It was a rough 2014 season for the South Carolina Gamecocks. It all began back on opening night season when the Gamecocks were blown out at home against Texas A&M, 52-28. And even though South Carolina showed promise with a victory over then No. 6 Georgia in Week 3, the team could never sustain any real success.
After losing to rival Clemson on Saturday, the question began to surface as to if head coach Steve Spurrier would return to the sideline in 2015.
His answer?
Yes.
On Sunday, the old ball coach spoke with South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner and let him know that he will get the program headed in the right direction again before one day calling it quits.
And on Monday, Spurrier told ESPN that he’s all in for 2015.
“Everything’s on go, and I’m full speed ahead,” Spurrier said. “When you’ve done it as long as I have and have some of the disappointing losses we did this year, a lot of stuff runs through your mind. But in the long run, this is the best thing for me to do. They seem to want me here.
“Now, if they didn’t want me here, it would be time to move on. But we’ve got a good recruiting class coming in, and it’s still a really good situation.”
Source: YouTube
From 2011 to 2013, the Gamecocks finished each season with a strong 11-2 record. Coming into the 2014 season, South Carolina was ranked ninth in the Associated Press Top 25 and was expected to win the SEC East. But it was a rough year as the team finished 3-5 in the division and 6-6 overall making them barely bowl eligible.
“We didn’t play very well at times this year, but the program is still in good shape,” Spurrier said. “We can get this thing turned around, but we’ve got some coaching to do and a team that needs some coaching.”
The Gamecocks could have easily finished the regular season with a 9-3 record had it not been for three blown fourth quarter leads in which South Carolina held at least a two touchdown advantage. Because of their late-game defensive miscues, speculation has surfaced that Spurrier could hire former Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp as the team’s new defensive coordinator.
In six of their eight SEC games, the Gamecocks surrendered at least 34 points and finished 13th in the league in total defense and 12th in scoring defense.
When asked about making changes to the coaching staff, Spurrier would not commit to anything.
“I don’t want to get into all that,” he said. “Sometimes coaches come and go. We all know that. They move around, but we’re all intact right now. We’ll see what happens down the road. The thing we’re doing right now is trying to recruit some more good players, making sure all of our guys are going to class and getting ready for the bowl game. We’ll go from there.”
In April, Steve Spurrier will turn 70 and he can’t imagine doing anything else with his life.
“What else is there to do?” said Spurrier. “This is more fun than doing nothing, and I’m not very good at doing nothing.”