It’s tough for any football player to get passed by a younger player on the depth chart. It happened to South Carolina QB Dakereon Joyner this week.

On Tuesday, news broke that freshman QB Ryan Hilinski will be the backup to returning starter Jake Bentley. Hilinski beat out Joyner, who, as a redshirt freshman, had a leg up on Hilinski in terms of learning the playbook and running the offense. Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp excused Joyner from practice on Monday after informing him of the decision. Joyner was back at practice on Tuesday, an encouraging sign that he plans to stick it out with the Gamecocks despite being relegated to third-string duties. Joyner’s high school coach also indicated a transfer is unlikely when speaking to David Cloninger of The Post and Courier.

“You got to know Dakereon Joyner, of course he’s disappointed but he’s upbeat. Dakereon Joyner never gets down,” Steve LaPrad, Joyner’s coach at Fort Dorchester High School, told Cloninger. “He’s got to make some decisions as far as what he can do. He’s all about helping South Carolina win football games. He hasn’t mentioned going anywhere else.”

In his full article, Cloninger explores some of Joyner’s options, including changing positions. Joyner was a 4-star recruit in the class of 2018, rated the No. 9 dual-threat quarterback on the 247Sports Composite.

South Carolina offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon shared that Joyner remains committed to helping the Gamecocks any way he can:

Count McClendon as someone who could see Joyner lining up at a new position: