Spurrier hires staffers, waits on Thompson

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Posted 7:41PM on Friday, December 16, 2005

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Steve Spurrier settled two openings on his South Carolina staff Friday amid the possibility he may have another vacancy on his hands before too long. Spurrier hired longtime Duke assistant Fred Chatham as tight ends coach and promoted graduate assistant Robert Gillespie to running backs coach. Spurrier also said co-defensive coordinator John Thompson was on a leave of absence and would not join South Carolina (7-4) for its Independence Bowl matchup with Missouri on Dec. 30. ``He's still officially listed as one of our coaches,'' Spurrier said. ``We're not looking for a replacement right now.'' Thompson, the former East Carolina coach, was among the first staffers hired after Spurrier took the job in November 2004. He shared the coordinator's title with Tyrone Nix, but it was Thompson who called defensive signals for South Carolina's first several games. As the Gamecocks' defense lagged, Spurrier turned defensive play calling over to Nix and then, co-incidently or not, South Carolina won a record five straight Southeastern Conference games including landmark wins over Tennessee and Florida. Spurrier didn't discuss details of Thompson's time away. ``I don't really want to get into all of it,'' he said. ``We'll see where it leads into January and go from there.'' Thompson also coached inside linebackers, a task that will go to outside linebackers coach Ron Cooper. The Gamecocks open bowl practice on Saturday. Incredibly, Chatham spent 17 seasons at Duke, surviving four coaching changes for the largely woeful program. Spurrier, then Duke coach, brought Chatham to the Blue Devils in 1989 in time for the team's last Atlantic Coast Conference title. Since then, Duke has made only one bowl appearance (1994) and endured three 0-11 seasons. ``It teaches you patience and teaches you how to work with kids and build them back and lift them up,'' Chatham said. ``Sometimes you can learn a lot about kids and about other coaches and about each other when you're going through that kind of adversity.'' Chatham does have some adjustments to make. When he talked about how getting back with the ``ol' ball coach,'' Spurrier's longtime nickname, was key to joining the Gamecocks, Spurrier broke in with, ``new ball coach, new ball coach, we don't use that around here.'' Chatham wore a golf shirt with the logo ``ACC football'' on its short sleeve. He promised to change as soon as he got to his locker. Chatham will take over for Rick Stockstill, who left for his first head coaching job at Middle Tennessee. Spurrier says Chatham may also have some input on special teams, a job he coordinated with the Blue Devils. Chatham agreed to a one-year contract worth $130,000. Gillespie joined Spurrier's staff as a grad assistant for video last summer. His depth of knowledge of Spurrier's style and system made him the perfect replacement, Spurrier said, for Madre Hill, the former Arkansas star let go after one season at South Carolina. Gillespie played for Spurrier at Florida from 1998-2001 and for the NFL's Washington Redskins under Spurrier in 2002-03. Spurrier said if Gillespie had finished his degree a year ago, he might have been the selection instead of Hill to work with the running backs. ``He knows our offensive about as well as anyone I could hire,'' Spurrier said. ``He doesn't have a lot of experience coaching, but he's got a lot of experience in our offense. So I felt like he was certainly well qualified.'' Gillespie also will get a one-year contract worth $72,000. Spurrier says he'll wait before deciding on a recruiting coordinator, which was Stockstill's job. Cooper is coordinating things in that area for now, Spurrier said. Both Chatham and Gillespie will coach in the bowl game. ``We look forward to some good times,'' Spurrier said. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)