Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY SPORTS
In just over two months, Steve Spurrier will turn 70 years old. It doesn’t seem possible that someone known as the Old Ball Coach may finally be getting old.
Spurrier still looks young and is still going strong as the head coach of the South Carolina Gameocks. And while his team did slip a bit last season, Spurrier has brought unparalleled success to Columbia during his time as head coach.
During his 10 years at South Carolina, Spurrier has won 84 games, including three straight 11-win seasons, a streak that ended last season. To put that in perspective, South Carolina had never won 11 games in a season until Spurrier’s teams did it in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Obviously, with all of his success and his track record, Spurrier has quite a bit of wiggle room when it comes to being on the hot seat. That’s a good thing because there was some grumbling around the program after last year’s team managed “just” a 7-6 mark. Fans were unhappy not only with the record, but with how the team played.
With Spurrier turning 70 this April, it’s probably time for him to start planning his exit strategy, whether he makes that public or not. However, make no mistake that Spurrier will retire before he would ever take the chance of being forced out or, even worse, fired.
That time has not come as of yet, and Spurrier’s job is very safe, at least for now. If the Gamecocks keep winning seven games instead of 11, that could change, but that’s not likely to happen.
Hot seat monitor: 2 out of 10
Tim Letcher is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
