Despite a 6-6 record this season, a coaching vacancy at his alma mater and 69 years of age, Steve Spurrier announced Monday that he will be returning as South Carolina's head football coach in 2015.
"I'm in. I'm in. We had some down times and some of this, that and the other, but we've got a lot of good players on the way," Spurrier told The State's Josh Kendall. "I'm good to go. I just made about 21 recruiting calls. This is a good situation and I think we can turn it around quickly, I hope so."
The 2014 regular season was Steve Spurrier's worst since the 2007-08 campaign that saw South Carolina finish with an identical 6-6 record. The Gamecocks didn't receive a bowl bid that year, and they'll learn their fate regarding the postseason later this month.
Spurrier has long denied rumors of a move to Florida — the school at which he won a Heisman trophy as a player and a national title as a coach — following Gator head coach Will Muschamp's firing. But this is the first time he's confirmed his commitment to another year in Columbia.
And based on the Head Ball Coach's statements, he'll most likely be sticking around even after that.
"Give me two or three more [years]," Spurrier said. "I used to say four or five, now I'm down to two or three. I mean, I could get in a car wreck, but I'm definitely planning on being back."
Spurrier is already the winningest coach in South Carolina history with an 83-45 overall record, and the program is just coming down from its most successful run ever.
Prior to an underachieving 2014 season, the Gamecocks had won 11 games three years in a row, another program best.
Spurrier's intent to return next year is the only bit of coaching clarity that came out of Monday, however. The statuses of assistants like defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward and special teams coach Joe Robinson are still uncertain as of now.
"I don't want to get into all that," Spurrier said. "Sometimes coaches come and go. We all know that. They move around, but we're all intact right now. We'll see what happens down the road."