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If football programs were like software programs, the team Coach Steve Spurrier will put on the field for the Garnet and Black Spring Game would be Gamecocks 1.0.
Fans will have to wait until the Sept. 1 season opener against Central Florida to see Gamecocks 1.1–an upgrade, if you will, that incorporates a top-25 recruiting class of freshmen with his returning players.
“This is not the final team,” Spurrier said of his spring roster, a point he emphasized at least three times during a news conference before the team’s first practice March 19.
“There will be several freshmen who will contribute a lot. I don’t think you will be seeing a finished product [at the spring game]. There will be some kind of product, but I don’t know what.”
Spurrier announced that USC will be the only school to have its spring game broadcast on national television, by ESPN2 and the new ESPNU channel. The game is set for 1 p.m. April 16 at Williams-Brice Stadium. Admission is free.
Spurrier joked that “if [the score is] nothing to nothing, I don’t know how much exposure that will bring. Hopefully we can score on our defense.”
Producing points, though, has always been old hat—or is it visor—for Spurrier. His Florida teams, in particular, seemed almost biblical at times for their offensive wrath and affinity for scoring in 7s and into the 70s, four times equaling or topping that point total in a game.
When asked about how easy it will be for the Gamecocks’ offense to adapt to his system, Spurrier noted that the Gators scored 50 against Oklahoma State in his debut at Florida in 1990. “It doesn’t take long,” he said.
Spurrier, who was known at Florida to have a quick trigger when it came to substituting for a struggling quarterback, said his reputation for browbeating QBs is overblown. “I very seldom ever yell at a quarterback—or at anyone—especially early on,” he said. “I like to coach, coach, coach before I criticize.”
Syvelle Newton, who started five games at quarterback last season for USC after playing wide receiver as a freshman in 2003, is back at his old spot as the team’s No. 1 split end. Among returnees, Blake Mitchell looks like the No. 1 quarterback at this point, Spurrier said, although the coach noted his freshman class includes two all-state quarterbacks.
Spurrier offered tongue-in-cheek praise for Mitchell, a redshirt freshman last season. “Blake is trying to talk better than that south Georgia twang of his,” he said. “He can say hut-hut without saying hoot-hoot. Sometimes those south Georgia guys put two syllables in there.”
If Spurrier sounds like he’s auditioning for a career as a standup comedian, it’s all in keeping with his attitude about spring football.
“We’re trying to make it fun,” he said. “We’re trying not to beat each other up. We have fun throwing the ball, and we have fun defending the pass. I’m not a coach who believes [spring is] essential to the success of the team. There’s not a tremendous amount of carryover between spring ball and the fall.”
Spurrier was not in a joking mood, however, about players who have had a run-in with the law, saying he was “disappointed.”
“They’re all my guys, and I take responsibility. I cannot control how they act off the field and cannot control them all the time on the field. But I can control whether they put on a Carolina jersey or not. Hopefully fans won’t see that as a reflection of our entire team, five guys over 85 guys.”
In addition to rehabilitating the team’s image, Spurrier said sprucing up the stadium with touches of garnet paint to complement the team’s garnet home jerseys. He also will have banners added to acknowledge past Carolina greats, including Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers; the 1984 team that set the school record for wins with 10 and was led by national coach of the year winner Joe Morrison; and the 1969 ACC championship team that will be honored at the spring game.
As fans relive that history, Spurrier wants them to know the future will come in two parts, starting with the spring game and culminating against Central Florida with a host of new players sporting USC jerseys.
“The product we show on the 16th will not be the final one,” Spurrier said for the last time. “It’s not necessarily the same team we will put out there Sept. 1. I don’t want to temper too much excitement out there. We’re all excited.”
3/05
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