Everybody Gets A Chance
posted by Scott Hood on Thursday, August 30, 2007
Saturday is “Equal Opportunity Night” at Williams-Brice Stadium, starting with the quarterbacks and extending to the offensive line, running back, wide receivers and tight ends.
In other words, every position on the offensive side of the ball.
In his own unique way, Spurrier cherishes providing opportunities to players to make their mark, not just in practice but in games as well.
Some head coaches would cringe at Spurrier’s statements this week that “eight or nine” offensive linemen would line up at one time or another Saturday.
More than any other, Spurrier believes in one simple rule as a head coach – if players are near equal in ability and have worked hard and done what they’re supposed to do, both will be given an opportunity to play in the game.
Wednesday, Spurrier described quarterbacks Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher as “both about the same.” But, rather than grumble about not having Blake Mitchell available, he proclaimed it will be “interesting to see” how his two underlings play.
That’s why Smelley and Beecher should receive an approximately equal number of snaps against Louisiana-Lafayette. Smelley will start but by the end of the night, Beecher could actually take more snaps.
That’s the way it works in Steve Spurrier’s kingdom.
In a somewhat sly sort of way, Spurrier has appeared at peace with the decision of the athletic department to suspend Mitchell for the opening game due to excessive absences from a summer school class.
Why? I don’t think he cares all that much about that stuff. Unlike his predecessor, Spurrier doesn’t micromanage. His philosophy has always been to allow people to do their jobs. He knows the pecking order, and the respect you must have for the policies of the company you work for.
The prospect of having to play your backup quarterbacks in a season-opening game because your starter is suspended when you have a critically important conference game on tap the next week would give some head coaches a migraine headache.
Not Spurrier.
In fact, I would say with confidence he’s relishing the chance to call “ball plays” for Smelley and Beecher over an extended period of time, just to see how they do under pressure with the lights on and 80,000 fans in the stands.
To Spurrier, it’s all about the journey.
Also, Spurrier has supreme confidence in his own abilities to call plays against whatever look the defensive offers. Remember, this is the guy that coached Danny Wuerffel to the Heisman Trophy despite his less than stellar arm strength.
While both young quarterbacks have shown remarkable progress on the football field since the start of spring practice, Spurrier’s philosophy has always been that it’s an entirely different deal when you get into the game.
Spurrier has seen over the course of his 17 years as a college head coach dozens of players perform well in practice only to freeze up when the games start. That’s why he believes it’s meaningful for the players to scrimmage in front of large crowds during fall camp.
While the quarterbacks will rotate, the same thing will be happening along the offensive line and at wide receiver.
When we spoke with Kenny McKinley after Wednesday night’s practice, he was careful not to disclose what the specific plans were at the receiver spot.
He would only say “Coach is ready to play all of them and see what everybody is made of.”
You can be sure at least four of the freshman arrivals – Jason Barnes, Mark Barnes, Chris Culliver, Matt Clements - will have plenty of balls thrown their way to see how they handle playing in front of a big crowd and against real live defensive backs from another team for the first time.
But Saturday will also present some veteran players with an opportunity to distance themselves from the freshmen. Moe Brown and Freddie Brown fall into that group. We also haven’t heard much about Larry Freeman during fall camp but he’s on the depth chart so he must be doing something right.
The most fun, though, could be along the offensive line. Spurrier’s promise to play “eight or nine” linemen clashes with John Hunt’s philosophy of playing five guys almost exclusively.
But, again, in Spurrier’s mind, few linemen have stepped up and taken a firm grasp of any position, especially at the two guard spots.
Jamon Meredith and Justin Sorensen appear set at the tackle positions but even they’re not immune from the constant reshuffling we should see.
The only advice I can offer as you enter Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday night is purchase a program and make sure it has a roster.
You’ll need it.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
If Steve Spurrier was working for the federal government, there’s no question he’d be employed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency responsible for making sure everybody get a fair shake when it comes to obtaining a job.
Saturday is “Equal Opportunity Night” at Williams-Brice Stadium, starting with the quarterbacks and extending to the offensive line, running back, wide receivers and tight ends.
In other words, every position on the offensive side of the ball.
In his own unique way, Spurrier cherishes providing opportunities to players to make their mark, not just in practice but in games as well.
Some head coaches would cringe at Spurrier’s statements this week that “eight or nine” offensive linemen would line up at one time or another Saturday.
More than any other, Spurrier believes in one simple rule as a head coach – if players are near equal in ability and have worked hard and done what they’re supposed to do, both will be given an opportunity to play in the game.
Wednesday, Spurrier described quarterbacks Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher as “both about the same.” But, rather than grumble about not having Blake Mitchell available, he proclaimed it will be “interesting to see” how his two underlings play.
That’s why Smelley and Beecher should receive an approximately equal number of snaps against Louisiana-Lafayette. Smelley will start but by the end of the night, Beecher could actually take more snaps.
That’s the way it works in Steve Spurrier’s kingdom.
In a somewhat sly sort of way, Spurrier has appeared at peace with the decision of the athletic department to suspend Mitchell for the opening game due to excessive absences from a summer school class.
Why? I don’t think he cares all that much about that stuff. Unlike his predecessor, Spurrier doesn’t micromanage. His philosophy has always been to allow people to do their jobs. He knows the pecking order, and the respect you must have for the policies of the company you work for.
The prospect of having to play your backup quarterbacks in a season-opening game because your starter is suspended when you have a critically important conference game on tap the next week would give some head coaches a migraine headache.
Not Spurrier.
In fact, I would say with confidence he’s relishing the chance to call “ball plays” for Smelley and Beecher over an extended period of time, just to see how they do under pressure with the lights on and 80,000 fans in the stands.
To Spurrier, it’s all about the journey.
Also, Spurrier has supreme confidence in his own abilities to call plays against whatever look the defensive offers. Remember, this is the guy that coached Danny Wuerffel to the Heisman Trophy despite his less than stellar arm strength.
While both young quarterbacks have shown remarkable progress on the football field since the start of spring practice, Spurrier’s philosophy has always been that it’s an entirely different deal when you get into the game.
Spurrier has seen over the course of his 17 years as a college head coach dozens of players perform well in practice only to freeze up when the games start. That’s why he believes it’s meaningful for the players to scrimmage in front of large crowds during fall camp.
While the quarterbacks will rotate, the same thing will be happening along the offensive line and at wide receiver.
When we spoke with Kenny McKinley after Wednesday night’s practice, he was careful not to disclose what the specific plans were at the receiver spot.
He would only say “Coach is ready to play all of them and see what everybody is made of.”
You can be sure at least four of the freshman arrivals – Jason Barnes, Mark Barnes, Chris Culliver, Matt Clements - will have plenty of balls thrown their way to see how they handle playing in front of a big crowd and against real live defensive backs from another team for the first time.
But Saturday will also present some veteran players with an opportunity to distance themselves from the freshmen. Moe Brown and Freddie Brown fall into that group. We also haven’t heard much about Larry Freeman during fall camp but he’s on the depth chart so he must be doing something right.
The most fun, though, could be along the offensive line. Spurrier’s promise to play “eight or nine” linemen clashes with John Hunt’s philosophy of playing five guys almost exclusively.
But, again, in Spurrier’s mind, few linemen have stepped up and taken a firm grasp of any position, especially at the two guard spots.
Jamon Meredith and Justin Sorensen appear set at the tackle positions but even they’re not immune from the constant reshuffling we should see.
The only advice I can offer as you enter Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday night is purchase a program and make sure it has a roster.
You’ll need it.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.