This story was part of a two-part analysis of the OBC's steady fall from grace, starting in the NFL and continuing in the NFL Junior, otherwise known as the SEC.
The author's conclusions are these: Spurrier's offensive innovations haven't stood up to the faster, stronger and more aggressive defenses he now faces; more importantly, Spurrier has stubbornly stuck with them, despite the falling production.
The articles originally appeared last August. But South Carolina's offensive malaise in 2009, capped by its embarrassing bowl performance against UCONN, only corroborates the author's opinions.
What's more, concerns about Spurrier's offense may drive South Carolina's top prospect, running back Marcus Lattimore, out of state to Auburn. Eric Mack decommitted from the Gamecocks and is already headed to the Plains. John Fulton is going to Alabama. Lattimore's teammates Brandon Willis and Corey Miller have opted for North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively.
South Carolina's class is solid, but Spurrier's whiffing on the state's best players doesn't bode well for the Great Leap Forward that Gamecock fans have long expected since Spurrier arrived.
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5 comments:
Great stuff. Spurrier's worst trait is his own sense of genius. He can't just win, he has to win his way. That's why he stuck to his game planning with the Redskins, and is doing so at South Carolina, despite overwhelming evidence that it no longer works. The reference to Petrino is a good one, but the OBC could also look at another SEC West offensive guru - Gus Malzahn - for tips on innovation. But he never will. The only question left is will the SC brass have big enough stones to fire him.
Hey, I've got a great idea. Let him hire Tony Franklin to run the offense! :-))
USC is where famous, formerly successful coaches go to die (or is it fade away?). It started a long time ago with Paul Dietzel and has continued on with Lou Holtz and Spurrier. I don't think USC will ever win the SEC championship because they will never be able to attract enough athletes. SC is a relatively small state and doesn't produce as many football players as NC, GA and FL. And there is keen competition for the players SC does produce from a lot of big time football programs in the nearby states of FL, GA, TN and AL as well as from Clemson in state.
J - Say what you want aobut Tony Franklin but the offense he ran at Middle Tennessee this year and the one he left behind at Troy, were both 2 of the top 5 offenses in the country this year. Not sure what happened at Auburn but he has gotten results everywhere else.
I can tell you what happened at Auburn. Franklin was trying to run that offense against faster, stronger, more talented SEC defenses. That might work at Troy and MTSU, but you can't run a gimmick against superior athletes.
PJ ran his "gimmick" pretty well against UGA!!!
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