Steve Spurrier, Can You Please Make South Carolina a Winner?

For six seasons the South Carolina Gamecock faithful followed the adventures of Coach Lou Holtz.

Described as a magician in more ways than one, he had captured a national title at Notre Dame before temporarily retiring to the television booth. No one in Columbia, S.C. expected Holtz to win a national title, not with a fan and recruiting base so different from South Bend.

But Holtz had served two tours of duty at places very much like South Carolina in N.C. State and Arkansas. Holtz went 33-12 in Raleigh and 66-21 at Fayetteville.

He walked into the home of the roosters with a sparkling overall record of 216-95. He left six years later, after going 33-37. Surely he set the table for the man who would follow him. Didn't he?

Marching into the vacancy came the most feared coach in the southeast, Steve Spurrier. The 1966 Heisman Trophy winner had cut his teeth on Carolina as a 19 year old Sophomore quarterback at Florida, leading the Gators to a 37-0 victory.

He had distinguished himself as "a miracle worker" by taking the reins at Duke in 1987, winning the ACC co-championship 2 years later, and going 20-13 in his three years in Durham.

After leaving for his Alma Mater in 1990, he set up a dynasty in Gainesville. He went 122-27 in 12 seasons, won a national championship, and created havoc across the southeast with his offensive schemes.

Certainly it should be the time of the Gamecock. They have waited for this moment since the days of Steve Wadiak, Alex Hawkins, Billy Gambrell, and Dan Reeves.

There have been flashes in the pan. The ACC champs of '69, the Bowl bound Carlin's Darlins of '75 that destroyed arch-rival Clemson 56-20 in the final game of the season, the George Rogers Heisman Trophy era, the 1984 unit that was ranked No. 2 in the country going into the 10th game of the season, and the Todd Ellis led '87 group that may have been the most talented Gamecock team of all are all examples.

Now that Darth Visor is the head ball coach, the world would pay for years of indignities. That's the way it was supposed to happen.

It hasn't.

In his first three seasons, Spurrier has gone 21-16. A ripple in the ocean of the SEC. And the teasing, oh how it hurts. By October 15 of last year, the Gamecocks had beaten Georgia in Athens, taken out an undefeated Kentucky, and lost only at LSU, the eventual national champion.

They were 5-1 and ranked No. 6 in the country at that point. Carolina beat UNC at Chapel Hill, and then lost the last five games of the year to finish 6-6. They didn't earn a bowl berth.

It's one thing to go 6-6. It's another to be teased with thoughts of the Sugar Bowl or Cotton Bowl dancing in your head and then end up with basically nothing that fans of the lovable losers have not seen before.

So here is my plea to the head ball coach: Please help the Gamecock faithful realize they made the correct decision in hiring you and that Columbia is not a place of retirement for an ever-aging warrior from another era. The Garnet and Black looks good on you. How about putting black and blue on the other guys.