Steve Spurrier retired as South Carolina’s head coach Monday, effective immediately, following a 2-4 start to the season. Co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Shawn Elliott will reportedly take over as the interim head coach. South Carolina president Harris Pastides asked Spurrier to stay through the end of the season, but the coach did not want to.
Steve Spurrier said he’s ‘resigning, not retiring’ in final South Carolina press conference
That and other quotes from Spurrier’s Columbia farewell.
Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Spurrier did not give any interviews Monday night, but he held a press conference Tuesday. Here’s a look at what he had to say.
Quotes are below.
Spurrier walking into the room - "alright, let's get this over with."
— Chris Dearing (@CDearing82) October 13, 2015 Spurrier: “First of all I’m resigning, not retiring, let’s get that all straight. I doubt I’ll ever be a head coach again, but maybe coach high school or something.”
- “You can’t keep a head coach that’s done it as long as I have when it’s heading in the wrong direction.”
- “We’ve slid. It’s my fault. I’m responsible and I’m the head coach. It’s time for me to get out of the way.”
- “I was sort of a recruiting liability. It’s hard to recruit when your coach has done it a long time and the recruits want to know your coach is going to be there 5-10 years from now.”
Waylp, bye
- “I think I was probably the best coach for this job 11 years ago, but not today.”
- “I’ll just be the former Head Ball Coach now. This is the best thing for South Carolina football to start another building process.”
- Spurrier said he knew when they were 2-2 that he was going to try to get through the season. “When something is inevitable, I believe you do it right then. You don’t wait a week, you don’t wait two weeks.”
- “We’ve got a home game against Vandy, which if we play well I think we’ve got a good chance. So let’s give the interim coach a chance.”
- “I didn’t plan on going out this way. I planned on being on the shoulder pads of the team going out of the Georgia Dome in the SEC Championship, but that didn’t happen.”
- Spurrier will not be involved in determining the new coach: “That’s not up to the former coach. I don’t believe it should be.”
- Could he see himself coaching college football again? “No, no, no. College football is a game of recruiting, first of all. That’s another reason I have to move one. I don’t know if coaching is over or not. It’s fun being on a team. Maybe I’ll be a consultant or something.”
And the end: “Okay, let’s get moving. I’ve had enough here.”
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