An excerpt from The Spurrier Effect: How One Coach Transformed Gamecock Football

[Kevin Miller]

An excerpt from The Spurrier Effect: How One Coach Transformed Gamecock Football

The Spurrier Effect, a book chronicling Steve Spurrier's time leading South Carolina football, comes out in August. Here is an excerpt.

www.on3.com

For those who may have missed it, along with my co-author Brent Silvia and USC Press, I am happy to announce that The Spurrier Effect will release on August 18. The book chronicles Steve Spurrier's entire tenure as the head coach of the South Carolina football program, including a look at every game of that era and plenty of behind-the-scenes information. Connor Shaw wrote the foreword, and Coach Spurrier walked with us throughout the entire process.

This is an excerpt from the book. We hope you enjoy it (and the entire book) as much as we enjoyed writing it. As Coach told us: "It sure was a good story to tell."

For anyone interested in pre-ordering the book, you can do so on Amazon, USC Press, and various other online outlets. It will be available in-store in August. Brent and I will be joining Coach Spurrier in Gainesville for the Carolina-Florida game this October, where the Head Ball Coach will be signing books at his restaurant, Spurrier's Gridiron Grille. We are in the process of setting up something similar in Columbia, and we are working to get Connor Shaw in town, too.

This has been a long time coming, and I'm so excited to share this with all of you.

 

[bayrooster]

"The book chronicles Steve Spurrier's entire tenure as the head coach of the South Carolina football program, including a look at every game of that era and plenty of behind-the-scenes information."

Including the reversal of that success beginning with his ignominious departure? I'll always be grateful for him getting us three 11 win seasons and beating Clemson 5 times in a row, but I'll also continue to be salty about how it ended.

Good luck with the book!

 

[Piscis]

Is the "Spurrier Effect" when a head coach becomes so disgusted and disillusioned with the team he coaches that he quits on the team mid season?

I liken Spurrier's tenure at SC to a marriage that starts off happy, has some great years and then, when things aren't going perfectly, one spouse walks out.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Looking forward to this release. Have it marked on the calendar and it’ll be a great read leading into Football Season.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I would edit the title "How one coach temporarily transformed Gamecock football".

Our metamorphosis under Spurrier was glorious but short-lived, and we ended up worse off when he left than before he arrived.

 

[PrestonyteParrot]

Gamecock fans continue paying for those 3 eleven win seasons and 5 straight over Clemtech as they ''gobble'' up this book and pad the wallet of SOS. Not that I'm not happy he came and made us relevant, although briefly and at his convenience.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Gamecock fans continue paying for those 3 eleven win seasons and 5 straight over Clemtech as they ''gobble'' up this book and pad the wallet of SOS. Not that I'm not happy he came and made us relevant, although briefly and at his convenience.

At the peak of that run, following the conclusion of the 2013 season, I told a Clemson friend of mine "I don't think we'll ever go back to being a 6 or 7 win type team." I really bought in. By far, that's the dumbest thing I ever said.

 

[Go Gamecocks]

Is the "Spurrier Effect" when a head coach becomes so disgusted and disillusioned with the team he coaches that he quits on the team mid season?

And he did almost the same thing @ Redskins. We knew he was a risk for that when we hired him.
Being salty isn't a great character trait.

 

[BrentSilvia]

I would edit the title "How one coach temporarily transformed Gamecock football".

Our metamorphosis under Spurrier was glorious but short-lived, and we ended up worse off when he left than before he arrived.

Not quite sure your edit would be great for marketing.

 

[BrentSilvia]

Gamecock fans continue paying for those 3 eleven win seasons and 5 straight over Clemtech as they ''gobble'' up this book and pad the wallet of SOS. Not that I'm not happy he came and made us relevant, although briefly and at his convenience.

"Pad the wallet of SOS"?

Lordy mercy, I'd love to see your reaction if you knew how book royalties worked. Nobody's wallet is getting padded here. We just wanted to tell a story.

 

[PrestonyteParrot]

"Pad the wallet of SOS"?

Lordy mercy, I'd love to see your reaction if you knew how book royalties worked. Nobody's wallet is getting padded here. We just wanted to tell a story.

Wait for the movie rights

 

[BrentSilvia]

Wait for the movie rights

As long as it isn't the crew that did the Clemson movie a few years back, I'm in.

 

[Wincocks84]

It was a great time no doubt, although not initially and certainly not at the end. Couple that ending with our collapse and Clemson's rise to elite status with multiple championships and playoff appearances, and I've all but forgotten his tenure.

 

[Gradstudent_rivals30147]

I've all but forgotten his tenure.

Not me, I watched the Alabama game highlights the other day, but maybe your not a Gamecock fan, not sure how a Gamecock fan that followed us then would have forgotten those seasons and players and games. What filled your memory up the Mushamp years?

 

[18IsTheMan]

Not me, I watched the Alabama game highlights the other day, but maybe your not a Gamecock fan, not sure how a Gamecock fan that followed us then would have forgotten those seasons and players and games. What filled your memory up the Mushamp years?

I think Win was using some hyperbole there. Of course we all remember those years, but practically they are ancient history.

 

[Lurker123]

I think Win was using some hyperbole there. Of course we all remember those years, but practically they are ancient history.

I think of it this way, how depressing would it be without those years?

I also go back and watch game highlights on YouTube. Its a nice stroll down memory lane.

 

[Gradstudent_rivals30147]

I think Win was using some hyperbole there. Of course we all remember those years, but practically they are ancient history.

Could be, but since its their first post, hard to tell

 

[Piscis]

I think of it this way, how depressing would it be without those years?

I also go back and watch game highlights on YouTube. Its a nice stroll down memory lane.

Without those 3 years it would be like the other 131 years of SC football.

 

[bayrooster]

Without those 3 years it would be like the other 131 years of SC football.

That's mighty orange of you.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I think of it this way, how depressing would it be without those years?

I also go back and watch game highlights on YouTube. Its a nice stroll down memory lane.

I see clips from those seasons and it's bittersweet. It's fun to see how unbelievably talented we were. There was no discernible talent gap between us anyone else. Those teams could have gone toe-to-toe with just about anyone else in the country at the time. That's the sweet part.

The bitter part is that we goofed away each of those seasons with stupid losses and that we frittered away the successes, failing to build anything lasting out of it. We were worse off on the field when Spurrier quit than we were when he first arrived.

 

[Piscis]

That's mighty orange of you.

If by "orange", you mean realistic, yeah.

 

[stu1cocks]

Not me, I watched the Alabama game highlights the other day, but maybe your not a Gamecock fan, not sure how a Gamecock fan that followed us then would have forgotten those seasons and players and games. What filled your memory up the Mushamp years?

Wasn't that dominating win followed up by blowing a 2 TD halftime lead to Kentucky??

 

[kidrobinski]

Wasn't that dominating win followed up by blowing a 2 TD halftime lead to Kentucky??

You left out the part where we were still up by 7 inside two minutes left and gave up a touchdown on 4th and 34 to the only player they had on their team who we elected to leave uncovered. Then gave up the two point conversion to the same guy. Then we mismanaged the clock and panicked ourselves into a bone headed play call to end the game. Then threw Garcia under the bus like it was his fault. Yep, I remember that game.