College Football's New Look

Spurrier up for new college try
After bolting from the NFL, he faces rebuilding South Carolina.
By Shannon Ryan
Inquirer Staff Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Visor snug, shades on, and the sun beaming over a Southern college football field. Is there any other way - or place - to picture Steve Spurrier?

The new University of South Carolina coach, a love-him-or-hate-him figure at Florida for 12 years, is back in familiar territory in the Southeastern Conference. After a disastrous two-year stint in the NFL, where he was 12-20 as head coach of the Washington Redskins, Spurrier said he feels rejuvenated roaming a college sideline again.

"It's a new life here," Spurrier said after a scrimmage last week.

Associating Spurrier with the Gamecocks rather than the Gators and obliterating the memory of those dreadful years in Washington will take some time. Nothing a banner season can't fix.

And seasons like those are hardly common for the Gamecocks.

Spurrier's return to the college ranks has not exactly been a breeze, either, since he was hired in November to take over for retiring Lou Holtz.

Despite all those years thumping South Carolina while coaching at Florida, Spurrier is a popular man here. Last week, 1,000 fans showed up for a midweek scrimmage. The weekend before about 2,500 arrived.

In addition to bolstering his own reputation, Spurrier wants to make South Carolina - typically an SEC nonfactor - a title contender. That means transforming a run-oriented team into one of his hot, signature, slinging Fun 'n' Gun units and finding ways to plug holes created by players kicked off the team.

After a season-ending brawl in a game against Clemson last year, nine players were arrested in the off-season and team members complained that the program had lacked discipline. Spurrier booted several players, including last year's leading rusher, Demetris Summers, from the squad.

"We're all trying to do what's best," Spurrier said. "It's their ultimate responsibility. They chose to do things, and they knew they'd get what they deserved."

Spurrier, who turns 60 next week, said the squad's off-field situation has not altered progress, although he realizes the impact of public perception.

"It's embarrassing, and we don't like it," he said. "We can't let it dampen our spirits. We won't let three or four guys make all of us look bad."

College game suits him

Spurrier could be the best makeup for that black eye.

The coach with the Southern drawl and a reputation for taking verbal jabs at opponents is a welcome figure on the college football landscape. South Carolina is his third stop; he also coached Duke from 1987 to 1989.

Spurrier's start at South Carolina reminds him of his first year at Florida in 1990. The Gators had not experienced a seven-win season in four years before Spurrier arrived. They went 9-2 his first season and finished first in the SEC.

They were not credited with the title, however, because of NCAA violations committed under previous coach Galen Hall. In 1996, the Gators won the national championship; Spurrier was 122-27-1 at Florida.

Spurrier believes South Carolina has every reason to become such an elite program.

South Carolina's program took a significant step up the college football ladder when Holtz took over, reviving a program that in 1998 had gone 1-10.

After enduring an 0-11 season in 1999, Holtz, who is friends with and a golfing buddy of Spurrier, led the Gamecocks to 8-4 and 9-3 seasons and back-to-back wins in the Outback Bowl in 2000-01. That was the school's best two-year stretch in history. But since then, the Gamecocks have been closer to the bottom of the SEC, going 5-7 in 2002 and 2003, and 6-5 last year.

It is up to Spurrier to take his team to the top, something he could not do in the pros.

Spurrier said his experience in the NFL - failing to implement his famous Fun 'n' Gun offense - was not much fun at all. He left two years into a lucrative five-year contract.

"There was not a lot of camaraderie," he said. "But that's not an excuse. It just didn't work out."

Spurrier said he feels not only like a new coach, but also a new man. The college game, in which he can operate more freely with unscripted plays, he said, is what suits him.

"This is the best coaching job in America," he said. "This is the exact place I needed to go to coach."

He spoke passionately about South Carolina's facilities, fans, recruiting ability and administration.

"For some reason, they just didn't achieve much," Spurrier said.

Then what has been missing all these years?

Missing piece

Maybe Spurrier, his players say.

"I think so," senior cornerback Tremaine Tyler said. "He's the type of coach you know will put points on the board."

Since Spurrier's arrival, they say, the Gamecocks have a new sense of determination and desire. When Spurrier dismissed players from the team, he delivered a wake-up call.

"That's what every coach needs to do," Tyler said. "The team got more focused. Each player started looking at one another."

Spurrier's Fun 'n' Gun is still looking for a triggerman to help the Gamecocks handle a tough schedule. They play at Georgia, Auburn and Tennessee before facing a much-anticipated meeting against Florida at home on Nov. 12.

Through spring practices, Spurrier, who won the Heisman Trophy for Florida in 1966, has given equal compliments and criticism for his quarterbacks. Redshirt sophomore Blake Mitchell is probably the closest he has to a drop-back passer. Mike Rathe, who is applying for a sixth year of eligibility, redshirt freshman Antonio Heffner, and walk-on Brett Nichols also are competing for the spot.

It's not unusual for Spurrier to rip their performances after practices. But working with Spurrier is still a dream come true, Mitchell said. He pores over a playbook much longer and more complicated than last year's every chance he gets.

"You have to study it a lot or be lost," said Mitchell, who is from Georgia. "Even growing up I liked Florida a lot. You grow up dreaming of playing in that offense."

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