Ever since Steve Spurrier has been in Columbia as head ball coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks, we’ve always been referred, at least in my opinion, as Steve Spurrier and his South Carolina Gamecocks. You never seem to hear them talk about a certain player or two as being the face of South Carolina football. I can understand that. Steve Spurrier is an SEC coaching legend and he was a bigger name than our football program at one point.
Not anymore.
This is now Marcus Lattimore’s team. This is Alshon Jeffery’s team. Stephon Gilmore? Yeah, it’s his team too. Devin Taylor? He’s pretty good. Jadeveon Clowney? Only a freshman but already a big name. And oh yeah…Steve Spurrier coaches too.
Think about it. There is some serious talent getting some extreme national publicity all across the newspapers, magazines, and TV shows. Lattimore is a Heisman favorite already. Alshon Jeffery is a guy considered to be one of the best, if not the best, wide receivers in the country. Jadeveon Clowney is the “freak of nature” that everyone talked about during recruiting for the class of 2011. We now have players bigger than our program and I think Steve Spurrier loves it.
I’m sure he’s a bit disappointed he hasn’t brought this kind of attention to South Carolina sooner. The man has an ego. We all know that. He wants to win and he wants to win big. He came to USC for a challenge and that’s exactly what he got. This was a team that was on the cusp several times only to fall back to mediocrity. Steve Spurrier has already broken some records at USC and he’s only coached 6 seasons. Pretty sad stuff huh? From the onset, Steve Spurrier was South Carolina football. It was all about his return to Florida. Georgia would get another crack at Spurrier. Tennessee gets a chance against the hometown kid. It was never about the players. Sidney Rice may have been the guy that was the closest to being what would be the face of the program but he only played 2 seasons. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had some nice talent come through Columbia throughout the years but we’ve never stockpiled the type of talent we have today.
Who do we thank for this? The man that was once the face of South Carolina. Steve Spurrier.
Lou Holtz helped Steve Spurrier build South Carolina what it is today. Holtz helped opened the eyes of the country to what Columbia had to offer. Steve Spurrier is here to maintain that and build USC into a national brand at the college football level. I would say he’s done a pretty good job based on what people have to say about our star players. Steve Spurrier’s name helped opened doors that Lou Holtz couldn’t. He’s recruited extremely well. He’s been able to bring in some of the brightest young coaches in college football. He’s helped increase revenue at the university which has helped improve facilities. People are intrigued about South Carolina football thanks to Steve Spurrier. This is a great thing for the program.
It’s a changing of the guard here at USC. At one time you would be interested in what the Head Ball Coach would be doing.
Now you are curious as to what Marcus Lattimore can do. Or Alshon Jeffery. Or Jadeveon Clowney. Or…..
I think you get my point.