Steve Spurrier weighs in on Ray Rice situation

During his Tuesday press conference, Steve Spurrier was asked to share his thoughts on the Baltimore Ravens' decision to cut Ray Rice on Monday only after video footage of his brutal assault of his then-fiancee was leaked to TMZ. The Head Ball Coach did not mince words regarding his zero tolerance policy for assaulting women:

I've had a rule ever since I've been here that if you ever hit a girl, you're not going to play on our team. You're finished. And we've had two players here - one was about seven years ago, the other was about nine years ago.

We're not going to have any player on our team that's done that. I can't understand why every coach doesn't have that rule and why every company doesn't have that rule for their employees. I think it could put a pretty good end to this stuff. Really, it's amazing that America has sorta put up with it or compromised, but that is something that should never happen. Our players know that they're gone if they hit a girl. They know it.

I would think that every coach would have that rule, but I don't think they do. I think some of them say, "Well, let's wait and look at the situation." And you do have to do that, but once you know it's happened, you do have to put an end to it.

Recently, Missouri and Oklahoma have been caught in awkward situations (and arguably severely mishandled) with Dorial Green-Beckham's dismissal and subsequent transfer to Oklahoma. Green-Beckham was dismissed from Missouri after he was accused of pushing a woman down a flight of stairs. Oklahoma accepted him as a transfer and appeared close to obtaining a waiver granting DGB immediate eligibility before ultimately having the request denied.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney waited almost a year to dismiss wide receiver Joe Craig after he was accused of a grisly assault of a female track athlete in May of 2011. (Craig also ran track at Clemson.) While charges were never pressed against Craig, some felt that the gruesome nature of the incident should have compelled Swinney to act even in the absence of charges. Craig wasn't dismissed from the team until he was arrested for a separate domestic violence incident in February of 2012.

It doesn't sound like a South Carolina football program under Steve Spurrier's control would ever find itself in a similar situation.