At 3:12 p.m. ET this afternoon a release arrived in my email inbox alerting me to a previously unscheduled press conference had been called by Steve Spurrier for 4:30 ET this afternoon. Twitter lit up as word of the hastily-called presser spread, with the predominant rumor being that The Ol’ Ball Coach was either going to announce his immediate retirement or that 2015 would be his final season as head coach.
In the end, it was what most had anticipated: much ado about, essentially, nothing -- except to a fired-up and emotional Spurrier, for whom it meant seemingly everything.
Basically, the 70-year-old Spurrier, entering his 11th season with the Gamecocks and 25th as a head coach at the FBS level, used the press conference to reaffirm his commitment to the Gamecocks and to utilize the media as a conduit to convey a message to high school prospects. And to those unnamed individuals from unnamed schools on the recruiting trail who are apparently using his age as a negative.
Steve Spurrier reconfirms his commitment to USC. Message to Gamecocks is he's not going anywhere.
— David Cloninger (@DCPandC) July 22, 2015
Spurrier: Nobody said anything when he was 69 and they were 11-2. Now at 70 and 7-6, "enemies" are chirping.
— David Cloninger (@DCPandC) July 22, 2015
Spurrier not happy with recent comments that he's on a "descent." "I plan on coaching a long time."
— David Cloninger (@DCPandC) July 22, 2015
Between 2011 and 2013, the Gamecocks went a combined 33-6. Coming off a 7-6 record in 2014 -- Spurrier’s worst since 2009 -- the 2016 recruiting season is off to a rough start for Spurrier & Company as 247Sports.com has them ranked 53rd seven months ahead of the next National Signing Day. The combination of everything led Spurrier to do something he admits he should’ve done before now.
Spurrier: "I should’ve answered this a week ago but I heehawed around."
— Brandi Mills (@BrandiCMills) July 22, 2015
The reality of the situation, though, is that Spurrier doesn’t just consider opposing teams as “the enemy.” Rather, at least one member of the media, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s Mark Bradley, is at least partially responsible for firing up The OBC.
In an opinion piece titled “The great Spurrier is surely nearing an end” that followed the coach’s SEC Media Days appearance last week, Bradley wrote about Spurrier’s legendary tenure in the conference and that, well, it was likely coming to an end.
“But we are, I fear, approaching that point where Spurrier is known more as a dispenser of arch observations than as a winner of games, and he has been — this point is beyond argument — the greatest non-Alabama coach in SEC history. He turned 70 in April, and even Bear Bryant retired at 69,” Bradley wrote, before closing with the following, which likely played a part in the burr in Spurrier’s saddle.
“But the thought of the great Spurrier hanging around just to win Independence Bowls would be kind of pitiful, and being pitied is one thing this proud man could never abide. Maybe he’ll make it to a 24th round of Media Days. I’d be surprised if he hits 25.”
Regardless of what prompted Spurrier’s fiery press conference, he felt it was something he needed to do, especially as it pertains to recruiting. And especially if he intends to roam the sidelines for quite a few more years as he claims.