What Marcus Lattimore attributes to South Carolina's winning culture under Steve Spurrier
The newest episode to the podcast series “BLEAV in South Carolina” with me, Marcus Lattimore, and Nick Klos on the BLEAV Network is live.
On this week’s episode, we discussed a handful of topics related to summer training. This included the advantages Lattimore believes the Gamecocks have from training in the Columbia heat to what skills a successful strength and conditioning coach must have.
But during the “Ask Marcus Lattimore Anything” segment towards the end of the show, he was asked a question by Gamecock Central subscriber Zbark4. They asked, “what do think makes a winning culture and how did (Steve) Spurrier build those past teams?”
“His reputation spoke a lot for itself,” said Lattimore. “He brought his swag, himself, (and) a confidence.”
Lattimore then began listing qualities he recalled from his time at South Carolina. A time that saw the winningest stretch of football in program history.
“What is that strength (and conditioning) staff like? Are players holding each other accountable? As a coach, have you done a good job of giving the leaders (on the team) ownership?
Subscribe to BLEAV in South Carolina HERE
But what takes place on the field is just a small part of it.
“What’s happening outside the walls when they’re not there? Do they hangout? They don’t have to be best friends but do they have a relationship with each other? Do they trust each other? Trust – it’s what Beamer’s building. That’s for certain. The name of life is responding to adversity so being a resilient team. How do you gel and be resilient? (It’s) trust and being close. Knowing that guy has your back.”
The last two Lattimore mentioned go without saying: hard work and some luck with staying healthy.
“Conditioning. From a physical aspect can we endure? Can we endure the trenches of the SEC? I’m speaking directly to culture. I’m speaking directly to a winning culture in the SEC. Can you endure it because it’s grueling. My body couldn’t endure it. That’s something that can be trained in the mind and the body.”
