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Posts Tagged ‘Steve Spurrier’

Spurrier’s Rules: No Smokers, No Fatties

Asked Steve Spurrier criteria for hiring asst. coach. Second on list: “non-smokers” Why? “Because it’s stupid. Smoking is stupid.”Tue Jan 17 20:58:47 via TweetDeck

First rule: be, you know, a good coach. Second rule: no smokers. Third rule: no fatties. This is Steve Spurrier’s must-have list when it comes to hiring assistant coaches, as told to The State’s Josh Kendall, who yesterday had the brilliant idea of querying Spurrier on his hiring criteria. It was a good time for the question, seeing that South Carolina revamped its staff with three new hires earlier this week, replacing a trio of assistants who have gone elsewhere since the Gamecocks put the finishing touches on the finest regular season in program history.

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    Even In This Career, 2011 Stands Out

    Spurrier: “I told the guys, ‘Next year’s team, they’ll try win 12, because 11 has already happened.’”Mon Jan 02 22:27:12 via web

    It’s not a matter of talent, though it once was: Steve Spurrier’s teams at Florida won in February, out-recruiting the rest of the nation’s elite before going to town from September through December. South Carolina, on the other hand, isn’t — and hasn’t, and won’t, by and large — win with talent, but with coaching. After beating Nebraska, 30-13, in the Capital One Bowl, the Gamecocks were able to achieve something that had never been done in program history: win 11 games. Heck, the Gamecocks had won more than nine games only once in program history heading into this season.

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      Palmetto Rivalry? U.S.C. Ain’t Clemson.

      This was a good barometer for where the two conferences stand in respect to the other: Clemson was 9-2, atop the A.C.C. Atlantic, and South Carolina was 9-2, second in the SEC East. Both teams started strong before hitting a recent road bump: Clemson opened 8-0 and South Carolina started 7-1 before each encountered a difficult patch in late October and November. There were period where each team was a central figure in the B.C.S. hunt. There were a few similarities, though if nothing else, last night’s result proves that all 9-2 records aren’t created equal; 9-2 in the A.C.C. is not quite 9-2 in the SEC.

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        A Bully Move That Backfired

        Sometimes Steve Spurrier is clever. “You can’t spell Citrus without U-T,” he once quipped, sending a witty – and memorable, and altogether deadly – dagger in Phil Fulmer and Tennessee’s direction. Sometimes Spurrier is so clever that he tries too hard; sometimes Spurrier makes a fool of himself, trying so hard. And sometimes Spurrier comes off as dumb and foolish as can be, such as when he attempts to deflect from South Carolina’s yet-to-be-reported decision to dismiss Stephen Garcia from the football program by flashing a spotlight on Ron Morris, a columnist for The State, for a perceived slight so innocuous as to be imagined. When Spurrier does this, thinking he’s pulled a fast one with another clever misdirection play, he does nothing but reinforce the idea that lying behind the mask of his aw-shucks facade lies the heart of a bully.

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          Settling Two Quarterback Debates

          It’s just the most important position on the field, that’s all. And two national title contenders entered Saturday with much confusion under center, exhibiting the sort of unsettled unease not typically associated with teams with such lofty preseason goals. Well, perhaps it’s not entirely unexpected, not when given Steve Spurrier’s often spasmodic handling of his eggshell-walking quarterbacks: Connor Shaw started, Stephen Garcia finished, and that pair will continue to jostle each other throughout the season.

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            No. 14: South Carolina

            Let’s not allow what transpired during the SEC title game to cloud what South Carolina accomplished in 2010: yes, Auburn had its way with the Gamecocks, but this team still won nine games, a high under Steve Spurrier, and took home its first SEC hardware of any kind — ever. That’s the big story for U.S.C. in 2010, not the late losses to Arkansas, Auburn or Florida State. Regardless of what happened in those three setbacks, regardless of a second half to forget in Atlanta, the Gamecocks can hold their head high with what they’ve accomplished last fall. It’s also intriguing to consider the idea that South Carolina has turned that proverbial corner. There’s reason to believe that 2011 might be the finest season in program history: the offense remains largely intact, with stars in particular providing a superb one-two punch, while the defense returns most of its starting lineup. How will U.S.C. fare when expected to excel?

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              South Carolina’s Teflon Quarterback

              Stephen Garcia is still suspended, away from the team for the fifth time in as many years, yet Steve Spurrier can’t seem to make even a token gesture towards disciplining his senior quarterback where it matters most: on the depth chart. Yeah, there’s that asterisk – “Garcia suspended indefinitely” – yet he remains co-leader at quarterback with sophomore Connor Shaw, who by all accounts acquitted himself well as the leader of the South Carolina offense in Garcia’s stead.

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                Turning the Page on Garcia

                Steve Spurrier is always hard on his quarterbacks, as evidenced by his oft-televised sideline demeanor: yelling, running his hands through his hair, tossing headsets and visors to the ground, Spurrier has never been able to reconcile his own benchmark of quarterbacking perfection with what he sees from his own quarterbacks, from Florida’s Shane Matthews through his most recent charge, Stephen Garcia. Rarely, however, has a quarterback so thoroughly disappointed Spurrier quite like Garcia – on the field and the off.

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                  The Countdown

                  A bottom-to-top assessment of the F.B.S. landscape heading into the 2012 season.