The mood in the press room was dreamlike. Even just minutes before former head football coach Steve Spurrier took the stand to announce his resignation, it felt like the former Heisman trophy winner was playing some sort of elaborate joke on the media.
It didn’t feel real.
Monday night, Spurrier addressed the team to tell them his plan to resign as head football coach, effective immediately. He explained at his press conference on Tuesday afternoon that he had made the decision early Sunday morning and informed South Carolina Athletic Director Ray Tanner later that afternoon.
Still, it felt as if the 70 year old was not serious about stepping away from college football. After nearly four decades of coaching, Spurrier was done.
“I was the right coach for this job 11 years ago,” Spurrier said. “But not today.”
When Spurrier came to South Carolina in 2004, the Gamecocks were mired in mediocrity. In five years under head coach Lou Holtz, South Carolina went just 33-37. A perennial bottom-dweller in the SEC, the Gamecocks needed a spark. They needed a coach that could bring them into the national spotlight.
They hired Spurrier.
The 1966 Heisman Trophy winner began his coaching career in 1978 as the quarterbacks coach at the University of Florida, his alma mater. After short stints with Georgia Tech, Duke and as head coach of the USFL’s Tampa Bay Bandits, the Blue Devils offered Spurrier the head coaching job in 1987.
Twenty-eight years and 228 wins later, Spurrier is calling it quits.
While few actually said it, there was a feeling that the Head Ball Coach would retire after the 2015 season. However, with the Gamecocks 2-4, Spurrier thought it best to “get out of the way.”
“When something is inevitable, I believe you do it right then,” Spurrier said.
While initially shocking, few should be surprised by the announcement in retrospect. Spurrier has always done things his way. Spurrier has said in the past that when coaching football stopped being fun and became a job, he’d walk away. True to his word, Spurrier did just that.
It’s similar to the way he felt with the Washington Redskins.
Spurrier left Florida as the winningest coach in school history in 2002 and was promptly hired by the Redskins. Despite just one losing season in the college ranks, Spurrier coached the team to records of 7-9 and 5-11. One of the most competitive coaches in the country, Spurrier resigned in 2004.
Spurrier came to a school devoid of tradition. South Carolina had won just three bowl games in its history and fans were used to sitting through painful seasons. From 1998-1999, the Gamecocks lost 21 straight games. They were the laughing stock of the SEC.
Spurrier changed that. In Spurrier’s first season, South Carolina won five straight SEC contests for the first time in school history. In 2010, he led the Gamecocks to their first ever SEC East title. South Carolina then posted three straight 11-win seasons.
Steve Spurrier changed the culture. With 86 wins, Spurrier is far and away the winningest coach in school history. Other than Spurrier, only Paul “Bear” Bryant is the winningest coach at two different SEC schools.
Spurrier was the first Gamecock coach to land consistent talent. Spurrier coached 27 Gamecocks currently playing in the NFL including big name players like former five-star recruit and No. 1 overall draft pick Jadeveon Clowney.
Spurrier took South Carolina to new heights and brought the school to national prominence. Despite a less-than-stellar final season and a half, Spurrier did more for the program than any other coach in school history. As he goes out, Spurrier has cemented his place in South Carolina football lore.
“It’s time for me to get out of the way,” Spurrier said.
It may be time for him to get out of the way, but it will be a long time before anyone knocks him out of the record books.