Steve Spurrier on Marcus Lattimore, Dabo Swinney & Alabama vs. The NFL
By Kyle Kensing
October 20, 2012; Gainesville FL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier reacts during the second half against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida Gators defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 44-11. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE
When South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier talks, people listen, and the Old Ball Coach has failed to disappoint this week. Spurrier praised top ranked Alabama on Wednesday, telling Dan Patrick a match-up of the Crimson Tide vs. a lower echelon NFL team would make for an interesting match-up.
While there may not be a college team capable of beating Alabama — we’ll get a better sense this Saturday when it travels to LSU — the opposite is true were the Tide dropped into the NFC South. The Tide didn’t beat Cam Newton when he was Auburn, so I’d perish the thought of it doing so when he’s with Carolina. But could Alabama beat Kentucky basketball? Things to ponder at night…
In the wake of losing star running back by some projections until 2014, Spurrier has offered encouraging words for Lattimore’s future. Reports the Associated Press:
"”The message he gave me was, `I’ll be back,”’ Spurrier said. ”So he’s coming back.””I told somebody, he might be the most popular Gamecock player ever,” Spurrier said."
Gov. Nikki Haley declared Lattimore’s birthday Marcus Lattimore Day in South Carolina, and the Gamecocks held a rally that became the topic of media scrutiny when Spurrier gave Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney the most backhanded of compliments — backhanded in that the back of Spurrier’s hand metaphorically slapped down the Gamecock rival:
As one of the elder statesmen of college football’s coaching ranks, Spurrier is a bit like that older uncle or grandfather we’ve presumably all had who no longer cares about the perception others have of him. Thus, he says what he thinks and has on topics like Georgia and Clemson. In this case though, Spurrier was more comparable to noted Gamecock superfan and the Old Ball Coach’s friend, Ric Flair.
Some chastised Spurrier, apparently missing the context or that Swinney took no offense.