South Carolina’s quarterback room is generating headlines for more than its depth chart. The discussion centered on an unusual motivational strategy that quarterback LaNorris Sellers described as a locker room tale.
Many initially assumed offensive coordinator Mike Shula had designed the prop-driven approach. However, Shula recently revealed the story and identified former NFL quarterback Eli Manning as the true originator of the idea. Sellers had given fans a glimpse into Shula’s methods, but the revelation shifted credit.
Mike Shula Credits Eli Manning for LaNorris Sellers’ Famous Locker Room Legend
Lulu Kesin reported that South Carolina offensive coordinator Shula pointed directly at Manning when asked about the origins of a now-infamous motivational tactic in the Gamecocks’ quarterback room.
“Picking up from yesterday’s story from LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina OC Mike Shula says Eli Manning was the one who bought the plastic/prop poop in the first place,” Kesin wrote.
According to Shula, he had used the phrase first, but Manning was the one who actually introduced the “item” that has since become locker room legend.
Picking up from yesterday’s story from LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina OC Mike Shula says Eli Manning was the one who bought the plastic/prop poop in the first place
Shula used the expression then Manning brought in the “item”
— Lulu Kesin (@LuluKesin) August 20, 2025
Quarterback LaNorris Sellers provided a closer look at the unusual coaching approach earlier this week. The sophomore explained that Shula relies on a prop during film sessions to drive home his point.
“It looks like real poop,” Sellers said Tuesday. “You can sit it in your hand and it looks like poop.”
LaNorris Sellers says that OC Mike Shula has a fake piece of poop in his office.
When the QBs are watching film and someone messes up, Shula will tell the QB to grab it because “you just took a crap right on my desk.” pic.twitter.com/sHZMpeNjLN
— Jordan Kaye (@jordankaye_23) August 19, 2025
Sellers detailed how the process works. When a quarterback makes a mistake, Shula tells that player to go into his office and bring back “the dump off his desk.” Once the item is returned, Shula throws it down on the table and reminds the player,
“That’s what you just did to me.”
The young quarterback admitted that he has not had to retrieve the prop very often, though several of his teammates have been called on “quite a bit.” The exercise has quickly become one of the most talked-about quirks of South Carolina’s quarterback room.
Shula, who worked last year as a senior offensive assistant, is taking over play-calling duties this season. A former Alabama head coach and longtime NFL assistant, he has leaned on experience with quarterbacks ranging from Manning to Cam Newton.
At SEC Media Days last month, Sellers praised that background.
“It’s good,” Sellers said of his relationship with Shula. “Bringing stuff from the NFL, coach to guys like Eli Manning, to Cam Newton, two completely different players, and then using it all on me is good to use.”
Despite the antic’s lighthearted nature, some have joked about what could happen if South Carolina struggles this fall. For now, though, the Gamecocks’ quarterbacks and offensive coordinator seem to be embracing the story, with Manning’s role in supplying the original prop cementing the tale’s place in South Carolina football folklore.
