July 14, 2008

Spurrier to retire after this season?

Sometimes you read something and it becomes so intriguing that -- whether it is factual or not -- it just sets your mind a racin'. (And that's not hard to do for me... ever, really... but particularly during the summer!)

Case in point:

Pat Forde of ESPN.com throws out this prediction for 2008....

A superstar coach in the SEC will resign/retire. The league's coaching ranks have become too crowded with A-listers for everyone to survive. Five guys have won national titles: LSU's Les Miles, Florida's Urban Meyer, Alabama's Nick Saban, Tennessee's Phil Fulmer and South Carolina's Steve Spurrier. A sixth (Auburn's Tommy Tuberville) has a 13-0 record on his resume. Three more (Georgia's Mark Richt, Arkansas' Bobby Petrino and Mississippi's Houston Nutt) have at least one 10-win season. One guy (Kentucky's Rich Brooks) has taken a team to the Rose Bowl. And we haven't even mentioned the league's reigning coach of the year (Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom). That leaves one school -- Vanderbilt, natch -- without a coach who has some big-time bragging rights on his resume.

Problem is, not all the big winners can win big. And when this season is over, the guess here is that someone will decide (or be convinced) that it's time to get out of the sausage factory. Leading candidates: Fulmer and Spurrier.

Now that's just too juicy not to explore.

While Ford theorizes that it could be Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer who takes a seat after this season, I think Fulmer is relatively secure in Knoxville after landing a ginormous contract this summer. It's also worth mentioning that Fulmer -- who is just 58 years old -- is just 27 wins behind Neyland at UT, so I'm not inclined to think that Fulmer is headed out the door on his own. Even if the Vols lay an egg this year, Fulmer has the first-year coordinator excuse to play as a "get out of jail" free card. No... I think Fulmer will be back on the sidelines in 2009.

Which leads us to the Ol' Ball Coach....

At 63, Spurrier is entering his fourth season at South Carolina, but it already feels like the OBC is stepping away from the Gamecocks. Spurrier has given up his clipboard and passed almost all of the play calling duties to Steve Spurrier Jr. Florida fans may recall Spurrier's statements back in Gainesville that he didn't plan to coach past age 60. But... three years later... when pressed on his future, Spurrier wouldn't commit to any timetable, but indicated that he wants to see his current classes through.

The reality of the Gamecocks situation is that USC is likely facing another mediocre, six-win season and -- after watching Spurrier sigh through press conferences last season -- it's hard to imagine that the OBC wouldn't rather be playing golf than trudging through another meaningless season at South Carolina.

Ford's comments were scatter-shooting... just throwing something up to see if it sticks. But... well, it will be interesting to see if we've got any spaghetti on the wall come December.

Posted by Kevin Donahue

Comments:

Spurrier to retire after this season?
Sometimes you read something and it becomes so intriguing that -- whether it is factual or not -- it just sets your mind a racin'. (And that's not hard to do for me... ever, really... but particularly during the summer!) Case in point: Pat Forde of ESPN.com throws out this prediction for 2008....
A superstar coach in the SEC will resign/retire. The league's coaching ranks have become too crowded with A-listers for everyone to survive. Five guys have won national titles: LSU's Les Miles, Florida's Urban Meyer, Alabama's Nick Saban, Tennessee's Phil Fulmer and South Carolina's Steve Spurrier. A sixth (Auburn's Tommy Tuberville) has a 13-0 record on his resume. Three more (Georgia's Mark Richt, Arkansas' Bobby Petrino and Mississippi's Houston Nutt) have at least one 10-win season. One guy (Kentucky's Rich Brooks) has taken a team to the Rose Bowl. And we haven't even mentioned the league's reigning coach of the year (Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom). That leaves one school -- Vanderbilt, natch -- without a coach who has some big-time bragging rights on his resume. Problem is, not all the big winners can win big. And when this season is over, the guess here is that someone will decide (or be convinced) that it's time to get out of the sausage factory. Leading candidates: Fulmer and Spurrier.
Now that's just too juicy not to explore. While Ford theorizes that it could be Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer who takes a seat after this season, I think Fulmer is relatively secure in Knoxville after landing a ginormous contract this summer. It's also worth mentioning that Fulmer -- who is just 58 years old -- is just 27 wins behind Neyland at UT, so I'm not inclined to think that Fulmer is headed out the door on his own. Even if the Vols lay an egg this year, Fulmer has the first-year coordinator excuse to play as a "get out of jail" free card. No... I think Fulmer will be back on the sidelines in 2009. Which leads us to the Ol' Ball Coach.... At 63, Spurrier is entering his fourth season at South Carolina, but it already feels like the OBC is stepping away from the Gamecocks. Spurrier has given up his clipboard and passed almost all of the play calling duties to Steve Spurrier Jr. Florida fans may recall Spurrier's statements back in Gainesville that he didn't plan to coach past age 60. But... three years later... when pressed on his future, Spurrier wouldn't commit to any timetable, but indicated that he wants to see his current classes through. The reality of the Gamecocks situation is that USC is likely facing another mediocre, six-win season and -- after watching Spurrier sigh through press conferences last season -- it's hard to imagine that the OBC wouldn't rather be playing golf than trudging through another meaningless season at South Carolina. Ford's comments were scatter-shooting... just throwing something up to see if it sticks. But... well, it will be interesting to see if we've got any spaghetti on the wall come December.