Spurrier begins at South Carolina

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Posted 2:37PM on Wednesday, August 31, 2005

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Was South Carolina the right place for Steve Spurrier's return to college football? The answers start coming for all to see Thursday night. Spurrier takes to a college sideline for the first time in four seasons when he leads the Gamecocks against Central Florida on ESPN. A strong outing would show fans across the country the head ball coach wasn't totally out of his mind when he spurned his old Swamp-ing grounds in Florida to tackle the Gamecocks' job. And get this the coach known by some as ``Steve Superior'' for his cocksure comments and brash style of play has a few butterflies. ``As a coach, you always have a little concern about what possibly could go bad and this, that and the other, and you do all you can do to prevent it,'' he said. ``But at some point, you say, 'Hey, we've done all we can.' `` When Spurrier sat out last year after two disappointing NFL seasons, fans from some of the country's most successful programs dreamed about landing him. But few schools had a chance since Spurrier wanted to coach in the South and in his old league, the Southeastern Conference. Spurrier removed himself from the Florida job ``If I went back there, I'd be doing something I'd already done,'' Spurrier has said and agreed to follow his friend, Lou Holtz, at South Carolina. Spurrier thinks everything is here for the Gamecocks to one day produce winning results like he did at Florida with six SEC crowns and a national title from 1990 to 2001. The choice was not met with universal praise. South Carolina has never been a football powerhouse. Its lone title was won in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1969. Its only 10-win season came in 1984. No coach had won a bowl at South Carolina until Brad Scott did it after the 1994 season. And it took Holtz's teams in 2000 and 2001 to win consecutive bowl games for the first time in school history. Also, this hasn't been the sunniest offseason for the Gamecocks. Several players have faced criminal charges and the NCAA put South Carolina on three years' probation for infractions during Holtz's tenure. Things have been so disheartening through the years, some fans created an all-purpose, supernatural excuse for failure the Chicken Curse. Nothing, not the negative stats, problems, or out-of-this-world hexes, matter to Spurrier. ``You can feel things are different around here,'' senior tackle Jabari Levey said. Spurrier's not predicting quick success. His quarterback, Blake Mitchell, is a sophomore without a start to his credit. His top two tailbacks, Mike Davis and Bobby Wallace, were in high school this time last fall. And few of his receivers have shown the confidence and dependability to let Spurrier's ``Cock-n-Fire'' offense take off. ``Sometimes, I think they think it's really a difficult thing to throw and catch and complete long passes down the field,'' Spurrier said. ``But the talent level is here to do that. I'm convinced of that and, hopefully, we can get it out of them.'' Spurrier said he might rely on his defense to keep things tight as the offense matures. ``Whatever it takes,'' he said, ``whatever it takes.'' The Gamecocks could get a bit of a pass with UCF. Despite former Georgia Tech coach George O'Leary leading them, the Golden Knights went 0-11 last season and have lost their past 15 games. UCF is also young with 23 freshmen and sophomores on their two-deep lineup entering Williams-Brice Stadium. O'Leary expects his club to handle the hype surrounding Spurrier and play well. ``I think games like this, there are no big speeches needed,'' he said. ``If you have any blood in your system, you're going to be ready to play.'' Spurrier hopes the same holds true for his Gamecocks. ``I hope we play like winners play,'' he said. ``Don't beat yourself. Don't do the careless things that cause you to lose. We're going to try our best to accomplish those goals as we go through the season.'' (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)