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How weird is it for Steve Spurrier to not be involved in Florida-South Carolina?
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Not having Steve Spurrier in the SEC is strange enough to begin with. But for him not to be a part of this Saturday’s Florida-South Carolina matchup is even weirder. Now chomp on this for a moment: it turns out that he won’t even be attending the game.
“I’m not going to go to the game. I’m not going to go to any games,” Spurrier said. “I don’t think I should. I think I need to get out of the way and let the coaches here and players have a go at it. I certainly think we have, the Gamecocks have got a chance to win this one this week, but I’m not going to be around.”
Hmm. This news wouldn’t be so bad had Spurrier not attended last week’s Michigan State-Nebraska game, not to mention the Spartans’ 27-23 victory at Michigan on Oct. 17. The Head Ball Coach’s reasoning for not coming to Columbia for games is understandable, but it’s still hard to accept.
Excluding his ill-fated two-season head coaching stint with the Washington Redskins followed by a year off, Spurrier had been part of 22 of the last 25 Florida-South Carolina matchups going into Saturday’s game. That doesn’t even include his four-year stint as the Gators’ QB, which he capped by winning the Heisman Trophy in 1966.
The winningest coach at both Florida and South Carolina, Spurrier put both programs on the college football map. In his 12 years as coach of the Gators, he won six SEC titles and the 1996 national championship. He led the Gamecocks to three straight 11-win seasons, something no other South Carolina coach had ever done before.
He arguably had become the face of the SEC before he announced his resignation from South Carolina in October, no easy feat when you consider how influential Bear Bryant had been before him. Not only that, some would argue that he is the face of college football.
Now that face will be nowhere near Williams-Brice Stadium for the first time in more than a decade.
Yes, Spurrier has always been cocky. He also tweaked opposing teams and coaches — a lot. But he also won plenty of games. As an SEC coach, he prevailed 73 percent of the time. But like him or not, Spurrier was SEC football. And he has his share of admirers who are sad that he’s no longer tossing a visor or a headset on the sidelines.
Think about this. The last time Spurrier had no tangible connection to the SEC was 1962 — the year Marilyn Monroe passed away. Spurrier’s departure isn’t quite like the death of an icon, but it’s still a huge loss for the conference and the sport.
Here’s to hoping he finds his way back to Columbia — or another league locale — before too long because the SEC and the game will definitely miss his presence as long as he stays away.
Stan Chrapowicki is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, Alabama and Auburn.
