Spurrier defends play-calling system
After another game in which the offense failed to score 20 points, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier defended the Gamecocks’ play-calling system Sunday during his teleconference with reporters.
A day after Gamecocks tight end Weslye Saunders referred to receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr. as the main play-caller, Spurrier said he is still calling most of the plays, including the ill-fated fade route to Alshon Jeffery that Arkansas picked off to change momentum in the Hogs’ 33-16 win.
Spurrier Sr. did not put a percentage on the number of plays he calls. The process starts in the press box with Spurrier Jr., who relays a call down to the field, where quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus signals it in.
Sometimes Spurrier Sr. overrules it. Sometimes offensive line coach Eric Wolford suggests a play.
Bottom line: When USC averages 12 points a game, as it has over the past four games, the system is going to come under question.
“I’m still in charge of the play-calling. I don’t call all of them like I used to. But we have a system here that’s not bad,” Spurrier said. “A lot of times our offensive line coach, he will call the goal line run – run this or run that, or third-and-1 – he’ll yell that and we send it in.
“There’s all kind of ways to call plays. But ultimately, I’m the head coach and if there’s an offensive coordinator title, I got it. So we need to do better. We need to block better and we need to score more points than we’ve been scoring.”
If fans were looking for Spurrier to come out and say he was taking over the play-calling completely, forget it. That would amount to a public demotion of his son, and unlike Lou Holtz, Spurrier is not going to do that.
The Spurriers have danced around the nepotism issue delicately during their five seasons. That’s why Spurrier has been so evasive on the topic of play-calling.
He says he’s calling most of them. Others close to the program say Spurrier Jr., as Saunders suggested, is the primary play-caller.
Regardless, until it improves, Spurrier can expect more grumbling from the fans.
“It can go either way,” Spurrier said of a father-son coaching relationship. “Depends on if you’re winning or losing and how that particular phase is playing.”
64 Comments to “Spurrier defends play-calling system”
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USC football beat writer Joe Person has covered the Gamecocks since the start of the 2002 season. He's been on the college football beat since 1993. 
gamecocks needs new a young head coach. Spurrier needs to retire and his son
need a new young aggressive ,,get in your face no nonsense coach that can relate to these young guys,,,,,,up at Clem n Son,, they have a coach with no experience but yet aggressive,,,spurrier too passive in this day n age,,,,,O-line after 5 yrs is getting to be an old excuse
helll,,,when does basketball season start,,at least they play with passion,,,,,,,,,
No wonder there’s confusion. Nobody knows who is calling the plays! The worst way to run aq business or football team is by committee.
send coaches to a coaching clinic during the bye-week,,,,,,on 5 yard line and still throw ball with 4 quality backs to at least try n run the ball,,,,,,it is getting laughable and OLD,,
If Spurrier thinks that 3 people calling plays is a good is a good idea…he should be fired right freaking now! Embarrassing!
23 out of the 39 SEC games Spurrier has coached here, we have failed to score more than 20 points. Folks, the offensive scheme isn’t working. If it’s the Xs and Os, it’s Spurrier’s fault. If it’s the jimmys and the joes, then it’s also Spurrier’s fault.
Saunders needs to spend Monday running sprints and learning how to catch.
Tony Robbins definition of ‘insanity’ is – “to continue to do the same thing in the same way over and over again and to expect different results” – something needs to be done differently at USC if we are ever going to be a winner. What we are currently doing in the way we are doing it – it is just NOT working!
I have said it numerous times. Spurrier is over rated and living off past accomplishments. He is padding a resume for Jr. Spurrier needs to go at the end of the season. Hire a young guy that has a desire to win and not promote his kids.
You guys are all crazy. Spurrier is still the best coach in USC history and he’s building a strong long term program. There’s a lot more to the recent losses than the play calling. I agree that they could be better but the future of this team needs to be Spurrier for at least the next couple of years or this program will fall into an even deeper hole.
USC has always been horrible and suddenly the fans are expecting a national championship team. Fire the coach talk after a couple of bad games is just stupid. It’s time to see the forest for hte trees. Look where this team is compared to before he got here.
Has Spurrier even thrown the visor/hat once while at SC? He is a golly gee coach now with almost no passion. SC needs someone with some fire. There is talent on the team but it lacks heart and that is the fault of the coaches.
Nobody is calling for the coach after a couple of bad games. USC has ended the seaon poorly for 3 straight years. USC should have played both UT and Arkansas close if not won both games. These types of losses would not be tolerated at most other SEC schools either. To be a winner you have to act like a winner and sitting back and hoping we will get it right “next year” is not working. Something has to change.
Our coach acts like a big blowhard on the sidelines. Throwing headsets, clipboards, visors – maybe even a few expletives. That’s not fire. That’s poor leadership. We cannot expect players and assistants to rally around that. I could not have been happier when he arrived, I will be equally happy when he leaves.
i think we have all forgotten we were predicted to go 6-6 by everyone except the ones that predicted 4-8. we lost 12 starters, we got 2 sophmores and 2 freshman starting in the secondary, and we still have at least 2 more games to go. its all going to come around and we are going to be the main reason cj spiller doesnt get the heisman this year. lets all relax and let this team grow up a little we are almost there.
Spurrier is doing just fine. We had a boatload of talented, young players (the entire DLine, the defensive backfield with gilmore, whitlock, and auguste, all of our receiving core/RBs and garcia). they’re all still developing and still need time. our 2 leading rushers and our 3 best receivers (not moe brown) are all FRESHMEN. Just wait til these players develop before we start calling for heads here. The offensive line the is only serious problem we have on this team.
Dinero, you said we are better now than when spurrier first got here. You are wrong. Dead wrong. In Lou’s last year we were 6-5. We will be 6-6 this year. We were 7-6 last year, and 6-6 the year before that. Not to mention we won 2 outback bowls with Lou. What have we won with the fraud of a coach spurrier? We won the liberty bowl his first year. Since then……zilch. If you think spurrier is a good coach you are an idiot. Look at all the draft picks we have had and you are telling me we cant win more than 6 games? Please
I agree with Dinero. Now is not the time to get rid of Spurrier. We have an extremely difficult schedule, and an extremely young team. A team that spurrier recruited. He deserves to be around long enought to se what they can do. plus next year we have Alabama, Georgia, Tenn and Ark at home, muche more resonable then this year! But lets not give up on this year, we need to beat Clemson and win the bowl game, to start next year right!
I just wanted to drop by and say hi from all the guys on the Clemson side of the site. Haven’t seen many of you guys over on our side for a couple weeks now, and I wanted to stop by to see why that might be. Anyone have any ideas? After our Maryland game, there were more Gamecock posters than Clemson posters on the Clemson side for some reason, and now, there is hardly a Gamecock to be found. Can you believe that!?!? Anyway, we were just feeling a little lonely and wanted to make sure we didn’t do anything to make you guys mad or anything. Anyway, I just wanted to extend the opportunity for you to come over if you get the time. See ya!!!
Who would you get to replace Coach Superior?
Brad Scott was looking fat and happy on the Clempsun sidelines last night.
Getting better? A victory over Florida will give Spurrier the same SEC record the last four years as Lou had his last four years. Getting better? Which SEC East team is now in Steve’s rear view mirror. His greatest success came with Holtz players.
i wish people would stop trying to run SPURRIER out of town. its going to take some time. we are very close. we just need to work on the o-line a little bit more. if he leave the talent will leave and both will come back and kick our ass. i’m firmly a Spurrier fan and keep doing what you doing, but OBC NEED TO START CALLING ALL THE PLAY.
I can take losing a lot better if I see both coaches and players give 110% on the field,,,,,,Show some emotion with a pulse,,,,I watch other teams play and they all play as they want to put it all on the field for 60 minutes,,,Carolina players do not show me that,,,,,
I THINK WE NEED TO GO AFTER CHRIS PETERSON AT BOSIE STATE.
“Berealistic”careful who you call an idiot. Tiger
hater and Dinero are right on! Spurrier didn’t have to come to USC. He could have gone to LSU
and had an instant winner. Many great schools would love to have one of the greatest college coaches of all time(Steve Spurrier). Now Jr. that’s another issue. But don’t question the ole
ball coaches’ competitive fire or his offensive
ability. It’s a lack of depth and talent and the
toughest finishing schedule in the nation that
attributes to USC’s losing skid each year. We’re
lucky to have Spurrier. As for the NFL if some of
those draft picks would have stayed in college we
would have the depth we need and not be relying on
kids who were playing in high school last year. I
for one appreciate the effort Spurrier puts into his job and his goal to make SC a winner. I guess
the “know it alls” who think Spurrier is the problem
had rather have Sparky Woods back? Let’s hope SC
can keep attracting talent like Spurrier, Norwood,
Garcia, Jeffery, Gilmore,Matthews & company. We’re
getting there. It’s not the ACC we’re playing in!
Spurrier, Sr. should be calling the plays. He is the offensive coordinator by his own admission. He called the plays when he was at FL, he gets paid to call the plays here and that is what we expect.
One can easily see from the start of the game when we have to take three time outs to sort out who the hell is calling the plays in….No wonder the offense is a blunder..
I say either Spurrier Sr. takes charge or give it up…
Carolina is My Team…it is what it is…Spurrier can’t stay forever, but what he has brought to Carolina is alot of TV coverage which is never a bad thing…but eventually a change will be made and personally when that time comes I would love to see what Coach Gruden “Chucky” could do with the Gamecocks..GO COCKS!!!
It didn’t take Saban very long to turn around Alabama. How long is South Carolina going to give Spurier? It doesn’t have to take 5 or more years to turn a program around.
First of all, this “fire Spurrier…we need a change talk” needs to cease and desist. It would be foolish to fire him now. He must be allowed two more years, and if in two years we have the same results I may start listening to some of you flaming taters. In 2010 and especially 2011 we cannot help but be better. I am behind our coach, our players, and our team and you should too. If not, I’m sorry, but you are not a Gamecock fan.
B-rock mentions TV coverage, is that necessarily a good thing? Not the coverage you’ve gotten recently. Many of you say you are so ready for BB season to start, because they play with passion. Yes, at least Horn’s team plays hard at the end of the season, when something big is within reach, and doesn’t go on an end of the year slide, oh wait, what about last year? Oh well.
Have anyone else notice that the Steve Spurrier Show is the worst produced show ever, bad audio and sorry production. Come on ISP quit making us look so bass akwards
TV coverage is not a bad thing? These high school recruits are watching TV, and what are they seeing? They are seeing Carolina get their butts kicked by middle-of-the-pack SEC teams. Now there is some great advertising for you! They are seeing a team making tons of mental mistakes. They see a team that can’t block, run, or pass protect. They see a team that can’t find its way into the end zone and score points. They see where they DON’T want to play football. Sad, but true.
I have a great idea, Mr.Hyman and Mr. Pastides…please, please, please fire Spurrier and save the Gamecock Clun members a lot of money! Apparently, all these knuckleheads on internt message boards know how to coach a major D-1 football team…you can get them for $20/hr!
Too all of those gamecock fans who are using the ” we are a young team that needs time to grow” let me throw a reality check on you. Tenn and Ark are both starting as many if not more freshmen as SC, but somehow those teams are improving as the season goes along, not pulling the same dive as Spurrier’s teams have done in the second half every season with the exception of 2006. That my freinds is not called unlucky or being young, it’s called a trend, and one that SC fans shouldnt accept. While we shouldnt expect an SEC championship in the next few years, I think that at least 8 wins a year isnt asking too much, and we are looking at 6-6 this year, 7-5 at best.
We are young yes, but unlike other “young” teams in the SEC, we are poorly coached and things arent going to get better as long as the old ball coach is in charge.
Brain Kelly, Paul Johnson are a few names to consider.
Carolina just called their first time-out of the Florida game!
Whoops…they just burned another one!
Oh my…delay of game on Carolina!
And Carolina fans have the nerve to say that Lane Kiffen is a bad coach! Spurrier’s history aside, his current team is the worst-coached, most fundamentally UN-sound bunch in the SEC. For the second consecutive season, no less. Just a shame that he has lost whatever “golden touch” he had 10-15 years ago while at Florida. But it’s LONG GONE now!
And his son (Steve Jr.) would be lucky to be be an assistant at Ben Lippen if he wasn’t named Spurrier. And I hear that Scottie is next in line for Defensive Coordinator. Hopefully there is no height requirement like there is for rides at the fair!
When Spurrier leaves in a year or two, will Steve Spurrier Jr. get the head coaching job?? I heard that this is part of spurrier’s contract.
You know it’s funny I remember thinking for 40 years, when does the blowout begin, and I’ve swilled through many. We don’t think that anymore, maybe because we now run with any team in the strongest conference in the country and expect victory (as we should, just not used too) so I think we have progressed in that sense…Think about it, that’s a change….although Florida is coming, and I don’t think it will be a blowout. This stuff unfortunately takes time…I may not have it but Go Cocks.
SCOOTY FOR O C AFTER ALL HE HAS SEEN FOR LAST 5 YEARS WHAT DOESNT WORK
SOS SHOULD TRY COACHING FROM THE BOX AT LEAST HE CANT EMBARASS US ALL ON NATIONAL TV
USCVietnamWarVet—Tony Robbins may have said “to continue to do the same thing the same way over and over and expect different results” is the definition of insanity, but that quote was made by Albert Einstein. Other people on this message board are making idiot statements too…..why should a great recruit want to be part of USC with loyal fans like yourselves. I’m sure Steve Spurrier knows more about what going in college football than all you pea brains totaled together. We’re one of the 3/4 youngest teams in the country…we’re playing in the toughest conference in the country…we played two SEC teams on the road and were a touchdown underdog, according to Vegas, but you guys think we should have won both. Tenn. should have beat Alabama and almost beat Florida…..yea, and both those games were on the road. In two years we’ll be smacking people if idiots like you don’t have us torn down by then. Tony Robbins would tell you to lose your negative thoughts and concentrate on the positives…like the young talent we have and what’s coming. GO COCKS !!!
we had better start looking at the defense when we set back and dare a fine passer to throw the ball by running a 3 man line . no pressure means a completion.
spurrier had his qb so confused…changing plays causing garcia to run around like a chicken with his head cut off…then delay of game…come on…quit brow beating your team and saying how bad they are…
BOO HOO HOO! It’s the same old sad sobbing every November with you losers and yet by next August all you delusional tards will have convinced yourselves that “This is our year!”. Spurless is making a fool out of y’all just like Lou did and just like Tammy did us. Have the rent ready on the 28th losers;that pathetic excuse for a defense and special teams will be the springboard needed to get CJ the Heisman. 65-37-4….soon to be 66-37-4
OK all of you “let’s get rid of Spurrier” people… just who do you think we can bring in that would do a better job? Spurrier has done a very good job, just not great. We all want great. I’ve got to believe that we’re a year away from great. Exactly what I expected this year. We are an extremely young team that has battled injuries all year. Go back and look at everyone’s preseason predictions. Most said 6-6. Some said 7-5 or 5-7. We still have a chance at 8-4. Quit the bashing and start supporting your team and coach!
Should have stuck with Skippy Holtz!
By the way Mullet (excellent name for a Tater), just because you managed to beat a BAD Florida State team at home I wouldn’t start beating my chest. You’ve played one good team all year. Spiller is a great player, but that’s all you’ve got.