State, starting seven games last season for the Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse, before joining the South Carolina staff in May under first-year coach Shane Beamer.
The son of a successful high school coach in Watkinsville, Georgia, Noland was set to begin his own transition into the profession as an assistant working under South Carolina wide receivers coach Justin Stepp.
“He’s always just loved the schematics of the game,” said Noland’s father, Travis, the head coach at Oconee County High School. “I saw that this was something he wanted to do for a long time.”
His unexpected move onto and then up the depth chart says something about the Gamecocks, who are expected to join Vanderbilt in bringing up the rear in the SEC, and reflects the strange landscape of roster management influenced by the coronavirus pandemic. Noland will be able to play in 2021 after the NCAA granted all players impacted by COVID-19 an added season of eligibility.
The unexpected return to the position also represents the final twist in a college career defined by multiple stops where Noland came close but never quite captured the opportunity for consistent playing time and success.
“For Zeb, if you knew him, he never intended for this to be a good story, he was just trying to help,” said Travis Noland. “When they were serious about needing the help, he was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ He never anticipated it being a big story, I don’t think.”
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The path to the Gamecocks’ starting lineup was made available after projected starter Luke Doty injured his left foot earlier in preseason camp. The injury, which is not expected to keep Doty out for the season, led Beamer to move Noland onto the roster and into competition with redshirt senior Jason Brown, a transfer from Saint Francis University, an FCS program in Loretto, Pennsylvania.