GTmorris1970
09-21-2005, 02:25 AM
Posted on Wed, Sep. 21, 2005
Waiting game not for Spurrier
WAKE UP CALL? Steve Spurrier’s shuffle job on the South Carolina depth chart this week sounds more like fire engine sirens racing to answer a five-alarm disaster.
His message: Anything less than 100 percent effort will not be accepted.
That should go without saying; giving one’s all always should be a tenet of athletics. But the Gamecocks’ sad-sack performance in Saturday’s 37-14 loss to Alabama compelled the wholesale changes, and no one should be surprised at Spurrier’s quick trigger.
“That ol’ boy is not the most patient guy around,” a rival coach said this summer, and Spurrier should not be in this case.
This is not the first time Spurrier has attempted to shock his team with lineup changes. His 2000 Florida squad required an attitude adjustment, and he applied the spur that converted an underachieving group into an outfit that won the Southeastern Conference championship.
To expect the Gamecocks to reach such heights this season is unrealistic, but Spurrier’s play-hard-or-else edict cannot be misunderstood. He needed to send a message, and he did.
Get ready to dance. Considering his record at Florida, you might assume that 100 percent effort is a given for Spurrier-coached teams.
You would be wrong.
“I’ve had some lousy games,” Spurrier said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. He cited his 2000 Florida team, which surrendered more than 200 yards rushing against Tennessee and another 141 against Kentucky — both victories — before hitting rock bottom against Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs “ran for over 300 yards against us, against the mighty Gators,” he said. “We were in disarray, got beat 49-38, something like that” — the score was actually 47-35 — “so we had a little meeting and got some new things going.
“That was the last year we won the conference. That team won the SEC, and it wasn’t near as talented as maybe the next year’s team.”
After the Mississippi State debacle, Spurrier told reporters, “(Mississippi State fans) ought to be embarrassed, tearing down the goal posts after beating this team.”
But Spurrier’s new wrinkles shut down LSU in a 41-9 victory a week later. In addition to personnel changes — Rex Grossman and Jabar Gaffney made their first starts on offense — Spurrier remained upbeat and resorted to a bit of psychology in the week leading to the game. He ended Florida’s Thursday practice by talking about country singer Lee Ann Womack’s award-winning song, “I Hope You Dance,” and told his players, “Let’s make sure you dance on Saturday.”
Whatever happens Saturday against Troy or in future weeks against Auburn and Tennessee, you can bet the Gamecocks will be ready to dance — or else.
Plenty of blame. A fact of life in athletics — a team is never as good as its best game or as bad as its worst — comes into play with these Gamecocks.
Just as the close loss at Georgia should not indicate this team is ready for a national ranking, the thrashing administered at Alabama should not mean the season is a total loss.
The truth is somewhere in between, and the Gamecocks will require maximum effort to reach their rather modest goal of six wins.
There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Alabama debacle, Spurrier said.
“It starts with me and it goes through the assistant coaches and the players,” he said. “We were all bad. If our fans felt like booing, I would have said they have a good reason to.
“To me, you only boo if the guys are not playing with effort or the coaches don’t look like they know what they were doing. We were all in that category. ... Anyway, I’ve always believed that the players will respond about the way the coaches do. Somehow or other, we all failed last week.”
With the 2005 Gamecocks, there is no evidence Spurrier has a Grossman or Gaffney to provide an infusion of energy, but his message should bring a jolt of reality. Wins might be in short supply this season, but the problem should not be lack of effort.
Waiting game not for Spurrier
WAKE UP CALL? Steve Spurrier’s shuffle job on the South Carolina depth chart this week sounds more like fire engine sirens racing to answer a five-alarm disaster.
His message: Anything less than 100 percent effort will not be accepted.
That should go without saying; giving one’s all always should be a tenet of athletics. But the Gamecocks’ sad-sack performance in Saturday’s 37-14 loss to Alabama compelled the wholesale changes, and no one should be surprised at Spurrier’s quick trigger.
“That ol’ boy is not the most patient guy around,” a rival coach said this summer, and Spurrier should not be in this case.
This is not the first time Spurrier has attempted to shock his team with lineup changes. His 2000 Florida squad required an attitude adjustment, and he applied the spur that converted an underachieving group into an outfit that won the Southeastern Conference championship.
To expect the Gamecocks to reach such heights this season is unrealistic, but Spurrier’s play-hard-or-else edict cannot be misunderstood. He needed to send a message, and he did.
Get ready to dance. Considering his record at Florida, you might assume that 100 percent effort is a given for Spurrier-coached teams.
You would be wrong.
“I’ve had some lousy games,” Spurrier said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. He cited his 2000 Florida team, which surrendered more than 200 yards rushing against Tennessee and another 141 against Kentucky — both victories — before hitting rock bottom against Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs “ran for over 300 yards against us, against the mighty Gators,” he said. “We were in disarray, got beat 49-38, something like that” — the score was actually 47-35 — “so we had a little meeting and got some new things going.
“That was the last year we won the conference. That team won the SEC, and it wasn’t near as talented as maybe the next year’s team.”
After the Mississippi State debacle, Spurrier told reporters, “(Mississippi State fans) ought to be embarrassed, tearing down the goal posts after beating this team.”
But Spurrier’s new wrinkles shut down LSU in a 41-9 victory a week later. In addition to personnel changes — Rex Grossman and Jabar Gaffney made their first starts on offense — Spurrier remained upbeat and resorted to a bit of psychology in the week leading to the game. He ended Florida’s Thursday practice by talking about country singer Lee Ann Womack’s award-winning song, “I Hope You Dance,” and told his players, “Let’s make sure you dance on Saturday.”
Whatever happens Saturday against Troy or in future weeks against Auburn and Tennessee, you can bet the Gamecocks will be ready to dance — or else.
Plenty of blame. A fact of life in athletics — a team is never as good as its best game or as bad as its worst — comes into play with these Gamecocks.
Just as the close loss at Georgia should not indicate this team is ready for a national ranking, the thrashing administered at Alabama should not mean the season is a total loss.
The truth is somewhere in between, and the Gamecocks will require maximum effort to reach their rather modest goal of six wins.
There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Alabama debacle, Spurrier said.
“It starts with me and it goes through the assistant coaches and the players,” he said. “We were all bad. If our fans felt like booing, I would have said they have a good reason to.
“To me, you only boo if the guys are not playing with effort or the coaches don’t look like they know what they were doing. We were all in that category. ... Anyway, I’ve always believed that the players will respond about the way the coaches do. Somehow or other, we all failed last week.”
With the 2005 Gamecocks, there is no evidence Spurrier has a Grossman or Gaffney to provide an infusion of energy, but his message should bring a jolt of reality. Wins might be in short supply this season, but the problem should not be lack of effort.