🏈 Spurrier says underachieving team 'little cocky'; considered retirement after 2014 season

[BAMANEWSBOT]

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier acknowledged the unprecedented run of success may have went to the Gamecocks' head this past season.

"Last year we were No. 4 in the nation," Spurrier said this month. "Maybe some of us got a little cocky that that was going to keep happening. We were just going to keep winning 11 games every year and it didn't happen."

Instead, the one-time favorites to win the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division struggled significantly on defense to finish 7-6 -- a steep drop from the unprecedented three straight 11-2 seasons between 2011 and 2013.

Those teams were anchored by several first-round NFL draft picks like cornerback Stephon Gilmore, defensive lineman Melvin Ingram and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, chosen No. 1 overall last May by the Houston Texans.

Spurrier thought his returnees were skilled and experienced enough to keep up the winning. That belief was apparent last July when Spurrier wondered publicly why linebackerSkai Moore was South Carolina's only defender picked for any of the all-SEC preseason squads.

It was quickly clear how deficient the defense was when it surrendered a program worst 680 of offense in losing college football's opening showcase to Texas A&M, 52-28. Final quarter collapses in defeats to Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee all followed to hand Spurrier his most losses in a season since 2009.

"Obviously our team wasn't as strong, obviously our defense wasn't as strong as it's been in the past," Spurrier said.

Spurrier, who turns 70 in April, has so far avoided changes on the defensive staff, despite calls from vocal fans on sports-talk radio and Internet message board for wholesale gutting of defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward's group.

The coach has said if there's a chance to add an assistant or two who could help, he'd take it under consideration. He's also said that his assistants from last year are the same ones who orchestrated some of the SEC's top defenses for four straight seasons from 2010 to 2013 and have not forgotten how to do their jobs.

Spurrier believes reinforcements are on the way for a South Carolina pass rush that ranked last in the SEC with just 14 last fall. Top recruits in defensive linemen Dexter Wideman andMarquavius Lewis have enrolled in school and will take part in spring practice.

Wideman was a South Carolina signee a year ago who flipped from his Florida State verbal commitment last February and was arguably the Gamecocks' top prospect. But the 6-foot-4, 270-pound tackle did not qualify academically and delayed his entrance until this season.

Lewis, 6-foot-3 and 266 pounds, played the past two seasons at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas and is considered one of the leading junior college prospects.

"We have help coming in January, and the headliner is probably Dexter Wideman," Spurrier said.

This fall's questions might surround Spurrier's highly effective offense.

The Gamecocks lose quarterback Dylan Thompson, who set the school's single-season record with 3,564 yards, and tailback Mike Davis, who rushed for 2,165 yards and 20 touchdowns the past two seasons. Davis gave up his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

While Spurrier returns experienced runners Brandon Wilds and David Williams next fall, the quarterback job could be the team's biggest sticking point.

Thompson threw all but 17 of South Carolina's 466 passes last fall. Receiver Pharoh Cooperhad the next most with eight throws, mostly out of the wildcat formation. Backup quarterbacks Connor Mitch and Perry Orth combined for eight passes, barely seeing time last season.

Spurrier believes the quarterback situation will sort itself out in the spring and summer.

"All we can do is try to learn from it and try to do some things differently," he said. "So we'll do that."

From ESPNU—Continue reading...

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier doesn't feel any pressure to make changes on his defensive staff, but that doesn't mean he won't at some point this offseason.

The Gamecocks finished 12th in the SEC in scoring defense this season and 13th in total defense. They gave up more than 30 points in seven of their 12 regular-season games and lost three games in which they blew two-touchdown leads in the fourth quarter.

Fans on radio-talk shows and Internet message boards have been clamoring for Spurrier to make wholesale changes to his defensive staff, but he's yet to make any moves.

"If I need to add a guy or two to the staff, I’ll do it,” Spurrier told ESPN.com on Friday. "There’s still plenty of time to do that. Our coaches all know that. Our fans know that. When the time appears to be right and I think we can bring a coach in here that will really help us, then I need to do that. That’s my job.

"We’ll see what happens, but that’s where we are right now. There is a possibility that we’ll add a guy down the road here soon. If not, we’ll go with what we’ve got.”

Lorenzo Ward just finished his third season as South Carolina's defensive coordinator. He's been on the Gamecocks' staff for six seasons and previously worked under Ellis Johnson before taking the defensive reins in 2012, when Johnson left. In Ward's first two seasons coordinating the defense, South Carolina finished in the top 25 nationally both years in total defense, but the bottom fell out this season. The Gamecocks struggled to rush the passer and were not a particularly good tackling team.

"We think we've got help on the way, some guys coming in who can get to the quarterback," said Spurrier, noting that the Gamecocks had just 14 sacks in 13 games.

"We’ve got to coach better and put guys in position to play better, tackle better, get lined up, knock a few balls down, get some sacks. I know we were at the bottom of the SEC, maybe the bottom of the nation in sacks.

"It’s hard to tackle the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage only 14 times in 13 games, but that’s what we did."

ESPN's SEC Blog—Continue reading...

 

[bama alum]

In a related article:

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/south-carolina-football/steve-spurrier-admits-retirement-option/

He thought about it, but in the end, Steve Spurrier isn’t finished coaching college football yet.

“When you do it as long as I have, and you lose games the way we did this year, you have those thoughts that maybe it’s time to let somebody else come in here and do this,” Spurrier said in a recent interview with ESPN’s Chris Low. “You wonder, ‘What am I doing?’ That’s only normal, but I think everybody knows now that I’ve still got four or five more years in me.

“I’ve always said that I won’t retire. I’ll resign, sort of like what (77-year-old) Dick LeBeau said the other day when he resigned from the Steelers. He said that he wasn’t retiring. I feel the same way. Retiring sounds too much like you’re going to quit and do nothing.”

Never one to take losing lightly, the Head Ball Coach has shouldered much of the blame since December for a 2014 season that didn’t end the way the Gamecocks had envisioned. The sexy preseason pick to win the SEC’s Eastern Division, South Carolina lost six games — including three with a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter — and saw its five-year winning streak over Clemson snapped in Death Valley.

Retirement questions persisted for Spurrier throughout, especially after a catastrophic November loss to Tennessee in overtime put the Gamecocks under .500 for the first time since the HBC’s first season in 2005.

“As a coach, all you can ever ask is to play as hard as you can, play as smart as you can, and the outcome will take care of itself,” Spurrier said. “We didn’t do either of those this year. As a team, we didn’t play with tremendous effort or smarts, and I think that’s a big reason we lost the games we did. That starts with me as the head coach.”
Spurrier has stated his has a ‘4-5 year plan’ to stick around since earlier comments pertaining to his future were detrimental to the Gamecocks’ 2015 recruiting class. Following several decommitments, he backtracked and has made it clear he intends on coaching until he says otherwise.

When will that be? Only Spurrier knows.

“Sometimes, you just have to forget the number on your age and physically and mentally see where you’re at, and that sort of determines your ability to function,” he said. “I know I’ve got a lot left in me to keep coaching.”

 

[252BAMA]

Spurrier takes blame for 7-6 season


http://espn.go.com/c...-years-left-him

 

[Ump]

IMHO he's ship sailed last year.

 

[TerryP]

IMHO he's ship sailed last year.

Here's a theory: kids, and assistants, listen to the head coach.

Consider how many times you've heard teams are built in the off-season. In this past off-season, what did we hear from Spurrier? Smart ass remarks about other coaches, Saban in this example, working too many hours and working far too hard when compared to what he (CSS) does—"with the recruiting classes they have, shouldn't they have accomplished more?"

 

[psychojoe]

'Maybe some of us got a little cocky'. A little, or maybe even a lot cocky has been what many have thought of Spurrier for years. The team often reflects the attitude of the coach.

 

[TheChief]

@TerryP EXACTLY!!! Every time USCe lost a game, I chuckled about his Saban comments.

 

[TheChief]

Didn't the Michigan players rebel a few years ago, complaining they were having to practice too much?

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier is trying to hire Chicago Bears defensive backs coach Jon Hoke to lead the Gamecocks defense next season, according to multiple sources.

This would be the third time Spurrier, since arriving at South Carolina, has attempted to lure Hoke back to the college game. Hoke was Spurrier's defensive coordinator at Florida from 1999-2001 and has coached in the NFL with the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears ever since. Spurrier reached out to Hoke upon arriving in Columbia in 2004 (hired John Thompson) and in 2007 (hired Brian VanGorder and ultimately Ellis Johnson).

Hoke has an outstanding reputation as a defensive mind and talent developer at the professional level and would be considered a homerun hire from an Xs and Os and personnel usage standpoint. He's coached under Lovie Smith and Dom Capers, among others, in the NFL and would likely bring a multiple front, creative defensive approach to the Gamecocks.

Any potential hire will take place after National Signing Day. The NFL coaching carousel is spinning and with Hoke's former boss Gary Kubiak getting the Denver Broncos job, there is a chance he could end up staying in the league and heading to Denver.

Sources indicate that Hoke very likely would retool the coaching staff on the defensive side of the ball. It is unknown which coaches will be retained or which will possibly be reassigned within the South Carolina football program.

South Carolina was 7-6 in 2014 and struggled on the defensive side of the ball.

Continue reading...

 

[TerryP]

Didn't the Michigan players rebel a few years ago, complaining they were having to practice too much?

If by rebel you mean players, former players, and players parents telling a newspaper that Rich Rod and his staff violated NCAA bylaws about practice time (on, and off season,) then yes, they rebelled.

 

[TheChief]

Were they punished, meaning the school? I never heard of any sanctions. Sounds like he said, she said.

 

[TerryP]

Were they punished, meaning the school? I never heard of any sanctions. Sounds like he said, she said.

Docked around 100 hours of practice time, several of the support staff were restricted from working with the players, and an assistant coach was fired...the rest? Slaps on the wrist for Rich Rod (letter put in his file saying, "you've been a bad boy," etc.

That's what I recall...