BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
What Steve Spurrier has done at South Carolina has been nothing short of remarkable.
This is a program that had never won a bowl game before it joined the SEC in 1992. Before Spurrier, the Gamecocks had played in only 11 bowl games. Itās a program that had never reached 11 wins in one season, and its only two conference titles came when it was still a part of the Southern Conference (1933) or ACC (1969).
In 10 seasons under Spurrier, South Carolina has been to nine bowl games, winning five, achieved three consecutive 11-win seasons from 2011-13 and came within one win of winning the SEC in 2010.
But all good things must come to an end.
Like it or not, every good run is eventually followed by a bad run. It happens to everybody. Alabama endured a rough patch before Nick Saban arrived. Tennessee fell on hard times before Butch Jones was hired, and though the Volunteers are on their way up, theyāre not there yet. Even Florida, which is less than a decade removed from winning back-to-back national championships, currently is stuck in a rut.
Successful stretches donāt last forever, and South Carolinaās might be coming to an end soon. The Gamecocks followed the three straight 11-win seasons with a disappointing 7-6 finish this past fall. The defense was atrocious. They gave away games late against Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. And whatās most discouraging is the ambiguous future of Spurrier.
The Head Ball Coach just turned 70 in April. He keeps promising recruits that heās going to be there for the long haul, but how much longer will that be? Two years? Three years? That uncertainty has had a negative effect on the programās recruiting efforts. The Gamecocks are still putting together top-25 classes every year, but their overall class ranking per ESPN has dipped each year since 2011. This February, they finished with the No. 21 class. Solid, right? Not when the SEC featured 10 teams in front of them.
On the field, thereās the possibility that South Carolina bounces back from last yearās mediocre season. It went out and hired longtime NFL assistant coach Jon Hoke to fix the defense, and as long as Spurrier is there, the Gamecocks are going to rack up yards and put points on the board. But theyāre still considered a long shot to win the East. Most prognosticators have them picked behind Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee and even Florida.
Another bowl game is likely, but Spurrier isnāt hanging around to win a bowl game. He wants to win the SEC. If his team finishes 6-6 again, the end might come sooner than we think. This isnāt a young team either. Of the 22 starters on offense and defense, 17 are upperclassmen. What happens two years from now when they have all graduated and moved on? Who fills the void left by that group? Heck, who will the coach be?
Thereās a lot of uncertainty surrounding South Carolina right now, and thatās never good for the future of a program.
ESPN's SEC BlogāContinue reading...
This is a program that had never won a bowl game before it joined the SEC in 1992. Before Spurrier, the Gamecocks had played in only 11 bowl games. Itās a program that had never reached 11 wins in one season, and its only two conference titles came when it was still a part of the Southern Conference (1933) or ACC (1969).
In 10 seasons under Spurrier, South Carolina has been to nine bowl games, winning five, achieved three consecutive 11-win seasons from 2011-13 and came within one win of winning the SEC in 2010.
But all good things must come to an end.
Like it or not, every good run is eventually followed by a bad run. It happens to everybody. Alabama endured a rough patch before Nick Saban arrived. Tennessee fell on hard times before Butch Jones was hired, and though the Volunteers are on their way up, theyāre not there yet. Even Florida, which is less than a decade removed from winning back-to-back national championships, currently is stuck in a rut.
Successful stretches donāt last forever, and South Carolinaās might be coming to an end soon. The Gamecocks followed the three straight 11-win seasons with a disappointing 7-6 finish this past fall. The defense was atrocious. They gave away games late against Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. And whatās most discouraging is the ambiguous future of Spurrier.
The Head Ball Coach just turned 70 in April. He keeps promising recruits that heās going to be there for the long haul, but how much longer will that be? Two years? Three years? That uncertainty has had a negative effect on the programās recruiting efforts. The Gamecocks are still putting together top-25 classes every year, but their overall class ranking per ESPN has dipped each year since 2011. This February, they finished with the No. 21 class. Solid, right? Not when the SEC featured 10 teams in front of them.
On the field, thereās the possibility that South Carolina bounces back from last yearās mediocre season. It went out and hired longtime NFL assistant coach Jon Hoke to fix the defense, and as long as Spurrier is there, the Gamecocks are going to rack up yards and put points on the board. But theyāre still considered a long shot to win the East. Most prognosticators have them picked behind Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee and even Florida.
Another bowl game is likely, but Spurrier isnāt hanging around to win a bowl game. He wants to win the SEC. If his team finishes 6-6 again, the end might come sooner than we think. This isnāt a young team either. Of the 22 starters on offense and defense, 17 are upperclassmen. What happens two years from now when they have all graduated and moved on? Who fills the void left by that group? Heck, who will the coach be?
Thereās a lot of uncertainty surrounding South Carolina right now, and thatās never good for the future of a program.
ESPN's SEC BlogāContinue reading...
