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South Carolina just launched its spring practice this week, but coach Steve Spurrier’s jab already is in fine form.
Known for feisty quips often directed at rivals like Georgia and Clemson, Spurrier turned his barbed tongue toward Tennessee on Wednesday.
HBC called 7-6 in 2014 "a decent year." Then: "In Knoxville, they’re still doing cartwheels because they went 7-6 and won a bowl game."
— Paul Myerberg (@PaulMyerberg) March 18, 2015
Spurrier seems to relish trash talk related to the Vols, which he dominated when he coached the Florida Gators. But, as Tennessee fans pointed out across social media on Wednesday, HBC and the Gamecocks are 0-2 against coach Butch Jones’ Vols, including a painful 45-42 overtime loss in Columbia, S.C., on Nov. 1.
Lost in the fun and hilarity stemming from the reaction to his comment is the fact that Spurrier has raised expectation levels at South Carolina. A notoriously bad loser, Spurrier didn’t handle the team’s 7-6 season last year with a smile, practically cursing his team after every loss.
This is reading a lot into a single Spurrier comment, but it seems like the ’14 season may still be eating away at Spurrier.
Regardless, it’s not the first time he’s taken a shot at Tennessee in the media and it won’t be the last. He took a similar swipe at the Vols last spring.
Steve Spurrier on SEC permanent rivals: "Alabama and Tennessee like each other. I don’t know why Tennessee would keep liking them though."
— Josh Kendall (@JoshTheAthletic) April 24, 2014
Spurrier, as the Southern culture dictates, “has been around long enough to say what he wants.” But Vols fans should have plenty of ammunition this fall, especially if the Gamecocks again languish near .500 and Tennessee makes a push for the SEC East title.
Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., will host this year’s Tennessee-South Carolina game on Nov. 7.
It wasn’t the only interesting (weird?) comment Spurrier dispensed to Paul Myerberg of USA Today on Wednesday.
Wisdom from my chat with Steve Spurrier: "Once a man's mind is stretched to new horizons it will never return to the original dimensions."
— Paul Myerberg (@PaulMyerberg) March 18, 2015
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
