Steve Spurrier retired today.....

[madcow12]

Slow news day multiple sources including S.C.

South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier is retiring, according to Sports Illustrated's Thayer Evans and others.

"An interim head coach will be named Tuesday morning at 8:30 ET," FootballScoop.com reports. FS also tweeted that this is "effective immediately." Quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus is expected to be named the interim head coach, according to The State's Josh Kendall.

 

[Son of Wasatch]

First call they should make is to Chad Morris, he is perfect fit to take over for Spurrier.

 

[HornosaurusRex]

Wow, that's three HC jobs in the last 48 hours. USC, SCar and Maryland.

Hook 'em

 

[ryan_sublett]

Weird that he would retire mid season. I always kinda liked him

 

[outhereincali]

Steve Spurrier was one of a kind he will be missed.

 

[Son of Wasatch]

I haven't been following, was a reason sited for retiring so abruptly?

 

[ryan_sublett]

I remember kind of hoping Texas would be in postion to hire him when he left the skins

 

[cwillfromdatx]

Spurrier was a good coach but i think the game of football has gotten too fast for him. He did good back in the past but look at the landscape of the college and pro game. Everything has turned to spread and he just couldn't adapt. I'm glad to see the west coast USC coach go. He was a complete fool and really deserve what was dealt to him.Too much tradition there to be down but you can expect that when you had the Reggie Bush/ Pete Carrol putting the program in disarray. The Maryland coach just couldn't cut it but what can you say, it's Maryland.

 

[clob94]

When Steve took the job there, one of the sweeteners to the deal was he got an off the books membership to Augusta. I'd retire too if I had my ring and could play the Masters every day.

 

[westx]

I kind of like ole Spurrier now a days, but not so much in the nineties. Tommy Frazier and the Huskers had him flinging that Florida visor all over the place. I enjoyed that game quite a bit.

 

[clob94]

I remember the next night on David Letterman, he walks out on stage and says something to the effect of, "Welcome to the tonight show, just a quick update, Tommy Frazier just scored another touch down"'. Crowd goes wild.

 

[outhereincali]

I haven't been following, was a reason sited for retiring so abruptly?

He's 70 years old now and he's been losing his coaching magic the last few years.

 

[westx]

Some may disagree on his decision not to wait until the end of the season, but I respect it. I heard parts of his presser and fully understand his reasons. This is a coach that is clear thinking about the reality of the program and is not in denial like most coaches at the end of their career. Kudos to the "Ball Coach"

 

[Son of Wasatch]

I always thought Spurrier was so damn overrated.

Yes he turned Duke around, but at Florida he never won Jack until Bob Stoops became his DC. He never won Jack after Stoops left.

I lump Spurrier in with guys like Lloyd Carr, Mack Brown, Bob Stoops, Phil Fulmer, and Larry Coker. Good coaches that won it all but not truly elite.

 

[bubba2023]

You would need to define what you call truly elite. I think your definition would probably only include a handful of coaches which is fine, but I don't think everyone overrates him because they have an expanded definition of elite. I don't think anyone is putting him next to Bear Bryant or even Urban or Saban in the pantheon of coaches.

If your only judging criteria is national championships won, sure he's on par with a lot of other coaches, but to sum up his career as every season he didn't win a national championship as "not winning jack" is kind of a reduction don't you think?

 

[outhereincali]

Steve Spurrier was a great quote.

"You can't spell Citrus without the letters UT"

He called FSU "free shoes university"

There was a method to his madness however. He would say things to try and get into the heads of other coaches and in the case of Ray Goff at GA. he succeeded. He got Goff so flustered Goff once said he would like to get Spurrier in a back alley. Man when your hc starts saying this about a rival coach you know he's lost it and it's time to look for another coach.

In another game against GA, this time against another coach, he called timeout with less than a minute to go in a game where FL was leading 51-7. He called for a reverse option where the receiver threw the ball more than 30 years for a td, and the cameras showed him laughing his full head of on the sidelines.

After an Orange Bowl win, when they were giving out game balls, he gave one to himself. True story.

But at his peak he was golden when it came to game planning, play calling, and making in game adjustments. He was the kind of like the student he would barely crack the books and make a 100 on the test. That's why he would go and get in a round of golf during the day. And he let you know it.

There's countless stories like that about Spurrier. Speaking for me I'm going to miss him.

 

[Son of Wasatch]

When I think of elite coaches, I can also use the words legends of the game. Bowden, Paterno, Saban, Jimmy Johnson, Urban Meyer, Tom Osborne, Bear Bryant, DKR, Lavelle Edwards (debate on this one), and even Eddie Robinson. There are lots more, but my list of good coaches is pretty big, I'd put guys like Switzer, Mack, Stoops, Spurrier, and Pete Carroll (if he stayed at USC and kept winning, I'd probably move him to the legendary status).

Lots of good coaches out there, very few I'd call elite.

 

[clob94]

Spurrier was known as much for his antics as he was for his coaching ability. But it worked.

"I'm glad Peyton came back for his senior year. Now he has a chance to be the only 3 time citrus bowl mvp".

Think that didn't piss Peyton off? But manning never beat him. Spurrier owned a bunch of real estate between the ears of a lot of players and coaches.

 

[clob94]

There's a story out there written by a sportswriter back in the 60's about Spurrier where the guy said something to the effect of, "blindfolded, with his back against the wall, with both hands tied behind him, Steve Spurrier would be a two point favorite at his own execution".

 

[Cotton #12]

The Maryland coach could no longer stand to look at the uniforms.

 

[ryan_sublett]

Is spurrier an elite coach? I guess it depends on how you define elite. Is he up there with Bryant, Bowden and those guys? Maybe not. It is a fact though that all 3 programs he coached hadn't won anywhere near as much before he got there as he did when he was there. That counts for quite a bit where I'm sitting. It's also fair to wonder how national title history might of changed had we actually played it on the field those days.

 

[LongfellowDrew]

Did he retire or resigned? I thought he just resigned from SC but hasn't actually retired from football.

"First of all, I'm resigning and not retiring," Spurrier said Tuesday. "I doubt if I'll ever be a head coach again ... but don't say I've retired completely. Who knows what will come in the future?

 

[bubba2023]

When I think of elite coaches, I can also use the words legends of the game. Bowden, Paterno, Saban, Jimmy Johnson, Urban Meyer, Tom Osborne, Bear Bryant, DKR, Lavelle Edwards (debate on this one), and even Eddie Robinson. There are lots more, but my list of good coaches is pretty big, I'd put guys like Switzer, Mack, Stoops, Spurrier, and Pete Carroll (if he stayed at USC and kept winning, I'd probably move him to the legendary status).

Lots of good coaches out there, very few I'd call elite.

I wouldn't put him on that top tier either, but I also lump him in with Phil Fulmer just because they both won 1 national championship.

 

[outhereincali]

I wouldn't put him on that top tier either, but I also lump him in with Phil Fulmer just because they both won 1 national championship.

Steve Spurrier was a better coach than Fulmer and it's not even close.

 

[Son of Wasatch]

Steve Spurrier was a better coach than Fulmer and it's not even close.

So was Mack Brown, but I also lump him with Fulmer. Pete Carroll was also a better coach, but I also lumped him with Phil Fulmer. Keep in mind, Fulmer was the coach at Tennessee for a very long time, but we tend to remember his last few years when it was Deer in the headlights Phil Fulmer. He like Mack had their day when they were pretty damn good, but in the end they let their careers slip away.

 

[ryan_sublett]

Didn't spurrier own fulmer?

 

[bubba2023]

I would put Mack in Fulmer's class before Spurrier. I think Spurrier is in a class above them.

 

[ryan_sublett]

Mack should buy VY and Colt dinner for the rest of their lives. They saved his career at Texas, and his place among all time coaches. Before them he couldn't get over the hump and after was a borderline disaster.

 

[bubba2023]

Mack should buy VY and Colt dinner for the rest of their lives. They saved his career at Texas, and his place among all time coaches. Before them he couldn't get over the hump and after was a borderline disaster.

I guess in that sense every coach should thank their star players for being so good.

 

[ryan_sublett]

I guess in that sense every coach should thank their star players for being so good.

I guess. Maybe some coaches are just better at getting star players.

I will say though Saban has never had a stud QB. Crazy to think what happens if he ever got one.

In Macks case it was the QB's that won him the title and got him close. And the inability to address the QB that probably cost him multiple shots at a title and was the reason for his downfall.