The Case for Second Best: Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Dilemma

A little bit of history...

To preface this article, I am a Gator fan.  I approach Carolina sports, and specifically Gamecock Football, pretty much with mediocre gusto.  I am happy to root for the team in my new hometown, but I am not attached to their success or failure. 

I attended Florida as an undergraduate in the twilight of Spurrier's heyday.  The feeling on every gameday was that we would win.  Period.  It didn't matter the opponent, the location of the game, or the fact that these were college kids who were still growing and developing.  The Gator Nation expected a victory, and nothing else was acceptable.

I think, in many ways, it was the primary force that drove Spurrier from Gainesville and into the arms of Daniel Snyder and the Redskins (well, that and a HUGE PILE of money):  the pressure of winning, the uninterrupted intrusion into his life by the local media, and the constant expectation that we were gonna go for the championship every season. 

After Steve's basically disastrous attempt at coaching an NFL franchise (which I still think is a result of a couple of things which were way out of his control), and the Gators not welcoming him back to Gainesville with open arms, the opportunity at Carolina presented itself.

It seemed like a great fit: SEC school with a rabid fanbase, great alumni support, pretty good recruiting base, and an escape from the pressure cooker that had started as Gainesville and morphed into Washington, DC.

When Spurrier signed his contract, many thought that this, FINALLY, was the answer for South Carolina football.  I think the Ol' Ball Coach said, FINALLY, an SEC school that is starting with low expectations and can grow into the next champion.

Four years later...

The Gamecocks sit at 7-3.  They have won games against Arkansas, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Kentucky, UAB, Wofford, and North Carolina State.  No signature wins.  In fact, in their three losses, they have fallen by only a touchdown to their three best opponents: LSU, Georgia, and Vanderbilt.

This season follows last year's disappointing 6-6, where the Gamecocks only really beat one (maybe two) quality opponents, in Georgia (and Kentucky).

The previous two seasons were more successful, but they were considered by many outside of the Gamecock nation as the signs of a growing power in the SEC East—not the precursors of a disastrous slide that saw the Gamecocks go from 6-1 to 6-6.

The remaining games on the Gamecock schedule for this year include at Florida and at Clemson.  Adding a certain bowl bid, I would predict that they will finish the regular season 8-4: the exact same record they had Spurrier's first and second season.  No change in their relative position, really.   

So where is the psyche of the Gamecock fan with four years of essentially the same results (ignoring last season)?  Still hoping.  Still believing that their team is making strides in the right direction.  And still thinking, it seems, that, "We are gonna be really good NEXT year."

This attitude, this second-best acceptance, has baffled me.  My undergraduate experience with football was one of blind acceptance that the Gators HAD to win.  Winning was everything.

But in that obsessive attitude, the Gator Nation drove out the coach who had taken the program from nothing to something, from obscurity to prominence.   The fans demanded everything, and Spurrier finally moved on.  

The attitude here in Columbia is one of blind acceptance that, though the Gamecocks MAY or MAY NOT win this year, they WILL win in the future.  The program ebbs and flows with no indication of improvement, but blind faith drives the Gamecock nation to still overflow Williams-Brice stadium, to adorn themselves in millions of dollars of schwag, and to proudly proclaim their allegiance to this second-place team.  

What drives this attitude?  It is one that perplexes the Ol' Ball Coach, one that he struggles with.  He is used to winning, and he surrounds himself with winners.  For however much he did not like the pressure at Florida, I think the lack of pressure at South Carolina is equally frustrating, in totally different ways. 

Will the Gamecocks ever rise from second place in the SEC East?  It will require a change in this second-place attitude—and it starts with the fans.  The football team needs to feel the pressure from their supporters that anything less than their best effort is simply unacceptable.  They need to know that as winners they will be heralded as kings, and as losers they will be ignored.

But is this the attitude South Carolina should carry?  I remember this attitude well in Gainesville, and it did not serve to create a healthy fanbase.  The addiction to winning under Spurrier created the very environment that drove him out.  The game of football became less about the passion for the game, and more for the thrill of victory.

Carolina fans know both of these emotions, and they take them in stride.  Sunday morning, win or lose, they carry on with their lives.  They appreciate the team's efforts, they applaud the sacrifice and hard work, and they hope for next year.

Somewhere between these two attitudes lies the future of Carolina football.  Somewhere between accepting the reality of your football team and demanding excellence lies the key to long-term success with the Gamecocks.

I fear that the Ol' Ball Coach will not stick around long to try to get this attitude from his team, and from the fans, unless it starts to emerge quickly.

To summarize, I am a Gator Fan (and damn proud of the Orange and Blue this year!).  I have watched Carolina football remain in essentially the same place for the last four years.  Without a significant shift in the attitude shown both within the Gamecock football program and the Gamecock nation, that position will not change.

But in that shift of attitude, beware the addiction of victory.  From my experience in Gainesville, it can be bittersweet if it is all you know.