http://www.mrsec.com/2010...rs-assistant-out-to-dry/
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<h2 class="postinfo">September 29th, 2010 ? Posted By: John Pennington ? Permalink ?
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Steve
Spurrier isn’t a happy camper following his Gamecocks’ first loss of
the season. As a result, he’s opening up in the press. And in
traditional Spurrier fashion, he’s not worrying about hurting anyone’s
feelings, either.<br align="left"><br align="left">For instance:<br align="left"><br align="left"><br align="left">* Regarding his team,
Spurrier said: “When losing begins to hurt these guys as much as it
hurts some us, we’ll have a good team here at South Carolina. But I’m
not convinced losing hurts these guys much, or else they’d play better.
They would really play their assignments and play better. They’re
either not smart enough to play or losing doesn’t hurt — one or the
other, because they’re big, strong guys.” <br align="left"><br align="left">In other words, it’s not the coaches, it’s the players. (And it may well be.)<br align="left"><br align="left"><br align="left">* It seems Spurrier also wants to motivate new offensive line coach Shawn Elliott.
Asked about solutions for his team’s poor pass protection, Spurrier
said: “I don’t have an answer. You need to ask Coach Elliott on that.
Maybe we just can’t block guys well enough to allow our quarterbacks to
stand back there for a long time. That’s why we’ve got to run it and
mix it up.” He also complemented Auburn O-line coach Jeff Grimes in
what was a not-so-veiled zinger at his own assistant. “Those Auburn
guys played pretty well, didn’t they? They blocked. Their guys could
block. I don’t know who their line coach is, but he’s a hell of a
coach.”<br align="left"><br align="left">In other words, it not me, but it could be a few of my coaches. (And it may well be.)<br align="left"><br align="left"><br align="left">Steve Spurrier never learned how to handle losing. <br align="left"><br align="left">That
has been true of him at every step of his career. Oh, sure, when SEC
Media Days rolls around he’ll poormouth himself and say he hasn’t won
enough to pop off like he used to, etc, etc. But in the heat of the
moment — when losses are fresh — he runs at the mouth. And he blames.
The players. The assistants. Everyone but him.<br align="left"><br align="left">Now
he’ll cool back off. By the time the Alabama game comes around it’s
likely he’ll even be trying to shoulder some of the responsibility for
what happened at Auburn. (Like, I don’t know, maybe putting in a
freshman quarterback for the final drives of a 35-27 game on the road.)
But the Ol’ Ball Coach has never been a good loser. Maybe that’s part
of the reason he’s been such a big winner over the years.<br align="left"><br align="left">What
I do know is that if one of the less media-loved coaches in the
conference had just backed the bus up over his players and his O-line
coach, someone would be asking why he himself is not taking more of the
responsibility.<br align="left"><br align="left">And for the record, I like Spurrier. I just think he acts 15 — not 65 — when his team loses.
