Disorder- South Carolina

Steve Spurrier should have been fired. Immediately. Without pay. You would have been if it were you.

Yet Spurrier, who in his elevated god-like status in the SEC, is somehow above the law. Spurrier can come out and speak out in public against the policies of his school and threaten to leave if they’re not changed, and his boss changes the policies to placate him.
The University of South Carolina admissions department rejected two student-athletes whom Spurrier had recruited. In response, Spurrier was sent into an outrage and publicly threatened to quit unless the university took all steps to prevent this happening again.

The two freshmen, Michael Bowman of Wadesboro, N.C., and Arkee Smith of Jacksonville, Fla, met the lofty minimum expectations of the NCAA, but somehow did not meet the requirements the university had lowered even for its football players. And Steve Spurrier, in his job as leader and educator, threw a hissy fit that would get anyone of his former players fired when he’s out in the real world with a real job.

Is that the example I’d want my son to be taught under?

If the university had any balls, Spurrier would have been fired, just like you or me. Spurrier would have been kicked out that day. And if the state’s lawyers were smart enough, they’d be able to fire him without pay.

While he was once unquestionably one of the best coaches and role models for his student-athletes, in just one move, Spurrier has proven himself to be out of the loop and a detraction to the development of his young men. And because Steve Spurrier is worth more than the actual education process, the school’s president, Andrew Sorensen, has sided with the `Ol Ball Coach.

That’s wrong.

Spurrier’s rationale for his outburst is that his credibility is at stake. If he tells a kid that he can play football at South Carolina and then the kid cannot play football even though he qualifies by NCAA standards, Spurrier looks like a liar.

There are two ways to rectify that; either the university can lower its admission standards for football players or Spurrier could become more informed on whether or not the school will accept a player.

While it is unclear exactly which solution Spurrier desires, from his outburst, I’d have to guess the first. Spurrier is way too experienced to be out of the loop as to whether a player will be cleared by the admissions office.

No, Spurrier most likely assumed that the school would accept any player cleared by the NCAA regardless of whether or not they should be cleared by the school and didn’t even bother to check with the admissions office. I’m sure Florida accepted anyone Spurrier submitted.

And instead of talking in private to the school president and keeping matters in house, he let the entire country know that his colleagues in the admissions office needed to change their policies.

All because Spurrier didn’t get his way.

I had no idea that the `Ol Ball Coach was still a `Lil Baby.

If the University of South Carolina and president Andrew Sorensen had any dignity left, Steve Spurrier would have been immediately fired. If they had good lawyers, he might have been able to be fired without pay.

Instead, Spurrier is able to get away with comments detrimental to the university and its academic reputation. To boot, the president of the university sided with Spurrier. Athletics, of course, come before the actual purpose of the institution.

It doesn’t matter if Spurrier wants the standards lowered or just to be more in the loop; that’s a different story. What matters is that Spurrier threw a hissy fit, hurting the reputation of his school and himself in the process, and got his way.

And as the leader for the 100 Gamecocks under his watch, that makes him a very bad role model. Heck, it might make him the second-worst in college sports, ahead of only ex-Baylor men’s basketball coach Dave Bliss.

But the rules always change if your name is Steve Spurrier. In those cases, you can get away with anything. You can even get away with not doing your job.

I wouldn’t want Spurrier coaching my son, especially after how immature he’s shown himself to be. And I wouldn’t want my son going to the University of South Carolina, especially after how easily the university gave in.

In fact, I’m not sure why anyone would.