A lot has happened over the course of Luke Doty ‘s four-year college football career at South Carolina.
Doty has served in a number of roles with the Gamecocks, demonstrating his positional versatility as both a quarterback and wide receiver job. In that time frame, he has experienced the high of winning a starting job, as well as the low of having a season cut short due to injury – and everything in between.
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Per his media guide biography, he “epitomizes what it is to be a Gamecock.” Doty represented South Carolina’s football program at the 2024 SEC Media Days in Dallas, Texas. He also received the South Carolina Spirit Award following spring practice this past year.
As Doty enters his redshirt senior campaign, he understands that his experience warrants being a veteran leader for the team. And he’s hoping that he can have a lasting impact on his younger teammates.
“It’s my fifth camp, fifth offseason, going into my fifth season. So, I think I just used this as an opportunity to, obviously, be a guy that has a lot of experience and seen a lot of things on the field, off the field,” Doty said. “(I) just kind of us that as my platform to help some of these younger guys along, some of the guys that just got here. Just help them along and help them find their path and their role on the team.”
Doty also used this preseason as an opportunity to reflect on the journey he’s been on since his freshman campaign. That year, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered the college football season. In some ways, it provided players with a newfound gratitude for playing the sport.
He said playing football is something he does not take for granted.
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“It seems like yesterday, we were going into the 2020 season and COVID and all these weird regulations. And then, you blink, and now you’re here. It’s wild,” Doty said. “There’s guys that are older than me on the team, so, I think for all of us, it’s being grateful for another opportunity to begin a season of playing ball. That’s really what I look back at it. It’s like, ‘I’m blessed to be here, and I wouldn’t change anything for the world.'”
Doty won’t just be a figurehead of South Carolina football this season, though. He has split time between quarterback, wide receiver and special teams during the Gamecocks’ fall camp. He described his on-field role in 2024 as “pretty much the same” compared to last year.
“Wherever I’m at on the field, just know that I’m going to do everything I can to get us a win and put everybody in a position to succeed,” Doty said.
Doty added that his team-oriented mindset – and his own excitement about playing football – will make for a 2024 season to remember.
“I can’t wait to get started on Saturday,” Doty said. “Obviously, it’s a long season – it’s 14 weeks. But every week is an opportunity to show the world what we got and make a name for ourselves out there.”
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