I still shake my head at the gargantuan Steve Spurrier poster plastered on the side of Williams-Brice Stadium.

Honoring South Carolina’s all-time winningest coach is one thing, but doing it while he’s still on the sideline is another. The Gamecocks’ preseason thank you to the Head Ball Coach has backfired a bit in the midst of the program’s most disappointing season of his tenure.

Waiting until Spurrier retired would’ve made more sense, which may come sooner than some expected with a stinker in Saturday’s Independence Bowl against Miami.

This is not a retirement column. Steve Spurrier will leave South Carolina when he so chooses and will not be fired. Don’t buy into the narrative that Spurrier’s recent recruiting mishap is a fireable offense.

Spurrier hasn’t heard this many shots from the cheap seats since his team played flat and emotionless during a loss to UConn in the Papa Johns Bowl at the end of the 2009 season.

Fans questioned if the SEC Championship would ever come and if the 2010 signing class (which included Marcus Lattimore) would suffer as a result of a disappointing 6-6.

This season has unraveled in similar fashion and a bowl loss would perhaps be the most devastating blow.

Things started rolling downhill this fall the first weekend of October when the Gamecocks squandered their second consecutive double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, this time at Kentucky. It marked the second of four straight losses in SEC play for a team picked to win the division in July.

RELATED: It’s time Spurrier takes accountability for the losses

Negative buzz surrounding Spurrier’s late-game play-calling persisted until defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward shouldered the brunt of outrage following an overtime loss to Tennessee.

That’s when the retirement rumors surfaced, a result of the Gamecocks’ fifth loss in nine games.

“The plan is to be back here and so forth,” Spurrier told The State after the letdown against the Vols on Nov. 1 dropped the Gamecocks to 4-5. “Just say that’s the plan.”

His cryptic response left questions unanswered until another interview with local media revealed his plan of staying ‘2 or 3 more seasons’ heading into 2015.

Poor choice of words.

RELATED: In midst of recruiting crisis, Spurrier retracts statement

Evidenced by several decommitments in December including four-star cornerback Mark Fields, Spurrier’s announced end-game was detrimental to recruiting and brought out naysayers who forced athletic director Ray Tanner’s hand.

Spurrier attempted to retract last week, saying ‘four of five years’ was a more likely scenario. It was damage control at its finest and no knows whether it will work in the minds of a 17 or 18-year-old prospect.

The Will Muschamp situation didn’t end well, either. His talks with the Gamecocks were so misreported that it’s difficult to decipher just how close South Carolina was to landing the former Florida head coach as its defensive coordinator.

This brings us to the Independence Bowl, an underachieving tussle in Shreveport. What is South Carolina’s motivation heading into its matchup with Miami?

There isn’t much for the players, but the coaching staff is a different story.

Any staff changes won’t be made until January, but there’s several on the defensive side of the ball that could be coaching for their jobs in Columbia. Defensive line coach Deke Adams and linebackers assistant Kirk Botkin have long been mentioned as hot seat possibilities, but it appears Ward, the guy who is ultimately responsible for this season’s ineptitude, is safe.

Salvaging the 2015 signing class is Spurrier’s immediate — and most important — task, followed by re-evaluating his coaches.

The next few months should be interesting at South Carolina and will certainly reveal the outlook of Spurrier’s future at the university.