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South Carolina Gamecocks football coach Steve Spurrier held an impromptu press conference today to address comments written by individuals in neighboring states' media publications about his longevity and future with the gamecock's program. Word was given about an hour before the presser went on, with no indication as to the nature or content of the HBC's comments. Hot takes ensued!
Spoke with Spurrier. He's definitely not retiring, far from it, but wants to clear the air and reaffirm his commitment to SC.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) July 22, 2015
Reassuring!
I HOPE STEVE IS GOING TO ANNNOUNCE HES GIVING BACK MY SAND WEDGE HE STOLE OH WAIT THERE IT IS UNDER THE REFRIDGERATOR HOWD IT GET THERE
— ITS_DABO!!! (@ITS_DABO) July 22, 2015
Priceless! (SATIRE)
Spurrier: Qstns about my age going around. This is a msg for #Gamecocks fans. My age no big deal when 11 wins. We have enemies out there.
— Ron Aiken (@RonAiken) July 22, 2015
Feisty!
Spurrier: He's upset with The State running Mark Bradley's piece. Says the paper shouldn't have let him have say. #Gamecocks
— Ron Aiken (@RonAiken) July 22, 2015
Ohhhhhh...
So The State has this thing where they count down the days until football season and ask a bunch of folks about their opinions on the upcoming football season and the Gamecocks outlook.
What Ron Aiken is referring to is the editorial equivalent of doubling down on a previous piece from SEC Media Days, where Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mark Bradley thought some thoughts about how much longer Spurrier will stay at USC—now that they had one year where the football program stopped that pesky trend of being very good at football. The general thesis was that, if the Gamecocks weren't perennial winners, Spurrier would get bored and retire. We're still breathlessly awaiting Bradley's take on Mark Richt's imminent retirement every time UGA inexplicably drops a game to Vanderbilt, but I digress.
This probably has a lot more to do with current recruiting efforts than any single media opinion on the state of the program or its' coaches endurance. The press conference ended up being about Spurrier's ongoing commitment to the Gamecocks program, and a reiteration of previous comments that he is not contemplating retirement, but plans to remain in his position for the foreseeable future. At the very least, he says that he'll be here for the three to five years that the members of our next recruiting class plan to spend on campus. While some might think Coach is overreacting a bit, the last time Spurrier left the media an opening to opine on the topic led to a discussion that absolutely had a negative impact on the Gamecocks' recruiting efforts.
A whole lot of folks are likely to paint today's events as an unorthodox and curmudgeonly rant against seemingly innocuous forces. I look at it as an opportunity for Spurrier to address an ongoing concern, and also keep the spotlight away from any lingering questions about the team's expectations for the 2015 football season. But does it really matter? This sure as hell makes the last few weeks of the offseason a little more entertaining and seems to have fired Spurrier up, which even his detractors in the media can agree is fun.