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Will Steve Spurrier be #teamgators or #teamgamecocks in retirement?
By John Brasier
Published:
Lou Holtz wants to be associated with Notre Dame.
From watching him on ESPN college football shows, you’d never know he coached six seasons at South Carolina. He rarely mentions it. Or his days at Arkansas, North Carolina State, Minnesota or William & Mary, either. He’s more likely to throw in an anecdote from his short, more comical stint with the New York Jets.
Holt would prefer to be known as part of a royal coaching line at Notre Dame that included Rockne, Leahy and Parseghian. Holtz rarely can go a single TV appearance without mentioning his affinity for Notre Dame and his tenure as coach. In 10 years at ESPN, he was a one-man Notre Dame propaganda department.
So how will Steve Spurrier choose to identify himself if he remains out of full-time coaching?
Spurrier accomplished more than Holtz did at South Carolina. But he accomplished much more as both a player and coach at Florida — winning a Heisman Trophy as a player and coaching the Gators to a national championship and six SEC titles.
Still, Spurrier’s been quick to identify with the Gamecocks since resigning at midseason.
He’s won a palmetto tree lapel pin on national TV appearances. He’s often referred to the South Carolina program he left, and he’s made fond mention of his days in Columbia.
Though the 80-foot-high Spurrier banner has been removed from the outside of Williams-Brice Stadium, Spurrier isn’t trying to tuck away his Gamecocks career beneath the title banners he won in Gainesville.
Spurrier is obviously proud of his work at each of his three stops as a college head coach. He mentions each on a regular basis.
Earlier this week, South Carolina made it harder for Spurrier, the school’s all-time winningest coach, to forget his days as Gamecock coach by announcing it was naming its new indoor practice facility after him and his wife, Jerri.
He takes great pride in the 1989 ACC co-title at Duke, humbly acknowledging that he inherited some talent.
He’s very proud of bringing South Carolina to the upper level of the SEC, winning 11 games in three straight years.
But he’ll be remembered most for his accomplishments at Florida. Winning a Heisman, a national championship and six conference titles makes his association with the Gators inevitable.
Spurrier will be more gracious than Holtz in remembering his days at South Carolina.
Though Holtz was successful with the Gamecocks, too — back-to-back Outback Bowl victories over Ohio State — he quickly put Columbia in the rear-view mirror. He made former Notre Dame coach his post-coaching career image.
Spurrier can be secure about his place in Florida history. He won’t feel the need to remind football fans about it. And he seems to know he owes South Carolina some acknowledgement.
On TV and in public, he’ll identify with his career at Florida and South Carolina. When Florida plays South Carolina in future years, he might be uncharacteristically silent.
