Today was a sad day for us all. Not just because Steve Spurrier aka Head Ball Coach (HBC) decided to call it a career, but because of when he decided to do it.
We all knew the time would come for when the HBC would have to hang it up, but it’s the way that he decided to go out that bothers me more than anything. Earlier in the year, Spurrier called a random press conference with local media to debunk the idea of him retiring and went to pretty great lengths to try to convince us it wasn’t happening. So much for all of that.
What changed between now and then? Did he have a change of heart? Have folks in South Carolina had enough of the team not performing? Was he forced out? Apparently the HBC decided that now was just the time to step away and resign. I have a few issues with that.
No matter how you slice it, a coach getting fired or quitting midseason is not good for multiple reasons. While I get that South Carolina hasn’t been great lately, in my opinion, it looks really bad when you just decide to say “F*** it, I’m out!” with several games left on the schedule. Unless something really bad happened with Spurrier in his personal life (health, etc.), I don’t see why you can’t finish out the season then go from there. Any way you cut it, big changes were going to come, so why not at least finish it out with your players and call it a career? Walking out now solves nothing recruiting wise, because schools have already been using this against South Carolina in recruiting, and the recruits have obviously been going elsewhere.
By walking out now, all you have become is the distraction that you said you didn’t want to be. Coaches, players, and administrators will be answering questions about this from now until a new coach is hired in the offseason. Speaking of the players, what about them? These are guys that you personally recruited to South Carolina. Guys whose parents you made promises to and now you are bailing on them instead of riding it out with them? What kind of message does that send? What if the shoe was on the other foot and a star player opted to bail and transfer mid-year? Would the talking heads on ESPN be playing nice and saying nice things about them instead of calling it what it is?
What if a star player actually listened to some of the people out there and sat out an entire year before entering the draft, so that they could save themselves from injury? Would people be handling it as delicately as they are with this situation?
I have a real problem with the double standard between coaches and players and how they are treated in the media. A player wants to pursue the graduate transfer route to play his final year? Let’s hammer him or her with restrictions and try to do away with that option entirely. A coach wants to take a new job elsewhere after signing a contract or wants to suddenly retire? Whatever, no big deal. As coaches, we preach to players about being held accountable for their actions, and being men and women of their word. So what kind of message does this send to them?
I love the HBC and all that he brings to the table. I hope that he gets on television now that he’s finished coaching. I just can’t sit here and not feel some kind of way about him walking out on the team in the middle of the season. To me, this could have been handled a completely different way that didn’t involve him bailing on the team at this juncture. A guy like Steve Spurrier should never have to announce his resignation in the middle of a season. He has at least earned the right to play things out and go out in December. So if he was forced out mid-year then shame on those who made that call.
For me, midseason firings are reserved for coaches like Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian, and the coach at Illinois who was trying to smudge injury reports. Midseason firings are for when things really hit the fan, and even though things aren’t up to standard at South Carolina, I wouldn’t say that they hit the fan. I wish things would have been handled differently all the way around, and I wish the HBC the best of luck on his ventures outside of coaching.
How do you feel about Spurrier’s decision to step away from his post at this current time? Are you okay with it? Not okay with it? Indifferent?