Coaches Hot Seat Blog gets to the heart of the matter with the Spurrier Era in Columbia:
… At Florida, Spurrier’s teams averaged scoring 37.11 points per game, and gave up on defense 18 points per game. At South Carolina, Spurrier’s teams are averaging scoring 25.5 points per game, and the defense is giving up 21.7 points per game. It doesn’t take a genius to see why Spurrier won so many games at Florida, and has struggled so at South Carolina, and the way out of this mess is strikingly simple. Spurrier and the Gamecocks simple needs to score more points, averaging at least 28 to 30 points per game, and Ellis Johnson (the new USC defensive coordinator) needs to keep the opposing teams below 25 points per game…
Unfortunately if you’re a Gamecock fan, CHSB doesn’t see that happening this year.
We predict that Steve Spurrier and South Carolina will have a 6-6 record in 2008. Steve Spurrier is a great football coach, but the lack of a quality QB and a very tough schedule in the SEC will hold the Gamecocks back in ’08.
Tough SEC schedule? Somebody better clue Corso in.
Oh, and don’t miss the “he coulda been a contenda” conclusion.
Get The Picture 
Nice read, but I take umbrage to the assertion that Spurrier would “probably” have won 3 SEC titles and 2 National Championships at LSU since 2004 if he’d gone there.
Is it possible? Sure. But it’s not like Richt, Meyer, Saban, Fulmer, and Tubberville would be hapless.
Anyway, the claim that Spurrier would be doing so much better a job at LSU than Miles is a classic case of image and reputation (both of Miles and Spurrier) weighing more heavily than other more relevant factors. I don’t think Miles is a genius or anything, but the idea that Spurrier actually IS a genius is just a little silly.
Maybe it’s because I wasn’t a big CFB fan when Spurrier was on his run of greatness, but I partially view what he did at UF as a product of a much weaker league and a lightening-in-a-bottle combination of talent and scheme.
Surely that didn’t happen entirely by accident. Spurrier capitalized on the opportunity when it presented itself, but I’m not sure a number of the other coaches in today’s SEC couldn’t have enjoyed similar success in the same set of circumstances.
The league/sport has caught up in terms of both talent and coaching, so while I’m sure Spurrier would be good at LSU, I’m not sure he’d be much better than Miles if any better at all.
And you have to credit Miles, his insane whirlwind gambling streak this past season paid off. Would any other coach have made those calls, and if not, would LSU have found another way to win, a more conservative way?
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What Spurrier did was change how football’s played in the SEC. At the time he came along SEC football was “3 yards and a cloud of dust”. These coaches believed firmly in using the run to set up the pass. Most coaches at the time also felt like when you pass the ball only 3 things can happen and 2 of ’em are bad. But Spurrier came in using the pass to set up the run. He brought in lighting fast receivers that no DB’s could keep up with and just threw it all over the place. Then on top of that he had running backs like, oh shoot what’s his name, uh Emmit Smith and Eric Rhett just to keep the defense honest. Does this make him a genius? Maybe, maybe not but he was a nonconformist of his profession.
I agree with Chuck in that there may have been a talent gap during the first few years Spurrier was at UF but it closed rather quickly. I remember plenty of WLOCP where Goff and Donnan were just out coached. The talent was there. Spurrier just made ’em look silly.
I’m really not trying to praise Spurrier here. I dislike him as much as the next Dawg. However I’ve got to give credit where credit is due.
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Jumping up and down – Jumping up and down – Jumping up and down – Jumping up and down – Jumping up and down – Jumping up and down –
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I won’t worry about SCU being a consistent threat until they break their streak of hiring has-been coaches. It really is where they go to die.
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Emmitt was gone when SOS got there. But he threw the ball well when no one else in the league knew how to defend the pass. Once the league caught up, his level of success declined likewise.
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