Biography
Todd Ellis, the longtime "Voice of the Gamecocks," will receive the 2026 NFF Chris Schenkel Award in recognition of his distinguished broadcasting career and enduring connection to the University of South Carolina.
For more than four decades, Ellis has been closely identified with South Carolina football — first as one of the greatest quarterbacks in school history and, for the past 23 seasons, as the unmistakable radio voice chronicling the Gamecocks.
Ellis is currently in his 35th season overall with the Gamecock Sports Radio Network, having previously worked as a sideline reporter before moving into the booth. His broadcasting résumé also includes work as a color analyst and play-by-play announcer on Gamecock telecasts for Comcast Sports Southeast and on CBS bowl game radio coverage. In addition to calling the games, he hosts the "Shane Beamer Television Show" and "Carolina Calls with Shane Beamer," the coach's weekly radio call-in show.
Throughout much of his broadcasting career, Ellis has shared the booth with another legendary South Carolina quarterback, Tommy Suggs. The two have spent nearly three decades working together on Gamecock broadcasts, developing a chemistry rooted in their shared experiences as quarterbacks and their deep appreciation for the university. Suggs, now in his 54th season with the network, serves as the color analyst alongside Ellis, while Chet Tucker, in his fourth season with the crew in 2026, reports from the sidelines. Behind the scenes, Liz McMillan works as the Gamecock Sports Radio Network executive producer.
Ellis and Suggs' relationship dates to Ellis' playing days. When Ellis arrived at South Carolina in 1985, Suggs was already working alongside legendary play-by-play voice Bob Fulton, and the two spent time together during Ellis' freshman season for a feature on the records he and NFF College Football Hall of Famer Sterling Sharpe were breaking. Years later, the former Gamecock quarterbacks reunited in the radio booth, turning a relationship that began during Ellis' playing days into one of college football's longest-running broadcast partnerships.
Since taking over as South Carolina's radio play-by-play announcer in 2003, Ellis has provided the soundtrack for some of the most memorable moments in modern Gamecock football history, beginning with his first two seasons when NFF College Football Hall of Fame Coach Lou Holtz roamed the sidelines. Ellis was behind the microphone during the 2010–13 run under NFF College Football Hall of Fame Coach Steve Spurrier, when the Gamecocks went 42–11. During those four seasons, South Carolina won its only SEC East championship, made its only SEC Championship Game appearance, produced three consecutive 11-win seasons from 2011–13, completed a school-record five-game winning streak over rival Clemson and capped the run with a No. 4 final ranking in 2013, the highest in school history.
He called games featuring some of the most storied players in South Carolina history, including Jadeveon Clowney, Marcus Lattimore, Connor Shaw, Alshon Jeffery, Stephon Gilmore, Melvin Ingram and Deebo Samuel, while providing the call for many of the program's most memorable moments. Among them were the 2010 upset of No. 1 Alabama, Ace Sanders' 70-yard punt return against No. 5 Georgia in 2012, Jadeveon Clowney's iconic hit against Michigan in the 2013 Outback Bowl and the "Miracle at Mizzou" comeback later that year. More recently, Ellis called the Gamecocks' remarkable back-to-back upsets of No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson to close the 2022 regular season.
A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Ellis emerged as one of the nation's most highly recruited quarterbacks while starring at Page High School. A high school All-American, he was rated the nation's No. 1 recruit after leading Page to three consecutive state championships. After redshirting in 1985, Ellis became the Gamecocks' starting quarterback and rewrote the program's passing record book from 1986-89. A four-year letterman, he set more than 20 school passing records, finishing with a school-record 9,953 career passing yards and leading the Gamecocks to two bowl appearances.
Ellis earned his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1995 and was admitted to the bar in both South Carolina and North Carolina. He has practiced law for more than 30 years, representing individuals and small businesses in cases involving personal injury, property damage, unfair trade practices, medical malpractice and business litigation.
Ellis' accomplishments have earned him numerous honors. He was selected as an SEC Football Legend in 1997 and named a University of South Carolina Outstanding Young Alumnus in 2003. He was inducted into the University of South Carolina Lettermen's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005, the State of South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020 and the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame in 2025. In 2026, the South Carolina Broadcasters Association recognized Ellis with an Honorary Life Membership.
"Todd Ellis has been part of the fabric of South Carolina football for more than 40 years," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "He first made his mark as one of the great quarterbacks in Gamecock history, and then he found a way to stay connected to the game and the university he loves by becoming its voice. Generations of South Carolina fans have grown up listening to Todd call the games, and that kind of longevity and connection to one school is exactly what the Chris Schenkel Award was created to recognize."
