Steve Spurrier Quotations

But as coaches, we need to get a little more fire and passion and be more demanding that our guys get the job done. I think players will respond to that, and we'll see.

I don't want to coach too far into my 60s. By then, I'll be playing golf four or five times a week.

So, I didn't say we are going to win a lot, but we are going to play like winners, and we've got a plan in place to teach our guys how to play like winners and play like a champion.

Number three, we're going to play very smart and we're not going to beat ourselves. If the other team is better than us and they just out execute us and play better then we can live with that, but we're going to play smart and give ourselves every opportunity to win the game.

Number four, we're going to play like winners, play the game the way it's meant to be played. Don't get full of yourself if something good happens. Don't get too depressed when something bad happens.

I really believe everything is here for us to be very successful.

All I can say is that I'm going to try to coach the way I've coached in the past. And if it ends up not being good enough, then so be it.

So I don't really believe that how many years you've had in the league determines how well your players play... Coaching is coaching.

Number two, we're going to play with a lot of effort. Our guys are going to be in such good shape that fatigue is not going to be a problem. We're going to play with full effort from snap to whistle on every play the entire game.

But at some point, we've got to have disciplined play and have got to coach better. I'm not putting it on the players. We've got to coach them to tackle and block better. It's as simple as that. If we can do those things, we'll have a chance.

We've got a support system that gives our players a wonderful opportunity to graduate. If they go to class and give good effort, they can graduate from this school, and I believe that's important when you go out recruiting.

What I've been telling everyone that loves Carolina football is that we are going to put a team out there that, number one, is in good shape. We're going to be fit, we are going to be able to play the whole game and we're not going to poop out.

I think I've got an outstanding defensive assistant staff that's really going to help us have consistent, strong defenses. And offensively, we have an excellent staff. We've got some younger guys on offense, but that's what I coach and have my entire coaching career.

I do have some young coaches, but I don't really believe that is the biggest problem we have here.

Obviously my last two years in the NFL were not much fun at all.

Our coaches want to be a part of South Carolina football when they win it for the first time. When they win the division, when they win the SEC, win a major bowl game, etc. The opportunities to do it all for the first time here make it extra special.

So you get two good hours on the field about every day, you get about an hour and a half in the meeting room and that's pretty much all you need to thoroughly coach your team.

When we'd win the SEC we'd get back late and Deano would keep it open for us,

We felt like Blake is much better prepared mentally, physically. He's had an excellent summer working out, and it's clear to all of us here that he's our best guy to go out there. So when it's obvious, we've named him the starter. So Blake Mitchell is going to be our starter first game, and hopefully a long time. We'll go from there. Back-ups we don't know yet, we're trying a lot of guys right there. But Blake's earned it and he's our starter.

We're just looking at him over there, see if he can help us there. He'll probably be back at defense the next day or two.

We're not a great passing team because our quarterback is not a scrambler and our protection is pretty good, not super, so we have to pick our spots, we just can't fire it 35, 40 times or something bad is going to happen,

To play a team like this and get your quarterback hit time after time after time

We've got area's where we think the freshmen are going to play. Don't want to name them but we've got to wait until they get here and see how fast they can learn.

We have some building to do. If you're not controlling the line of scrimmage, it's going to be tough. You have to at least break even along the line and obviously we're not doing that.

We'll be expecting a little bit of anything. When you have a team that has struggled and you need a big spark, what you would try to do is create some blitz to maybe hit the quarterback, cause a fumble, scoop it up and go score, get those kind of touchdowns.

We actually get along I think very well, ... I talk with Phil every time I see him.

What we know about them is they had a tough, struggling year last year, but that year is history.

We're actually trying to separate them a little bit. They need to be their own person a little bit more,

We're going home losers tonight, but I'm proud of our effort. What can I say? There were a lot of ifs and buts. We had a chance. We didn't get it done.

Let's just go play the game, ... and let the players decide who wins it. That's what we should all focus on this week.

Shows you how alert we were as a team. It was sad.

Sidney Rice is doing some good things. He is still learning how to play out there,

Sidney Rice and Blake and all those guys had some super performances, ... Sidney, you know they're trying to stop him. He's close to unstoppable. Everybody's stoppable but he's some player. Little Kenny McKinley made a bunch of key catches all over the place. It was a fun game. This was big for our football program and the University of South Carolina. Hopefully we can gain some confidence and build on it, and not let it get to us.

Sidney had a super game. He played his heart out. He made some big catches for us. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to win the game.

Sidney broke his thumb. He will not participate in the spring game, but should be at full speed for summer workouts.

Since the Gators didn't have to worry about that game last night, we decided we'd root for Auburn instead.

Six and five, ... We thought 6-5 would be a wonderful season for this team.

Obviously, we want to be in the top half every year, and maybe some year everything breaks right and we put together a team that can win it. That certainly is our goal for the future.

Maybe it's that we don't emphasize winning, we just emphasize playing the best you can.

Obviously, it didn't start off pretty at 2-3 and tied against Kentucky at halftime. The ball started bouncing our way, defense started getting some fumbles, making things happen and obviously the Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida games were fun for the entire team.

Obviously right now, ... no one's going to be scared of the Gamecocks.

If we didn't have a passing game, we didn't have a chance last night, ... If we didn't throw the ball successfully, we'd still be out there trying to score probably.

If they didn't fumble a lot, we might be out there in overtime,

I don't know exactly what our offense is going to look like, ... It should be very similar to what we did at Florida. We hope to be a balanced team with the run and the pass. We hope to be able to run the ball straight at teams, and if not, try to throw it over their heads.

Certainly that Georgia job is one of the best in the country.

Certainly now, if one player is not performing well, at any position, and you have another one who you feel can play as well or better, then you've got to give him a chance. I think Cade sort of put himself in position if the opportunity arises.

Certainly Carlos has an excellent chance of being a starting corner for us and really play well once he stays over there.

Certainly, Blake has improved. He has certainly learned what's going on, and he should play much, much better this year. I hope we have some coaches around here so our guys improve from one year to the next.

But that was encouraging because it was a hot day. The sun popped out the second half and I really think our conditioning

But every now and then if the situation arises where we need to get out of a play and do something else, I think he's ready to do that.

I have always thought the Vandy kids played pretty hard and I just thought they were a little short on talent. They have really improved their talent level and they are playing well. They are an extremely good team.

If Blake were completely out for three or four weeks, I think we'd play Cade and see what he can do. I really believe in his third, fourth, fifth year, he can really be an outstanding player here.

I can think of some that should have,

I found out it was a lot more fun hanging around the SEC than that other league I hung around for a couple years.

Freddie played better than we thought. He beat Fred Bennett on the first touchdown. You'd think with a freshman wide receiver and a guy who started about three years, Fred would eat him up. But he gave him a little stick step, and Cade threw it in there.

I don't understand it, ... I've seen it on the other side, and I've seen it on my team now. And I don't like it very well and don't have the answer to that.

Give them credit, they kicked our tails. No lead is safe for us.

If something happened that I pursued it and went after it, I would be trying to redo what we did in 12 years,

He's had a wonderful career here, a good guy who has played well. He's had a wonderful attitude all the way through. He's an upbeat, positive young man who is fun to be around.

I always liked visors but the sun hits you from all sides, and with this, you can really cover up,

He will probably be back on defense in the next day or two. I don't know where his best position is.

He is an excellent coach, an excellent recruiter and a good person. We think he will fit in extremely well here as he has in the past. He has a wonderful reputation as a coach and as a recruiter.

He'd tell his little corny jokes, we'd tell ours. Fans laugh, no big deal. But you tell one about Tennessee they think it's insulting or something, ... You'll never hear me complain about somebody telling a little corny joke about our team.

He dropped those in the early games and hasn't had many opportunities since. But he's played well. He's had to make a lot of tackles back there.

He does an awful lot around here. He's just going to handle it through February and then we'll go from there.

He looks like a big-time back. There's no question about that. He runs hard, has speed, catches the ball. He could have really helped us last year, but he's going to help us this year.

He needs to work on his tackling, like everybody else. He's a cover guy. He's quick and he should be fine back there.

He needs to get physically a little bigger and stronger. I'm afraid if he gets hit real hard we may be carrying him off the field.

We're probably going to give him a game ball come Wednesday when the team gets together. Bernard made tackles all over the place and was hustling around, playing his assignments probably as well as anybody on the team.

We've got to slow him down some. He looks like those linebackers that play at Georgia and Tennessee.

We threw one up, but we should have tackled the guy somewhere. We should have been able to run that guy down, but we couldn't do it. That was just one of the big plays in the game. Nah, 28-7 is no safe lead for us. We didn't force a punt in the second half, so it wasn't safe. They should have scored another touchdown.

We thought we had a chance to make history if the ball bounced our way, and it did.

To finish second in the SEC East is a wonderful season for our team. Obviously, we were not picked that high. To qualify for a bowl game, that was our big goal for our team. We felt it was achievable and realistic and our guys went out and won seven games to go to the bowl game.

He's a big target and catches everything. As a quarterback, those are the guys you like. He's got a chance to help us win big around here and has a chance to break some records because we're going to be firing.

He's a good runner. He gets his pads low and he's hard to tackle. He was player of the year in the state of Washington a couple years ago, so he's a good, solid back.

He said if it comes down to going for two early in the game, don't do it.

He's just going to play through it. We're going to stick with him. He's OK. Hopefully he can learn from it. That's what you almost have to do -- let a young guy go play and learn from this. He's got a lot of potential. But we can't ask him to throw 50 passes every game. That's for sure.

He's hitting too hard right now. We've got to slow him down some. He's a tough, good-looking inside linebacker.

He's a tough, good looking inside linebacker. He looks like those linebackers at Georgia and Tennessee and those other places.

He's a three-year starter going into his fourth year. That's amazing nowadays, a four-year starter. It just doesn't happen every day. Blake has no starts. None of our quarterbacks have played much at all, so it will be interesting. Hopefully, they'll play like they're capable.

Hopefully, we can go over and give the 'Dawgs a game.

Hopefully, we can get some things going to help emphasize the point that here's how we expect you to play and if you don't, the other guys are going to play, even if they're not as talented,

We look for each player to play his assignment and make a play or two. We're going to practice everybody about the same amount - mostly the younger guys, the guys who haven't played much, which is about the whole team. We're going to try to improve, try to get better.

He was given the day off. But he should be here tomorrow.

(He) was running around like he did last year (before the injury). He couldn't run like that in practice last season.

He can still play much better, that's what's encouraging. When he does it right, he can make all the throws.

He can run out of trouble, has excellent mobility. When the protection's a little suspect, like it is right now, he'd give us the best chance to win.

He contributes a lot. He's been a wonderful guy, does everything, weightlifting, been a good teammate for all the guys.

He contributes a lot, ... He's been a wonderful guy, does everything, weightlifting, been a good teammate for all the guys.

He kicked well in practice. We had to make a decision between him and Brett last week. Brett was healthy, so we went in that direction. But we were ready to go with Tuthill. We have a lot of confidence in him.

He knows our offensive about as well as anyone I could hire. He doesn't have a lot of experience coaching, but he's got a lot of experience in our offense. So I felt like he was certainly well qualified.

He is real sensitive to some of his colleagues in college, when a lot of people are saying he's going to get this job or that job. He doesn't want to be out there in August talking about that.

The only thing I think I got was a little humility to the fact that you have a greater appreciation for all coaches. Sometimes you can coach your heart out, hard as you can, and the other guy just may have a better team and better players.

It hurts more. You go on the road, nobody knows.

It hurts more. He's on his last chance around here. He knows it, and we'll see if he can make it.

I thought Blake played very well for his first performance, and, really, for any performance,

I thought we could make a field goal there.

I think it was best for all concerned. I had already done my things there and I left, and to do it again wouldn't have made sense for me or for Florida. So I hope people can realize it was time to move on. I feel fortunate South Carolina offered me a chance here to try to do some things that have never been done before. Almost every victory around here is the first time that ever happened.

It got sticky there in the fourth quarter,

I think today gave him a little more confidence. He threw the ball with authority most of the day.