Coach Steve Spurrier spent the day in Atlanta talking positively about the University of South Carolina and their football program. Spurrier reminded the Atlanta faithful that Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Clemson were the main targets in 2008...
Greeted by a standing ovation of South Carolina Gamecock Alumni in Dunwoody, Steve Spurrier said surprisingly he or the other coaches did not get that kind of response the night before in Columbia. Meeting with the Gamecock Alumni at the Retreat of Dunwoody, Spurrier shook hands, signed autographs and broke it all down for the USC fans. The Gamecocks were aggressively selling Gamecock license plates so Carolina fans can be represented on the state of Georgia tags.
Spurrier reminded the Atlanta Gamecock Club that his goal was to win the SEC Championship. Spurrier felt like the South Carolina facilities were getting real close to being competitive with Florida, Georgia and Tennessee and more financial support was making it possible.
The Ole Ball Coach also said that he felt like the size, athleticism and speed of his current players should put them in a position to win in every game but his players needed to execute better and his coaches needed to coach better if they wanted to win the close games.
Spurrier spoke to his Atlanta faithful about some of his top performers being from the state of Georgia. "Jasper Brinkley and Kenny McKinley could have gone to the NFL but chose to stay at South Carolina and help us win this year, said Spurrier. "These two players will help the Gamecocks and increase their own chances of going higher in the draft in 2009."
Coach Spurrier did not mention the win over Georgia specifically but did say the Gamecocks have four big games every year: Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Clemson. He said the Gamecocks play all these teams close but said that was not good enough.
Spurrier did apologize for his team's play in 2007. He believes his Gamecock team was ranked higher than they deserved midway through the season and that the coaches did not do a good job which was reflected by new coaches for 2008.
Spurrier believed that Tommy Beecher would most likely be his starting quarterback. He also said Steve Jr would be taking a more active role in playcalling. Spurrier played golf at Hawks Ridge Country Club earlier in the day and was flying to Birmingham, Alabama that night.
For more information about the South Carolina Gamecock Club, go to http://www.atlantagamecockclub.com/
This article was contributed by Jay Holgate of the SEC Sports Report.