Editor’s Note: Stephen Garcia threw for 7,597 yards and 47 touchdowns at South Carolina (2007-11) and also had a brief career as a professional quarterback. He’ll be providing SEC insights throughout the season.
Everyone knows and loves Coach Spurrier’s one liners. He’s one of the wittiest guys I have ever known.
While I’ve had the honor of being the butt of some of these post-game barbs, you can’t help but laugh.
If you want to get a quick laugh, google “Steve Spurrier one liners.” … Now that you have gotten a quick little giggle, unless he was talking about your team, lets get a little more serious.
As a former player and quarterback for Coach Spurrier, I can tell you firsthand that it’s not fun at all being ripped to shreds after a game in front of your teammates and in the media. It’s an absolute confidence killer. It did, however, give me some very thick skin.
That being said, when Coach called this year’s win over Vanderbilt “embarrassing,” I felt like I was playing for him again. Every coach has their own unique way of motivation and rallying the troops, and some work better than others. Coach Spurrier uses the “break you down, build you back up” tactic. That’s good and everything, but sometimes he forgot that “build you back up” part.
It’s very difficult beating an SEC team, especially on the road. Obviously Vandy is having a rough season, but they still have the ability to compete with anyone on a given Saturday. I know Coach demands absolute perfection from his players. That can be hard to deal with by itself.
But to call a win on the road in the SEC “embarrassing,” that just ain’t right. It wasn’t fair to Vandy, and it’s not fair to the guys that were out there on the field.
So many fans just don’t understand the fact that these kids bust their butts during the offseason and work just as hard as the next guy at a different school. They all have scholarships, and they all train all year round to get the starting jobs or playing time. To question a player’s effort is ridiculous. To say that a win is embarrassing is even more ridiculous.
It’s pretty well documented that Coach and I had a pretty rough relationship, and that’s a fair assessment. I was extremely hard-headed and so was he. He won.
Our relationship these days is better than ever and I talk to him regularly. I keep in close contact with everyone at South Carolina. It obviously didn’t end the way I had envisioned, but I still graduated from there and still have lifelong friends from SC.
That being said, I can tell you that from my experiences with Coach, calling the team out after a win just wasn’t needed. He’s one of the best coaches in the entire country and has won a hell of a lot of games. I just wish his motivational tactics would change a tad.
The Man. The Myth. The Legend.
