After 37 years roaming the sideline, Steve Spurrier’s coaching career has finally come to an end.
The legendary “Head Ball Coach” announced his resignation from South Carolina officially on Tuesday afternoon. Instead of waiting until the end of the year like most coaches do, his resignation will be effective immediately.
Famous for his humorous jabs at fellow coaches, the sidelines, and especially SEC Media Days, will be a different place without him.
Spurrier first gained national attention as a Heisman winning quarterback at Florida in 1966. He then went on to numerous stints in the NFL before finally becoming a coach. Of his many stops as a college coach, his most successful stint was at his alma mater. While at Florida, he accumulated a 122-27-1 record and one national title in 1996, including six SEC championships.
Following a brief NFL head coaching job with the Washington Redskins, he returned to the SEC as the South Carolina head ball coach. While he did not see the success in Columbia that he saw in his time with the Gators, he replaced Lou Holtz and turned around a struggling program, but failed to win a conference or national championship. He compiled an 86-49 record in his time with the Gamecocks.
Coaches and administrators around the nation were saddened to hear of Spurrier’s decision. Current Texas A&M athletic director Eric Hyman held that same position at South Carolina from 2005 until A&M’s move to the SEC in 2012. He worked closely with Spurrier during the six years he was there, and in an A&M press release Tuesday, Hyman said seeing Spurrier step down was emotional for him.
“The media has well reported on what he has done as a coach, all the successes and achievements and records broken, but little has been reported on how unselfish he was and how he saw himself as a part of the athletics department,” Hyman said. “I will miss watching him coach. Steve and his wife Jerri have been and always will be great ambassadors for the university.”