Former Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford expected to transfer to South Carolina

Former Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford expected to transfer to South Carolina

Former Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford has reportedly found his next home.

Ashford, who spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons on The Plains, is expected to transfer to South Carolina, Mike Gittens of The War Rapport first reported Tuesday.

In joining Shane Beamer’s staff in Columbia, S.C., Ashford will stay within the Southeastern Conference after getting his start in the Pac-12. Before coming to Auburn in 2022, Ashford spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons playing both football and baseball for the Oregon Ducks.

In two seasons at Auburn, Ashford appeared in 22 games under center — serving as the Tigers’ starter for the majority of the 2022 season and splitting duties with Payton Thorne in 2023. In his two seasons, Ashford tallied 1,758 passing yards and nine passing touchdowns on 49% passing. With his legs, Ashford added 927 yards and 12 scores.

After spending the 2023 season stuck in the middle of a two-quarterback rotation with Thorne, Ashford entered the transfer portal on Dec. 15, making for his second time transferring in his four-year college career.

“I had great conversations with Robby. I wish all those guys the best. I mean, everybody has to make their own choices of what they think is best for them,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said of Ashford’s decision to transfer. “But I enjoyed my conversations with Robby. I wish him the best, as I do the rest of the guys that have chosen to go in the portal.”

It was the NCAA’s newly passed legislation that paved the way for Ashford to transfer a second time without having to sitting out.

In joining the Gamecocks, Ashford will come to Columbia, S.C. with two years of eligibility and will be in the hunt for South Carolina’s starting quarterback position after former starting quarterback Spencer Rattler declared for the NFL Draft on Nov. 29.

Beamer and the Gamecocks are coming off a 2023 season that saw them finish 5-7 and 3-5 in the SEC.