Well, apparently Steve Spurrier is going to take over for Lou Holtz at the end of this season at the University of South Carolina (my alma mater). This is bittersweet for me. Spurrier is almost universally loathed by everyone in the SEC except for Gator fans but he is a great college coach (and mediocre professional coach it seems).
I hope this will finally boost the Gamecocks to the top tier of the SEC instead of being the top of the second tier at best (and 1-22 at worst).
Anyone else have thoughts on the repercussions of this coaching change? Will USC ever be able to overcome the dreaded Chicken Curse? Are they doomed to be in the middle of the pack every year, fighting for a chance to play in the Independence Bowl?
I am a Redskin fan. I saw two years of Spurrier. He called in from the golf course to send in his resignation after the season. Called. In. From. The. Golf. Course. To say I am not going to be Coach of the billion dollar Redskins organization anymore, keep my 5 million a year. He isn’t Pro Material. He just isn’t - had no clue about the speed of pro-Defensive linemen – or that undersized scat backs are simply utility players in the pros not REAL running backs. Anyone you did marginally well for him in the past at the college level was brought in and almost without exception were lower performers at the pro-level. We saw all that over and over and he never really learned - he stuck with what had won him college championships.
Vent over. As awful and at times unprofessional as he was – he was, and I believe will be, a GREAT College coach.
And a good man. Lou Holtz was on a radio clip talking about how Spurrier saved his wife’s life getting her into the Gator cancer hospital and how Spurrier he checked in everyday. Holtz was very grateful. I think Holtz’s strong feelings about him are a large part of why he is in SC.
I also think Spurrier has college magic. Spurrier was a winner at Duke, which was never good before or since his tenure. Spurrier won National Championships as a Gator. Within a season or so I fully expect the Gamecocks to regularly be a lower top 10 Team and would not be surprised to see them contend for a National Championship at some point. Wouldn’t shock me. Can you name 3 college coaches you wouldn’t fire today to bring in Spurrier? I can’t.
Gamecock Nation? I see it.
You’re not gonna like this, but actually, he’s still getting five million a year. If I remember right, he signed a five-year deal and quit after two, so after this year he’s got $10 million more coming. (ESPN mentioned a number of times that he couldn’t coach a pro team for another two years since he’s still under contract to Washingston.)
Nope. He’s not getting paid. Since he quit, he loses his salary. But, since he’s still technically under contract, he can’t sign with another team until that contract is up, even though he’s not getting paid.
USC should feel blessed. My prediction is that within 5 years, every boy-child in Gamecock Nation will be named Steve.
You have a lot more control over the players at the college level, which is what made Spurrier successful. The players signed on and then HAD to be part of the system. In the pros, many of the players feel (and perhaps do) that they have autonomy. I mean it’s a shame that Marvin Lewis has to scurry around cleaning up Chad Johnson’s verbal messes, just because C.J. wants his name in the paper. In college, he’d find himself securely on the far end of the bench.
Not that it is a big deal, But I think that some confusion has resulted because after he quit, there was a settlement. The Redskins are definitely not still paying Spurrier his salary. They may be paying some small amount for consulting – but probably not.
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Spurrier walked away from the remaining three years on a five-year $25 million deal that made him the NFL’s highest-paid coach. The Redskins, which still are paying former coach Marty Schottenheimer after firing him in January 2002, said they will pay Spurrier only a few months’ living expenses and a relatively small consulting fee.
However, neither the team nor agent Jimmy Sexton, whom Spurrier contacted Monday to review his contract and negotiate his exit, revealed exact terms of the settlement.
Because Spurrier resigned, he technically remains Redskins property for the remaining three years on his contract. If another NFL club wanted to hire Spurrier, it would owe the Redskins compensation, probably in the form of draft picks.:
I wouldn’t fire Bob Stoops to get Steve Spurrier.
I wouldn’t fire Pete Carroll to get Steve Superior.
I wouldn’t fire Urban Meyer to get Steve Spurrier.
I wouldn’t fire Tommy Tuberville to get Steve Spurrier.
South Carolina is not USC, dammit! Superficially, maybe, but the University of Southern California is USC and South Caorlina is not. It’s NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-T!
Just curious. How does the Skin’s record with the returning Gibbs compare with Spurrier in his first year?
Regarding other coaches, I can’t see Spurrier being a better coach than Alvarez at Wisconsin. Also, I don’t think you will see Wisconsin’s athletic director fire their head coach any time soon.
USC has the most amazing short attention span - dosen’t everybody remember when Lou Holtz took the job and he was going to be the Savior of Gamecock Football? I give Spurrier four years before they turn on him.
Remember when he took a horrendous team and took them to a bowl game his second season there, just like EVERY SINGLE team he’s ever coached in college (including William & Mary)? Hell, he almost took them straight to the SEC title game that year - if that isn’t enough of a USC savior, I don’t know what is. Holtz did tremendous things at USC, and I don’t see anyone disputing that, or kicking him out. Holtz has said repeatedly that’s too tired to coach.
Hell, I wouldn’t even fire Mack Brown to get Steve Spurrier. Although I would fire Greg Davis to get Steve Spurrier as an offensive coordinator. Of course, I’d fire Greg Davis to get your grandma as an offensive coordinator, so that’s not saying much.
Eh, from where I’m at I’ve heard an awful lot of people “disputing that” lately. It’s a real deja vu kind of thing that reminds us of the last, oh, say, five coaches or so. Seems like people here expect a coach to produce miracles consistently, on demand, and with whatever raw materials happen to show up. (Player-wise, I mean - they certainly throw enough money at facilities and such.) Personally I think it’s sad that the status of the football team is seen by most people, including the university itself, as the purpose of the institution, while academics and the library suffers. But nobody really asked me.
I don’t know if you were being sarcastic or not – but it was a damn good question of interest, perhaps only to my area:
Spurrier took over an 8-8 Team and went 7-9
Offense ranked 20th and never scored more than 31 points in a game,
Defense (coach hiring and personnel he totally oversaw) was 6th
Taking Gibbs first 8 games and Times 2 (a little unfair to Gibbs since presumably if he knows what he is doing things will come together better in the latter part of the year)
Gibbs took over a team that went 5-11 and went 6-10
Offense ranked 26th and has never scored more than 18 points
Defense (coach hiring and personnel he totally oversaw) was 1st thru 8 weeks (2nd in week 9).
I’d say the results have basically been the same. There is a different “feel” Spurrier was always viewed as an “experiment” that needed tinkering to get his system right. Gibbs is seen as proved and as betrayed by his poor choices, both in and at, QB.
As a true-bred, Orange-and-Blue-Blooded Gator fan, I think this is the funniest coaching change in a long time. I’m going to have to root for the Gamecocks now, just because of Spurrier. Yes, I hope we’ll beat them again and again, but it’s nice to see the #1 Gator back in coaching, even if he’s with a competitor.
This is hysterical. A bunch of Gator Faithfuls are appalled at the nerve of the soon-to-be-hated Evil Genius, but I’m not! How can I be mad at this guy?
Local (Orlando) sports-talk goobers are speculating moronically. The best theory about this deal is “He’s trying to get back at the UF Athletic Director and President for not kissing up to him enough.” Yeah right.
It was a little of both (sarcasm and seriousness). I have a lot of respect for Joe Gibbs, so the sarcasm isn’t a knock on him, more the owner.
I do feel like Spurrier should have given it a longer shot (or been given one). Things obviously didn’t work the way he thought they would, but he seems like a smart enough guy to have been able to adjust if given the time. Regardless, USC (loved the comment about SoCal needing to get over itself, btw!) seems like a great fit for Spurrier.
Going off topic again, the Redskins biggest problem seems to be their owner. Will he have the patience for Gibbs to turn things around? If history is any indication, the answer is no. I don’t hear much Skins news (don’t look for it either), but from what I’ve seen Gibbs’ (is that right? I always mess that up) biggest problem has been a mental block over QB this season. I can’t say I thought the Portis trade was wise either, unless Bailey was going to be gone regardless.
