What a Rejuvenated, Confident Steve Spurrier Means for South Carolina
HOOVER, Ala. — SEC media days serve as the Super Bowl for "talkin' season," and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier raised the trophy Tuesday.
The "head ball coach" addressed the masses at the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey Hotel, and one thing became abundantly clear: He's rejuvenated.
Last year's 7-6 record, which included several late losses in which his Gamecocks threw away late leads, clearly frustrated Spurrier.
"We won three of the last four. Somehow or another, won a game down in The Swamp, very fortunate, and then beat Miami in a Bowl game," he said. "So we got rejuvenated. We got new life. We were 7-6, same as Tennessee and the same as Arkansas, and I think they're sort of celebrating big seasons last year. So we were celebrating also."
He celebrated but also made changes.
Spurrier brought in Jon Hoke to work alongside co-defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward. Hoke will serve as the primary play-caller for the 2015 Gamecocks defense. His arrival and an increased focus on communication and coaches fitting specific roles should prevent the inconsistency of last season, in which the team finished next-to-last in the SEC with 432.7 yards allowed per game.
"We've got good coaches, but for whatever reason, we just didn't communicate," he said. "We can play a lot better defensively, and I think everybody's going to see that this year. So that's given all of us, I think, an extra life there at South Carolina."
Is a quiet Spurrier a dangerous Spurrier?
That remains to be seen, but last season's struggles have forced him to adjust and refocus his approach.
That's something that worked for him in the past.
Known for his fun-and-gun offense when he arrived in Columbia in 2005, Spurrier elevated the program to never-before-seen heights using a more conservative approach and won 11 games for three straight seasons from 2011 to 2013—the first three 11-win seasons in program history.
"I was asked recently at a booster club, 'How come you seem to run all the time on first down now?' My answer was we need to stay on the field. If we're going to win, we've got to stay out there and not only drive for touchdowns, but we've got to consume some clock," he said.
Coaches change, schemes change and the game evolves. Spurrier is a glaring example.
An Independence Bowl win over a mediocre Miami team doesn't resonate on the national scale, but it was something that he desperately needed after his Gamecocks—who were picked to win the SEC East at media days last year—failed to live up to expectations.
"You didn't see me after the Miami game, Independence Bowl? I think that was the most fired up all of us were, because we went Page 4 of 5 from losers to winners," he said.
He's also proof that age is just a number.
"Like I told people, I breezed right through age 60, breezed right through 65, and I'm going to try my best to breeze right on through 70," he said.
The 2015 season isn't one of Spurrier's last chances for success at South Carolina before he hits the golf course on a more regular basis—it's another chance for Spurrier to do what he does best: hit the reset button.
That may or may not translate to another SEC East title, but it certainly signals that the head ball coach is going to stick around for a little while.
Besides, his golf game would probably frustrate him more than those late losses last year did.
"Golf game's not near what it used to be," he said.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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