Oct. 13, 2015
Steve Spurrier has stepped down as head football coach of the University of South Carolina as announced on Tuesday at a press conference in the Zone at Williams-Brice Stadium. Shawn Elliott has been named interim head coach effective immediately.
University President Dr. Harris Pastides, Athletics Director Ray Tanner, Coach Spurrier & Coach Elliott all spoke at today’s press conference. Here are their comments.
Athletics Director Ray Tanner
Opening Statement
Thank you Steve [Fink] and thank all of you for being here today. I’d like to begin by apologizing to many of my friends in the media, I received numerous calls and texts last night that I was unable to answer as is customary. I don’t give a lot of information, but it is not customary that I don’t acknowledge your communication so I hope that you will forgive me for that.
Back in 2004 on November 23, Coach Steve Spurrier became our head football coach at this university and he quickly asked the question why not us – he then proceeded to answer the question with a great career. He changed our culture, our championship mentality and became the winningest coach in the history of the program. While his accolades and statistics are great he has always been about more than winning games. He’s always been about family-first that he has exhibited in his immediate family and in our Gamecock Family. Often you would see him at Coach Staley’s games, at Coach Holbrook’s games and other events. Matter of fact, when Coach Staley qualified for the Final Four my first phone call was from Coach Spurrier, he said, “You know, I am gonna need me a ticket down there in Tampa”. So I said, “We’ve got you covered.”
We are honored and blessed that Coach Spurrier has been with us for this length of time and has made such an impact on this school and on our athletics department. He has been an inspiration to us all. While he has been a great coach, he has been a great friend to all of us, and a great colleague, Thank you Coach Spurrier. Now I would like to introduce our president here at Carolina, President Pastides.
President Dr. Harris Pastides
Opening Statement
Thank you Coach Tanner. It is hard to imagine and say it isn’t so, but the end of the Steve Spurrier era of Carolina Football is upon us. I’ll introduce the head ball coach in a few moments but let me attempt, as Coach Tanner did, for just a few moments I promise to try to quantify what Steve Spurrier has meant to USC football, athletics and to the entire Gamecock Nation. As Ray said, Coach Spurrier arrived here on November the 23rd 2004 the 32nd head football coach in the university. At 86-49 at USC, the winningest coach in USC history overall at 228-89-2 a 71.8 percent winning percentage. Coach Spurrier and Coach Bear Bryant have the most coaching victories, at two different Southeastern Conference schools. Three 11-win seasons, who can ever forget that. 33 (wins) in the 2011,12, 13 football seasons ranked among the most victories of any college football team over that period. I put out for you my three 11-win season championship rings, all of them resulting in a major bowl victory as well as well as the SEC Eastern Division Championship ring that I am so proud to bring to games with me.
Over the past 10 years, Carolina ranks 24th among all major football programs and the most wins over that decade. In 2013, as you all know, we finished fourth in both major football polls and we won the Palmetto Bowl five times in a row. Nine bowl appearances at USC, Steve was named SEC coach of the year in 2005, his first season and again in 2010 and he has won that honor seven different times. Overall nine times Coach of the Year between the ACC and SEC. He leads the active coaches today in the number of players picked by the NFL draft, 36 from the University of South Carolina, 104 draftees over his lifetime and 27 active players now in the NFL.
All of that doesn’t tell the complete story of what Coach Spurrier has meant to our university and Gamecock nation. He gave us our swagger, our pride and our Sandstorm enthusiasm and that will be coach Spurrier’s legacy for his lifetime. Along with Coach Tanner, we broke through that glass ceiling of success. You could see it, but you couldn’t really touch it or have it and now Carolina fans worldwide want to have it and that is something we’re never going to lose either. So on behalf of our Board of Trustees, who are here with us today, and the entire Gamecock Nation let me tell you that I asked Coach Spurrier to consider staying until the end of the season. We spoke two times yesterday he will tell you more about that in his own words. He thought that this was the right decision not only for himself but for the team and for the University of South Carolina so without any future a due our Head Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier.
Steve Spurrier
Opening Statement
First of all, I’m resigning not retiring. Let’s get that straight, I doubt I’ll ever be a head coach again, but I may be coaching a high school team or something. Don’t say I’m retiring from coaching completely because who knows what’s going to come in the future. The last several years as I’ve traveled around the country and visiting guys, I always get asked, how much longer are you going to coach, and my answer is always the same. As long as we keep winning, keep winning bowl games, everybody’s happy, we’re ranked, I guess I’ll stick around and if it starts going south and starts getting bad then I need to get out. You can’t keep a head coach that’s been doing this as long as I have when it’s headed in the wrong direction. Really today when I move over today, and Shawn Elliott takes over as interim head coach, we’re going to rebuild the program where we were two years ago. It was only two years ago we were 11-2 and were ranked number 4 in the country, but we slipped, and it’s my fault, I’m the head coach and I’m responsible and it’s time for me to get out of the way and let someone else have a go at it. Shawn will bring some energy, enthusiasm and passion that our team will accept. We’ll all be proud of how the guys play on Saturday, I’m looking forward to watching it myself.
The part about why right now, like the president said, why can’t you finish out the year and just announce that this is your last year. Well I don’t think that really works out well, when the players know you’re not going to be their coach after such and such a time you just don’t have that accountability I think. And also, it gives us the chance to hire an interim coach and gives him the chance to make his mark on these next 6 weeks. I think the team needs to hear a new voice and a new message from another coach, and I think Sean’s going to do that and do an outstanding job. Hopefully this will all go well, and a lot of coaches on the staff will be on the staff next year. But this gives us a little time to start rebuilding.
Yesterday I was told I’m a recruiting liability. It’s hard to recruit when you’re a coach that’s done it a long time, and is at a certain age, the recruits want to know you’re going to be around for 5-10 years from now. With a new coach coming, I think we’re going to be changing the message and recruiting is going to pick up, I really believe that. We’ve got a new message and the rebuilding process is going to be in place.
Just looking back, I want to thank Mike McGee and Dr. (Andrew) Sorensen. Mike McGee hired me with Dr. Sorensen’s approval back in ’04. I think I was the best coach for this job 11 years ago, but not today and that’s the cycle of coaching. Sometimes you run your course, and pass it to the next guy, and that’s where we are today. But I thank those guys and Athletic Director Eric Hyman. He did a super job fundraising for all these great facilities and Coach Tanner and President Pastides have finished it up. Facilities wise, we’re as good as any other team in the country and this place is ready to take off again real soon I believe. But I do believe that it’s important for me to step aside and let the building back process to take over. That’s what I’m doing today, stepping aside. I’m still going to be around town. One of the players asked Coach Tanner to ask me to come by practice today and I said I’ll come by practice, I’ll be there working out. I’ll just be the former head ball coach. I’ll be around, but I just think this is the best thing for Carolina football for our University to start another building process, and we have an excellent interim coach, excellent coaching staff and it’s their turn to have a go at it and see what they can do. That’s pretty simply it. It’s time for me to move on, and South Carolina to start rebuilding. I also want to say thanks to the South Carolina fans, they’ve received me and my family and my wife Jerri, it was the biggest reason for whatever success I’ve had as a Coach here. She has class today, she’s getting a psychology degree and going to graduate in December, so she didn’t have time for this silly little press conference.
Media Q&A With Steve Spurrier
On what was the moment that he knew he needed to go ahead and get out
Pretty much Sunday morning, I went to go talk to Coach Tanner Sunday afternoon. Actually, when we were 2-2 I called him up and said `Coach, I’m going to try and get through this season, but I sense that this is about it for me. Central Florida, it was a struggle against those guys. We came into halftime behind and it was a struggle and I said I don’t know if I need to continue having these kinds of struggles. We talked briefly then, and then we talked briefly this past Sunday. When something is inevitable, I believe you do it right then. You don’t wait a week, you don’t wait two weeks, this has to happen. Let’s do it. Let’s do it and get it started in a new direction.
On his greatest accomplishment here at South Carolina
I can rattle off a lot of firsts that we achieved here, the President talked about a few of them. I think the one that I personally liked was the 18-straight home wins… it was pretty special, I think, and our fans had so much to do with that. I would say that’s my favorite.
On his personal feelings with stepping down
I feel like this day was coming, its inevitable its coming. I didn’t plan on going out this way, I planned on being on the shoulder pads of the team coming out the Georgia Dome with an SEC championship but that didn’t work out. We did win our division down in The Swamp, that was neat back then, but I just think it’s best for everybody, especially our team, our school, that I get out of the way now. Lets start in a new direction. … You plan for it a little bit. Nothing goes on forever. I’ve gone on a lot longer than most people so I’ve been blessed way beyond my wildest expectations. It’s time to take on the adventure of the next part of my life, so Jerri and I are looking forward to it. I think she’s looking forward to it, but I’m not sure.
Ray Tanner Introduces Shawn Elliott
Thank you Coach Spurrier. I’m in the midst of my fourth year (as athletics director). I feel being a former coach was very important with my relationship with Coach Spurrier, we have always had great conversation and great dialog and as this time is approaching us we continue to visit from time to time and on Sunday I felt strongly that he made a decision that he was going to step aside. (I) converged with Dr. Pastides, our board chair Eugene Warr, and we had some dialog and I continued to talk to Coach Spurrier. Then yesterday, when he told me what his plans were existing with this team, I did take the time to visit with him and I said, ‘Coach I know you understand this and we need to move forward I’d like to share some conversations with you.’ At that time I knew we would need to bring one of our current coaches in the position to be the interim head coach. We talked about it a little bit, he made it very clear to me that, ‘I am not going to endorse one of my coaches, that’s your job,’ but we talked about some of his coaches and last night after he visited with his team, I was at his team meeting with his coaches and then I proceeded, along with Charles Waddell, our Deputy Athletics director, we proceeded to visit with a number of coaches until late in the evening about trying to make a decision that would be best for our student-athletes and our program. Just before midnight, I had the opportunities to visit with Skai Moore, Mike Matulis, Isaiah Johnson, and Pharoh Cooper, who are our team captains. They got over to the Rice just before midnight and we had a great conversation and soon there after I made the call to Shawn Elliott that Id like to ask him to be our interim head coach. He very quickly and passionately accepted and we are excited about all the characteristics and the integrity that he brings to this program and has for a number of years so please join me in welcoming Shawn Elliott.
Shawn Elliott
Opening Statement
Thank you President Pastides and Coach Tanner. I can tell you this time yesterday I was not thinking of standing here before you and becoming the interim head coach here at the University of South Carolina. What I can tell you today, is that I’m extremely excited about the opportunity we have here. I just want to thank Coach Spurrier, six years ago he hired me, and took a chance and brought me here to Carolina, and made some great memories. So I just want to say thank you Coach for all you’ve done. To the University of South Carolina, the players, the students, the staff, we’re moving forward. We have one goal in mind. I walked in this morning, I said to our staff, the goal is to win, this week. Win today, win tomorrow, win the next day and beat Vanderbilt. We’ve got a lot of great players here and great support staff, coaches and administrators. Our team is not in shambles as some might say. We’ve got a great group of energetic young men who are ready to go out there and lay it down on the line. I’m not sure at this point that the change is what they needed, but the change is what they’ve gotten at this point. And I’m going to take my opportunity, our opportunity that we have as a coaching staff, and we’re going to move forward. And we’re going to do everything we can to make the University of South Carolina proud of this football program. We’re going to work our tails off tirelessly I can promise you that. I’m not up here to say we’re going to guarantee wins and this is going to change. But this is a great opportunity for our staff our team and our fan base and University as a whole, to come together and rally around this football team and see what happens. So with that being said, beat Vanderbilt.”
On the difficulty to keep the team’s attention on the game this week
It’s going to be tough, but you have to address that early and make sure that the goal in mind is to win. Our football team understands that winning makes them feel pretty good, and they want to win badly, along with our coaches and our university. It’s important to get this behind us, move ahead and have a great practice today. It’s not business as usual, this doesn’t happen every day, there’s going to be things we’re going to have to do. We’re going to have some distractions, but how we get over those distractions are going to dictate how we play on Saturday and I think we’ll be just fine.
On the opportunity to be a head coach
It’s hard to say, certainly I didn’t want it to come in this circumstance but I’m thrilled to death to lead the University of South Carolina whether it’s for one game, six games, I can tell you what we’re going to fight hard. This staff has got a lot of stuff to us and we’re going to come out swinging and I think this team will rally behind us.
On the pressure to follow Coach Spurrier
It’s a little different circumstance, if you were coming in as a newly hired coach potentially after he had retired at the end of the year but he’s a great man, a wonderful football coach. I just want to lead, make him proud and win a ball game.
On whether he will continue to talk with Coach Spurrier
Are you kidding me? The experience speaks for itself. I need help, our coaches need help, our players need help. We need suggestions from the best in the business. Though he may step away, there’s going to be a phone call or two. We’re all in this together, there’s no expert right now. We need guidance, we’re going to have great ideas but we’re going to need to bounce them off coach. He may be stepping away but he’s not too far away.
On the team’s talent level
I think we’ve got good talent. We’ve got to put a consistent game together, when you go back and reflect on our LSU game and you see our first half there you looked at basically two equal teams playing. If we put four quarters together, who knows? We’ve got a lot of hearts and great individuals that play for us, and some have got to step up. We’ve got to have some input and some extra efforts from some individuals on our football team, and our coaches. But we can fight with anyone in the SEC.
Do you feel more prepared to take over based on the hall of fame coaches you have worked with?
They taught me how to win, how to treat people, `Xs and Os’, I’ve had an opportunity to work with (Appalachian State coach) Jerry Moore and now Steve Spurrier, both of these guys, hall of fame guys. It’s an unbelievable feeling to know that you can gather knowledge from two of the best in the business. Certainly they’ve had a huge influence on my background and my coaching attributes. Without a doubt, they’ve molded my career.
Media Q&A With Ray Tanner
On timetable for final decision…
I’m not going to give you a definite timetable, but obviously this is a sense of urgency as we move forward as Coach Elliott takes over as interim head coach. He is certainly considered a candidate as we move forward, but it’ll be a very extensive and national search in a timely manner.
On if there will be a committee…
I’ve never liked that comment, `I’m a one-man search committee’, so that will not be the case, there is an advisory committee that is being formed. Certainly we’ll work close with President Pastides and Chairman Ward, Charles Waddell. We will work closely together and we will have an advisory group, and certainly I will console a lot of people as we move forward. It is going to be thorough, it is important and we are excited about where we will go in the future. I am excited today for Coach Elliott and the passion that he has for this team and the respect he has from his coaches and his players. As I said, I visited with the captains late last night and that was a very special meeting for me in my tenure – one of the things that I will remember the most, and will move forward. We have a lot to be excited about in this university there is a lot of passion and enthusiasm and I expect us to move forward.
On easier to hire the position after Spurrier reputation…
I think it is okay to say easier, the impact that Coach Spurrier has made on this program the minute he came here as a coach he did give a lot of credibility that maybe we were lacking. He gave us a swagger that has been mentioned. He helped change the culture and he won at a high level. I was a coach at the time and I remember telling my assistant coaches, `Men, today we got better,’ because the brand Coach Spurrier brought here impacted us all, and we are in a better place than we ever have been. I had someone call me in the wee hours and tell me `You are in a great position.’ I said, `Really?’ he said `Yes, you have the opportunity to attract one of the best head coaches in the country if you don’t have one already’. So I do think that what Coach Spurrier has meant to all of us has impacted us and will be able to carry that forward.
On being limited with hires halfway through the season…
I don’t know if limited is the right word, I think there is a professional protocol that needs to be in place, which I will do my best to be a part of that. I know today, if Coach Elliott will allow me, I am going to visit with the football team and I am going to share some remarks with them that might be part administrator part coach but that’s where we are so we’ll do the best we can with it. I am excited about where we are today. I know under Coach Elliott’s leadership there will be fire and passion and intensity and he going to try to get these players in the right place. I know, I am 100 percent confident that our players are going to rally in a big way.
On top priorities for new head coach…
I am not going to limit myself to assistant coaches, head coaches, NFL coaches, long time college coaches or anything. It is important that we find the best person with passion and dedication to perform at a high level in a very competitive conference in the Southeastern Conference. Certainly integrity. My roots are heavy, I love Columbia and the University of South Carolina. I want somebody to be like that, I want somebody that fits that role. While somebody’s resume may be better, I think it is important that we hire someone with the roots that fit about who we are.
