Steve Spurrier is the best coach in South Carolina Gamecocks history and led the program to its best years ever. From 2005-2015, Spurrier went 86-49 (.637), 5-4 in bowls, and delivered three 11-2 seasons in a row. The program has only had four double-digit win seasons in its history. During those three 11-2 seasons, Spurrier helped the team receive its first top-10 final rankings ever. But when Spurrier left in 2015, he admits he left the program a mess.
The Gamecocks had slipped to 2-4 when Spurrier walked away and finished 3-9 on the season.
“I didn’t leave South Carolina because I disliked coaching. I left because we had a mess of a team, and I was the head coach and I created it and made a bunch of mistakes,” Spurrier said on Thursday, via Gator Sports’ Graham Hall. “Players didn’t like each other, coaches didn’t like each other, and it was time for me to get out of there.
“No one wants to leave under those circumstances, but that’s the way it happened.”
Spurrier made his comments in the context of why he took the job coaching the Orlando Apollos in the new Alliance of American Football league. Even at 73, he’s eager to close his coaching career on a better note, according to Hall’s article.
After Spurrier left South Carolina, the school hired Will Muschamp as head coach. He went 6-7 in his first season, reaching a bowl game. They improved to 9-4 last season and are 7-5 this year and in the Belk Bowl. He helped get the Gamecocks back on track.
Spurrier may have left the program a mess, but he deserves plenty of credit to taking them to the heights they had never previously achieved.
