Robby Ashford appears to be having a better time at South Carolina than he did at Oregon or Auburn, indicating that he has finally found what he is searching for in Columbia.
Ashford indicated that his former teammates were “in it for themselves.”
“It has been better than any competition I have ever participated in. Strange things happen in a lot of competitions, but I haven’t seen anything like it in this room,” Ashford remarked. “There was a lot of individualized stuff at the other places I’ve been, everybody wanted it for themselves and it drew a lot of people apart, forcing people to pick sides, that’s not healthy for a team … when I came (here) and knew it was a competition, I didn’t want any of that to happen.”
Ashford was named LaNorris Sellers’ backup after committing to Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks with the expectation of starting.
“Talent evaluation can be subjective in nature,” Mike Gittens of The War Rapport told me in January. “Hugh Freeze did not believe Robby Ashford was an SEC-caliber quarterback, but Shane Beamer does. Not only does he believe this, but the consensus inside the building is that he will be the best quarterback in the room once he arrives on college. I believe it is his responsibility to lose. Sure, he could lose it, but his odds of beginning afresh, Doty, are good.”
Robby Ashford competed with other transfer QBs in Auburn football position battles
Throughout his time on the Plains, Ashford only faced off against fellow transfers in quarterback contests.
In 2022, Ashford defeated TJ Finley for the starting role, but it did not happen right away. Finley gained the job out of fall camp, but he lost it by Week 4 when Ashford and Co. helped preserve Bryan Harsin’s job in a close victory over Mizzou.
Hugh Freeze succeeded interim head coach Cadillac Williams in late 2022, and Freeze acquired Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne after A-Day, making it clear that Ashford would not be the Tigers’ offensive pillar going forward.
Could that explain why he felt the way he did? After all, transfers know what they want when they enroll in a new institution, which is typically a starting employment. If they were 100% team-oriented, they would not be leaving their prior team.
