NCAA Football NEWS
Spurrier Starting To Feel The Pressure At South Carolina
Published by MoonDog on August 2, 2008
When Steve Spurrier took over the coaching duties at South Carolina prior to the 2005 season, the expectation was that he would turn the Gamecocks into a legitimate SEC power. The “ole’ ball coach” had a proven track record of turning programs around, taking a Duke team mired in failure and turning it into a winner.
That success led to his hiring at Florida, Spurrier’s Alma mater, where he would eventually guide the Gators to the 1996 national championship and earning him deity status in Gainesville.
But the path to success at South Carolina has been rough, with Spurrier compiling a 21-16 record since arriving in Columbia. Last season, the Gamecocks were 6-1 and ranked No. 6 in the nation, but Spurrier knew his team wasn’t very good. He was proved right as the Gamecocks lost five straight.
Still considered to be the fourth-best team in the SEC East, Spurrier is starting to feel the pressure of turning the corner at South Carolina. With the natives getting restless, this season is critical if Spurrier is going to keep his job in Columbia.
At the end of last season, Spurrier shook up his coaching staff and went about the business of changing the attitude of the Gamecock program.
At last week’s SEC Media Days, Spurrier said, “New stuff all around. We’re getting pumped up at South Carolina. We’ve got better players than we’ve had there. We’ve hopefully got better coaches.”
If its any consolation to South Carolina fans, this is the most talent-laden team the Gamecocks have fielded since Spurrier’s arrival. There’s still one small problem though.
Quarterback.
When Spurrier recruited Stephen Garcia in 2006, he was supposed to be the QB of the future, the player Spurrier could mold to lead the Gamecocks to glory.
Instead, Garcia has been arrested more times than he’s taken snaps.
So if not Garcia, who will lead the Gamecocks offense in 2008? For now, junior Tommy Beecher will get the opportunity.
Beecher’s numbers aren’t flashy, but neither are the other QBs numbers. He performed well during spring drills and won the job over Chris Smelley, but few believe Beecher will remain the starter throughout the season.
Of course, that doesn’t come as a surprise, considering Spurrier changes QBs as frequently as a newborn’s diapers.
Spurrier is considered a developer of quarterbacks, but the QBs at South Carolina haven’t performed well thus far. South Carolina has some talent, especially on defense, to make noise this season, but they’ll go nowhere unless the quarterback play improves.
Proficient quarterback play is dependent upon an offensive line performing well. Entering the 2008 season, Spurrier has concerns.
“I tell people that when you see our guys in the weight room, ‘Man, that guy looks like an all-NFL lineman,” he said. “I say, ‘Yeah, in the weight room, he does look like one.’ But all of a sudden the ball is snapped, and he’s not quite doing it.”
With a questionable offensive line and a QB situation that is bound to create some problems, one might wonder why the Gamecocks have so much optimism entering the new season.
In Spurrier’s mind, that optimism is justified when he looks to the other side of the ball. South Carolina will have one of the best defenses in the SEC, if not the nation.
With the return of LB Jasper Brinkley from a knee injury that kept him out all of last season and the ascension of LB Eric Norwood as one of the best defensive players in the league, South Carolina should keep every game close.
Serving to bolster an already strong defense is the addition of new Coordinator Ellis Johnson, hired off the staff at Mississippi State. Johnson helped turn the Bulldogs into one of the better defensive units in the league last season and Spurrier is hopeful he can make the Gamecock defense even better.
More talent, a better coaching staff and new attitudes are great, but at the end of the day it all boils down to how many wins you have. The Gamecocks still lack the depth and overall talent of the other three dominant teams in the SEC East. Thus, the margin of error is much less, where one or two injuries could be disastrous.
Even if the Gamecocks stay healthy, they simply don’t have enough to get past Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.
Looking at the Gamecocks schedule, they should easily win seven games with the possibility of getting nine if they can pull a few upsets.
Seven wins, however, won’t be good enough for the fans in Columbia. If that happens, the grumblings will grow much louder and Spurrier’s time at the helm of the Gamecock football program could come to an abrupt end.
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Spurrier is on the SEC hot seat? | Sports Blog Bucks on Sat, 2nd Aug 2008 18:42
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