The Never-Ending Pursuit of Steve Spurrier
posted by Scott Hood on Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Apparently they haven’t gotten the message – Spurrier intends to remain at South Carolina at least through 2012, the duration of his current contract.
In short, the 62-year old Spurrier hopes to make USC the final stop in his Hall of Fame head coaching career.
But tell that to administrators and athletic department officials at schools like Texas A&M, which appears to be the latest school to eye Spurrier as their pigskin prophet.
LSU will likely be next in line when discussions between Les Miles and Michigan heat up in December. Most experts believe Miles return to his alma mater as the conquering hero after LSU wins the national championship.
Why are these schools convinced they can woo Spurrier?
They mistakenly believe Spurrier is extremely frustrated by what’s going on in Columbia, that he’s “realized” he can’t win with the Gamecocks in the hyper-competitive SEC and that he’s looking for a way out.
Finally, they’re taking a purely capitalistic position. They think all they need to do is throw enough money at Spurrier and he’ll eventually take a nibble.
All four of those core beliefs about Spurrier are wrong.
Spurrier didn’t come to USC to exploit this job or the school as a springboard to one higher up the college football food chain. Spurrier could have had the pick of any job he wanted when he left the Redskins in 2003.
They also forget one thing I’ve reminded USC fans about on numerous occasions, including this space, in the past – Steve Spurrier picked South Carolina; South Carolina didn’t pick Spurrier.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – Spurrier knew exactly what he was getting into when he took the USC job three years ago.
He was well aware of USC’s lack of a winning tradition, and the stream of problems that had afflicted the program in the past. When he said “Why not us?” during his introductory press conference, he was taking on USC’s history with a confidence and competitive spirit rarely seen around these parts.
While Spurrier is a bit perplexed by the happenings of last four weeks, he’s far from discouraged. How many times does Spurrier have to mention that USC’s top recruiting class came last season?
Here’s a newsflash: USC is putting together another outstanding class as well for February of 2008.
Slowly and steadily, Spurrier is putting together a program that can consistently compete with the top schools in the SEC.
I’m reminded of a statement Spurrier made during the 2006 Gamecock Club tour. He was asked by a fan during a question and answer session if he was rebuilding the foundation.
No, Spurrier said, he wasn’t. That’s because a foundation had never been built. In other words, you can’t rebuild something that hasn’t been built in the first place.
That’s what Spurrier is doing right now: building the foundation.
Spurrier has also said something that stuck with me over the last year or so: it will take seven consecutive outstanding recruiting classes to truly turn around the fortunes of the USC program.
Spurrier loves coaching in the SEC. The fact he gets to coach every year against Florida, Georgia and Tennessee excites him. It might be the main reason he came to USC.
Remember, he grew up in Johnson City, Tenn., not far from Knoxville. He played and coached at Florida. He knows the SEC, and the rhythm of the conference. This is where he wants to be.
Now, is Spurrier satisfied with the progress of the USC program with the conclusion of his third season in sight? Absolutely not. He knows there is lots and lots and lots of work to do, everything from changing the mindsets of the players to improving the overall talent level, and everything else in between.
Spurrier relishes the challenge of accomplishing things for the first time. He did it at Florida.
He believes he’ll do it at USC, too.
So, schools like Texas A&M and LSU can snoop around Columbia and toss their millions of dollars at Spurrier. It won’t work.
Spurrier is a Gamecock, and will remain one for a long time.
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By this point, Steve Spurrier is amused by all the attention he seems to draw from other schools.
Apparently they haven’t gotten the message – Spurrier intends to remain at South Carolina at least through 2012, the duration of his current contract.
In short, the 62-year old Spurrier hopes to make USC the final stop in his Hall of Fame head coaching career.
But tell that to administrators and athletic department officials at schools like Texas A&M, which appears to be the latest school to eye Spurrier as their pigskin prophet.
LSU will likely be next in line when discussions between Les Miles and Michigan heat up in December. Most experts believe Miles return to his alma mater as the conquering hero after LSU wins the national championship.
Why are these schools convinced they can woo Spurrier?
They mistakenly believe Spurrier is extremely frustrated by what’s going on in Columbia, that he’s “realized” he can’t win with the Gamecocks in the hyper-competitive SEC and that he’s looking for a way out.
Finally, they’re taking a purely capitalistic position. They think all they need to do is throw enough money at Spurrier and he’ll eventually take a nibble.
All four of those core beliefs about Spurrier are wrong.
Spurrier didn’t come to USC to exploit this job or the school as a springboard to one higher up the college football food chain. Spurrier could have had the pick of any job he wanted when he left the Redskins in 2003.
They also forget one thing I’ve reminded USC fans about on numerous occasions, including this space, in the past – Steve Spurrier picked South Carolina; South Carolina didn’t pick Spurrier.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – Spurrier knew exactly what he was getting into when he took the USC job three years ago.
He was well aware of USC’s lack of a winning tradition, and the stream of problems that had afflicted the program in the past. When he said “Why not us?” during his introductory press conference, he was taking on USC’s history with a confidence and competitive spirit rarely seen around these parts.
While Spurrier is a bit perplexed by the happenings of last four weeks, he’s far from discouraged. How many times does Spurrier have to mention that USC’s top recruiting class came last season?
Here’s a newsflash: USC is putting together another outstanding class as well for February of 2008.
Slowly and steadily, Spurrier is putting together a program that can consistently compete with the top schools in the SEC.
I’m reminded of a statement Spurrier made during the 2006 Gamecock Club tour. He was asked by a fan during a question and answer session if he was rebuilding the foundation.
No, Spurrier said, he wasn’t. That’s because a foundation had never been built. In other words, you can’t rebuild something that hasn’t been built in the first place.
That’s what Spurrier is doing right now: building the foundation.
Spurrier has also said something that stuck with me over the last year or so: it will take seven consecutive outstanding recruiting classes to truly turn around the fortunes of the USC program.
Spurrier loves coaching in the SEC. The fact he gets to coach every year against Florida, Georgia and Tennessee excites him. It might be the main reason he came to USC.
Remember, he grew up in Johnson City, Tenn., not far from Knoxville. He played and coached at Florida. He knows the SEC, and the rhythm of the conference. This is where he wants to be.
Now, is Spurrier satisfied with the progress of the USC program with the conclusion of his third season in sight? Absolutely not. He knows there is lots and lots and lots of work to do, everything from changing the mindsets of the players to improving the overall talent level, and everything else in between.
Spurrier relishes the challenge of accomplishing things for the first time. He did it at Florida.
He believes he’ll do it at USC, too.
So, schools like Texas A&M and LSU can snoop around Columbia and toss their millions of dollars at Spurrier. It won’t work.
Spurrier is a Gamecock, and will remain one for a long time.
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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 @.