South Carolina Gamecocks Football - The Feed Pail: October 15, 2015

Bleacher Report: Steve Spurrier to Appear on ESPN's 'College GameDay' This Saturday. This irks me.  I knew he'd be doing the rounds eventually and maybe there are those who want him to replace Corso. But he's kind of big-timing us to go on Gameday the same Saturday of the must-win Vanderbilt game - which will create even more of a distraction that IBC Shawn Elliot will have to spend time and effort overcoming in a week with enough stress as it is. Couldn't he have waited until the bye week?

Sporting News: A lot of media people feel this way - Steve Spurrier did the unthinkable: He quit on his team.  I'm torn on it. On the one hand, we all were raised under the iron rule of youth-amateur sports: that if you go out for a team you commit to the whole season ... whether you ride the pine ... whether the coach is terrible ... whether the team is no good ... whether you hate your teammates.  You. Must. Never. Quit. No. Matter. What. Obviously, the same holds true for coaches. Now contrast that to what Spurrier says he did; i..e,, he basically fired himself saying that he was not longer proper or fit to lead this team.

Honestly, in this age of political gaslighting, spin-doctoring, deny!deny!deny!, hold-on-to-your-rice-bowl-for-dear-life, I wish more people would resign - especially in big government and corporate screw-ups. And let's face it, our football program has far more in common with a big corporation or governmental agency than a "sports club" of our lost youth; debate the propriety and wisdom of that later, but don't deny that it is an obvious fact. We don't build 85,000 seat temples of sport and pay $4,000.000 salaries for beanbag. And Spurrier was right to realize he was the problem and not the solution. He was getting paid $4m a year at a state-supported school with a collapsing program that he is totally responsible for.  If he was a big time corporate CEO with a tanking stock and no control of his management team wouldn't you applaud him for "firing himself" without making the Board do it? Why should the captain go down with the ship if the XO can assume command and do a better job?  Should we accept that the ship must sink in order to allow the skipper an honorable end? Screw that. Keep the ship afloat by any means necessary.

Damn, I might have kissed that phat bazterd Brad Scott had he fired himself in 1997 or 1998; and don't you think we'd have been better off if Lou Hottz - completely distracted by Beth Holtz's cancer treatments - had handed the reins over to his son and O.C. Skip in 2003 (rather than firing him)? But - hey! Neither quit on his team even though they both had to know during their last seasons that they were either incompetent (Scott) or unable to concentrate (Holtz).

So there lies the tension - Spurrier needed to go and he knew he needed to go ... yet going flies in the face of one of our deepest-rooted, cultural/sports norms. How do we reconcile that? Can we ever reconcile it?

The State: Josh Kendall has an Exclusive with Steve Spurrier: A day later, ‘I’m OK. I’m very much OK. You need to read the whole thing because it dovetails with what I was saying above that Spurrier fired himself.

"I sort of fired myself," he said. "That’s one way to look at it. I don’t think I’ve done a very good job this year. I really don’t."

Also, Spurrier's comments reflect what I said a few days ago in a comment - that it seems like somewhere along the way Spurrier became the Accidental HBC; in other words, he sounded more like a disgruntled fan at the obvious problems with the program. Look at what he says - talent is down; he is getting out-hustled by Swinney, Richt and Fedora (not to mention Butch Jones) on the recruiting trail; that the coaching is bad; that Steve Jr. and Sotty Spurrier have to stand on their own now. Exactly what the smart fans have noticed. I would be remiss if I did not feel just a subtle hint of schadenfreude that the HBC himself has made fools of the "sunshine pumpers" who said the realists were all crazy and disloyal to the program.

CBS Sports: So long to Steve Spurrier: A legend, an innovator and a quitter. This version is sort of the straddle that we are hearing a lot, too - it goes something like this: "don't deny the man his place in the upper-reaches of the CFB firmament, but don't forget to jab the jabber in chief that he is a quitter". Well, the HBC had to know this was coming. When you needle the press for years, they are going to needle back when the opportunity affords itself. But in a few years, few will remember and less will care that he bailed out mid-season.

Gene Sapakoff: Ray Tanner must leverage the Spurrier years in South Carolina’s coaching hire.

Al.com: SECond Look: Will Kirby Smart replace Steve Spurrier at South Carolina? and  Pump the brakes on Kirby Smart speculation with South Carolina job for now.

Nola.com: Is Alabama's Kirby Smart next at South Carolina?

SEC Country: Alabama’s Kirby Smart oddsmaker favorite to be next South Carolina coach.

The Big Lead: South Carolina Coaching Options: Self-Awareness is Key.

College Spun: Video: Mark Dantonio Deflects Question About South Carolina Job. I don't think this portends anything at all.

The Tennessean: How good is the South Carolina football job? The $$$ from the SECN has changed everything; so has the rise of Ole Miss and MSU in the West. Our facilities are no longer a joke. Anything is possible.

Post & Courier: It better - Gamecock recruiting could improve in post-Spurrier era.

SportstalkSC: USC commit JJ Givens says everything is still good with USC and A SportsTalk conversation with Spurrier biographer Ran Henry. Listen to it all. I think that Prof. Henry has a good angle that what we saw is Steve Spurrier has a deep-seated and indelible phobia of being fired, rooted in the Spurrier family's travails after his father, Rev. Spurrier, was fired from his church in Florida. I don't think this is a concept we can dismiss and it makes more sense than "he wanted to go out a winner" or "is worried about his record."  Like any good phobia, it doesn't have to make sense - Ray Tanner would never have fired the HBC mid-season, even if we went 2-12. But Spurrier, had the roles been reversed, would have fired himself; he's no dummy - he realizes exactly where he went wrong. This is a really interesting and amazing interview.

Garnet & Cocky: Steve Spurrier Retirement Press Conference.

The Rubber Chickens: The Transitive Property Report – Week 6.

David Caraviello: Interim head coach Shawn Elliott already turning up the volume at USC.  We are sort of following the path Clemson took after Tommy Bowden exited Tiger Town by promoting its most fiery, emotional assistant (WR Coach Dabo Swinney) over the heads of the coordinators. The players wanted Elliot, too.

The Daily Gamecock: Sports Editor Will Helms writes Despite recent struggles, Spurrier resigns on top.  Plus - Three keys: Elliott starts head coaching journey against Vandy. Yes, we have a game against the 'Dores the day after tomorrow.

Gamecock Cereal: Steve Spurrier Retirement Tribute: Goodbye, OBC/Visor In The Wind.

Gamecock Central: Matt O'Brien is Analyzing the Defense.  Does anybody know if Shawn Elliot is going to keep both Hoke and Ward as co-Defensive coordinators?

Anchor of Gold: Oh, yeah - about the game - Better Know an SEC Opponent: The South Carolina Gamecocks.

GamecocksOnline: Way to go!  Gamecocks Roll at Georgia, 3-0. This is a big and much-needed win for Scott Swanson's team.  And - Gamecocks Give Back: Men's Soccer Responds to Floods.