Spurrier: Not too old to coach, will be around ‘a long time’
Jul 22, 2015, 3:54 PM
FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013 file photo, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier looks on during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Mississippi State in Columbia, S.C. Steve Spurrier has a message for all those "enemies" out there, saying he will remain South Carolina's coach for a long time. Spurrier said Wednesday, July 22, 2015 that he's not too old at 70 to coach and is not leaving the school where he has coached the past 10 years and is the team's career victory leader.(AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)
(AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Steve Spurrier has a message for all those “enemies” out there, saying he will remain South Carolina’s coach for a long time.
Spurrier said Wednesday that he’s not too old at 70 to coach and is not leaving the school where he has coached the past 10 years and is the team’s career victory leader.
Spurrier essentially said similar things at Southeastern Conference media days last week. That hasn’t stopped the questions about how long Spurrier might remain on the sidelines.
“I got some enemies out there, I got some guys talking and writing and it’s all part of the game,” Spurrier said Wednesday. “Some of our enemies out there want to make you think, ‘Spurrier’s getting old, he can’t do it anymore.'”
That’s why Spurrier called a hastily arranged gathering with area media to refute those notions.
Spurrier said questions about his future did not come up when the Gamecocks went 11-2 three straight seasons from 2011-13, but sarcastically notes that it’s suddenly an issue after South Carolina went 7-6 last year.
Spurrier used comments attributed to ancient conqueror Attila the Hun as a lesson he and Gamecocks fans need to seize on when others say South Carolina can’t win.
“It’s a simple truth that the greater your accomplishments — your victories — the greater opposition, torment, and discouragement your enemies will throw in your path. Expect it and don’t become a victim of it,” Spurrier said, quoting Attila.
“So I’m telling our fans expect those people that are our enemies to talk bad about us,” Spurrier continued. “We finally won enough games.”
Spurrier has gone 84-45 in 10 seasons with the Gamecocks.
He said the school’s doctor said he had the physical and mental faculties of a 55-year-old.
Spurrier said a member of the university’s Board of Trustees wanted to name the field at Williams-Brice Stadium after the coach. But Spurrier advised him to wait five or six years.
Spurrier said he would not address this issue again and thought the Gamecocks might surprise those who say they won’t get back to double-digit wins.
“It’s going to be a fun year,” Spurrier said.
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