Steve Spurrier informed his team Monday night that he is retiring and that an interim coach will be named Tuesday, according to a source.
Steve Spurrier informed his team Monday night that he is retiring and that an interim coach will be named Tuesday, according to a source.
Quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus is expected to be named the interim head coach, according to another source.
Spurrier, who is 70, has 228-89-2 career record at Duke, Florida and South Carolina. He is the Gamecocks’ all-time winningest coach.
Said USC board of trustee: “I’m shocked and I have a lot of sadness, too. I think Coach Spurrier has done so much for us and showed us we can win.”
The Gamecocks are 2-4 (0-4 SEC) to start 2015. Spurrier has never had a losing season as USC’s coach, and the team has been bowl-eligible in all 10 of his seasons.
While Floyd, namesake for the building at the north endzone of Williams-Brice Stadium, did not expect Spurrier to quit, he noticed a change in the coach during losses at Missouri and LSU in the past two weeks.
“He looked on TV like was real upset,” Floyd said. “It was a look of disbelief.”
Floyd said, personally, he would have preferred Spurrier remain for the rest of the season.
“If he wants to go now, there’s no reason for us to second guess it,” he said.
Spurrier was introduced as USC’s 32nd head coach on Nov. 23, 2004. He is 86-49 overall as USC’s head coach. He surpassed Rex Enright’s school record for wins when he recorded No. 65 at Clemson in the 2012 season finale.
In his first season at South Carolina, Spurrier led the Gamecocks to a 7-5 record and a second-place finish in the SEC Eastern Division. He was honored as the SEC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press after leading the Gamecocks to a school-record five straight SEC wins.
His 2010 USC team posted several milestones en route to a 9-5 season, the biggest of which was the school’s first SEC Eastern Division title and first appearance in the SEC Championship. The Gamecocks defeated No. 1 Alabama along the way. Spurrier that season was named SEC Coach of the Year for the seventh time.
The Gamecocks went on to finish 11-2 in three-straight seasons in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
In 2014, Spurrier led the Gamecocks to a school-record fourth-consecutive bowl victory with a win over Miami in the Duck Commander Independence Bowl.