🏈 Steve Spurrier says 'more to life than SEC championship,' then references Alabama again

[BAMANEWSBOT]

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier admits "there's more to life than the SEC championship." Except if you are an Alabama fan.

In a Q&A over the weekend with The State, the former Florida coach, who has racked up a 77-39 record in nine seasons with the Gamecocks, said there are a number of factors that go into defining a successful season.

If anything, it is all about perspective.

Over the weekend, he was asked: "If I had told you in 1997, 'There's more to life than the SEC championship,' would you have agreed? Would that have been good enough?"

Here's Spurrier's reply:

"Well, my last year at Florida, we did not win the SEC. We had a heck of a team in 2001, we won the state championship, beat FSU, won the Orange Bowl and finished No. 3 in the nation, and we were disappointed because our expectations obviously were to win the SEC, which we did seven of the 12. So it's different. Your expectations and what you achieve are different at every school. Every school is different.​

​

"For example, at Alabama, if I had had five No. 1 recruiting classes in the last six years like Alabama, I would say, 'Fellas we are going to mess up if we lose a game, because we've got the best players in college football.' But we're not in that situation. Our history is not all that super before we got here, so everything is sort of relative to each school. Maybe what their past has been and which direction they are headed. But to finish in the top 10 three years in a row when our school has never done that, to win 11 games three years in a row, our school has never done that, that's been fun, no question."​

The comments don't come long after he questioned whether Alabama coach Nick Saban has "maxed out potentially as well as he could" based on the number of conference titles Alabama has in regard to the nationally ranked recruiting classes Saban has secured.

And the ol' ball coach on there being "more to life than the SEC championship?"

"I would still say that's the biggest goal we could reach right there, but total wins, where you are ranked, the state championship, bowl victories. Winning that bowl game just makes life so much more pleasant until you play again. In sports, we are all as good as our last game. If you win that bowl game, the fans, the team, it just gives you a good feeling heading into the offseason. We have been able to do that the last three years, go 11-2 and win the state championship. We've had a lot to brag about but not the SEC. We are still going to try to win an SEC, that's for sure, and hopefully real soon.​

Spurrier re-iterated his plan to compensate players, which includes giving the players' family money, too.

"At the SEC Meetings, I made a suggestion to (SEC) commissioner (Mike) Slive. I said, 'Why don't we just give $200 to 75 football players every game and $200 to the parents or guardians of those football players. That's $400 per game for 75 players, half to the players, half to the parents. That's only $30,000 a ball game, very simple. Parents have a little bit of money. Players have just a little bit of money. It would go a long way to helping everybody, but as you can tell, nothing will happen with it."

Continue reading...

 

[TerryP]

OBC has issue with math.

His comments about Saban were along the lines of Saban maxing out potentially as well as he could have over eight years.

Oops, it was seven.

Now we see how "...we were disappointed because our expectations obviously were to win the SEC, which we did seven of the 12."

Oops, it was six.

Odd he picks 2001. A mid-season loss to Auburn, a team that lost three games in the West that year, and a season-ending loss to Tennessee under Fulmer—at home.

I realize this is Spurrier being Spurrier, and it's coupled with it being the off-season, but he's certainly leaving me saying, "WTF" with his comments as of late.

 

[planomateo]

When I hear Spurrier talk these days, what I hear is him really talking about himself. I forget how the saying goes, but something to do with those who talk negative about others are usually talking about themselves.

 

[MissingRing]

To extend the thought that Spurrier is really talking about himself in his comments about Nick Saban, I will add that one can easily infer from his preoccupation with Alabama a desire to be remembered in a certain exalted light within the pantheon of SEC coaches. Of course, no one knows how far his steady progress at South Carolina will extend. He could yet win another SEC title, or even a national championship. But, Spurrier abandoned the inside track to coaching greatness (or so it seems from the present moment) by leaving Florida, floundering at the Washington Redskins, then taking on a moribund South Carolina team.

 

[TheChief]

His "successes" have come to an end. The glory days of having more talent than everyone else and lots of other teams being somewhat down are over for Spurrier. All that being said, with his success being over, he has a point. Bama has the best players. Whose fault is it when you lose? The players lose games, right, but who coaches them? Did Alabama have the best players last season? Then again, part of coaching is recruiting the best talent. Bama's done a pretty nice job under Saban in getting the best talent, wouldn't you say.

Please, just being devil's advocate. Leave it to Spurrier to effectively stir the pot.

 

[XXL TideFan]

Most of the time I think that he is just hung over.

 

[planomateo]

I will say this, I did chuckle when he commented on it being sad to not be playing Georgia earlier in the season, his response was in the UGA vs USC game being on 10/6 instead of it being in early September like it historically is. You'd think a guy with a mouth that big would want to play them at 100%...

"I don't know. I sort of always liked playing them that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended,"

 

[bamaraider]

Most of the time I think that he is just hung over.

el oh el

 

[riz]

Outside of his fuzzy math, he has a point. And traditionally, he has jabbed at his opponent with the strongest threat to his success. Most of his time at Florida, Tennessee was his biggest threat inside the SEC, and of course, FSU was in the middle of a heck of a run as well, so in state, they were a much larger threat than Miami most of the time. Bama is pretty much anyone in the SEC's biggest threat now.

 

[MissingRing]

Spurrier can make all the innuendos he wants about Nick Saban underperforming. The fact of the matter is that there are too many variables in football to warrant drawing a straight line from having the best available talent on the field to winning 100% of the time. I'm sure Spurrier knows this too; he is just having his fun.

 

[rick4bama]

Bama envy that what he got.

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier recently compared the way he approaches coaching to Alabama coach Nick Saban.

"I told Nick Saban one time, I said, 'Nick, you don't have to stay there until midnight and your teams would be just as good and win just as many,' " Spurrier said. "He said, 'If I could do it the way you do it, I would, but I don't feel comfortable unless I try to cover every base, every angle, be totally prepared.' I said, 'Well, that's probably why you do it.' When I come out there, I feel comfortable we are ready to play. We have our game plan in, going to call this, call that and so forth. Everybody is different as far as when they feel they are totally prepared."

On Monday, Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart was asked if that was an "honest way to describe Nick Saban?"

"I'm the same way," Smart told "The Front Row," a morning radio show on Atlanta's 680 The Fan. "People are built ... their DNA is different, their personality types. You don't feel comfortable going into the game if you haven't done everything possible to wit's end. You feel like you should do more."

Smart, who also named the best players he has ever coached as well as the toughest players to prepare for, cited the 35-21 win by South Carolina over Alabama in 2010 in Columbia as an example of the different ways to prepare.

"The year they kicked our butt, Alabama went to South Carolina, I'll never forget," he explained. "They came off an off week, and I was talking to (South Carolina assistant) Shane Beamer. Shane said in the off week, 'we didn't meet once on Saturday or Sunday.' And I was like, 'What? We're meeting non-stop.' I'm thinking this is great. We have this game won.

"It has nothing to do with the outcome of the game. How much do you meet, what you do. ... It's about the players, what they do and putting them in good situations."

Smart was asked "if it doesn't matter," then why meet so much?

"Makes us feel good," Smart said without hesitation. "Makes me feel good going into the game. I'm ready. I've done this. I've looked at third down six times by the time it gets time for the game. I feel comfortable with it. Some of it is superstition, but some of it is preparation."

Spurrier has mentioned Saban and Alabama football a couple of time recently. In the same interview, Spurrier questioned whether the Tide has "maxed out potentially as well as he could."

In an interview over the weekend, Spurrier said there was more to life than SEC championships and made yet another reference to Alabama.

Continue reading...

 

[TerryP]

A lot of you know I spend quite a bit of time on the links. I've always been of the opinion you can tell a lot about a person on how he reacts on the golf course. If you've played (even if you are looking at yourself) you can understand this.

There's an article I just ran across on ESPN.com talking about college football coaches and the game of golf. One sentence/paragraph is really telling.

If he's down big after the first nine, Spurrier's apt to want to call it a day, said former coach and avid golfer Rick Neuheisel, but if he wins a round, it can be a long ride home. "He beat me in Cancun once," Neuheisel said, "and I think we went over every shot on the 45-minute bus trip back."

Bringing this full circle...

Here we are talking about Spurrier talking. How much of that has to do with the win in 2010? One thing I do know. Based on history with his teams if you do get up on them, and get up big, they'll fold.

 

[planomateo]

In other words, he's a poor sport and a quitter.

 

[TerryP]

In other words, he's a poor sport and a quitter.

Let's put it this way. I read something like this, and I've lost a few degrees of respect for the man.
___________________


In more than 30 years of coaching, Steve Spurrier has never lost a round of golf to one of his players. New challengers are apt to dismiss the claim, but [BCOLOR=#ffff00]Spurrier is happy to provide witness accounts of each of his triumphs[/BCOLOR]. It's a record he takes seriously.
.....
The last to take his shot was kicker Ryan Succop, who played at South Carolina from 2005-08. Succop was good, and Spurrier knew it. The kickers are always the ones to worry about. So the coach made sure to set the odds in his favor,[BCOLOR=#ffff00] scheduling their match just as spring practice drew to a close. Spurrier had been out on the course enough to shake off the rust during the previous month, but the players rarely have enough time.[/BCOLOR]

"You have to pick your spots when you play someone who's a lot better than you," Spurrier said.

Succop had two triple-bogeys on the day and finished with a 79. Spurrier edged him out with a 77. On nine out of 10 days, Spurrier admits, Succop would've won. But that's hardly the point.

"All of them say, 'Coach, when are we going to play again?' and I say, 'No, no, you had your chance,' " Spurrier said.

 

[XXL TideFan]

I always love seeing his visor hit the dirt a couple of times in a game. He is a whinny ass.

 

[psychojoe]

I remember reading about how in the sixties Bobby Dodd's Georgia Tech teams played volleyball on Thursday before a Saturday practice. Dodd had a long and very successful run at Tech. He was contemporary with Bryant, who was noted for how hard he worked players, coaches and himself. If memory serves, Tech under Dodd never beat Alabama under Bryant. While you can over prepare a team and a staff, (there is an art in knowing just how far to go) if the talent is relatively equal the best prepared team wins.

I think that the issue with Spurrier is that the fire has gone out. He had some marvelous accomplishments at UF, and it is hard to imagine the Spurrier of the nineties being content with anything less than the top level of performance. Now 11-2 three years running is quite good, especially by USCe standards, but they definitely have let some winnable games get away from them. The younger Spurrier would have had the loss to UT a year ago gnawing at him the entire off season. Win that one and they are in the SEC CG and a shot at the BCS NC.

 

[crimsonpirate]

For something that's not important, they sure seem important to Stevie.