Spurrier denies reports he is leaving South Carolina for UM
BY BARRY JACKSON
BY BARRY JACKSON
Responding to two Internet reports, Steve Spurrier said Sunday he intends to remain coach at South Carolina and has had no discussions with Miami about replacing Larry Coker.
''I have no interest in any other job except the one I've got,'' Spurrier said on his weekly conference call. ``This is the school I wanted to coach at. I'm not leaving unless I get run off. This is where I plan to be hopefully for the next five, seven, eight years or whatever. I think everybody knows my goal here is to stay at South Carolina. I have not expressed any interest and [Miami] has not expressed any interest.''
ESPN.com and CSTV.com reported Sunday that Miami has interest in Spurrier and indicated he was likely going to take the job. Though some people at the university would be intrigued by the possibility of Spurrier coming to Miami, this marked the first time anyone reported Spurrier would take the job if offered.
''This is a bad rumor that some of you guys are running with,'' he said. ``Can somebody just put something on the Internet and all you guys think it's true?''
After the espn.com reporter, Joe Schad, told Spurrier that somebody told him Miami had targeted him as their top choice, Spurrier responded, ``Who at Miami -- the president, the AD, or some guy sleeping under the bridge down there?''
UM athletic director Paul Dee strongly denied a report on cbssportline.com that Miami had begun contacting candidates. ''We haven't contacted anybody,'' he said. ``I told you all we were going to wait until the end of the season. Could some wacko out there be doing anything? Who knows?''
Spurrier said if Coker is replaced, he believes Miami probably will try to hire Rutgers coach Greg Schiano.
''My daughter Amy called me this morning and said there was something on the Internet about Miami going after you or whatever,'' said Spurrier, who's in his second year at South Carolina. ``I guess in a way it's flattering that they would throw my name with one of the top football programs in the last 25 years or so down there.
``I came to South Carolina to win an SEC championship. The experts, Lee Corso and all those guys, a lot said `You can't win, you can't win a championship. We haven't proved we could yet.'
``But we're in the process of a really outstanding recruiting class this year. With a few more players, a little help here and there, we believe it's a do-able goal. We're going to make that our goal starting next year and hopefully every year I'm here -- to win an SEC championship. That's the exciting and challenging part of coaching here at South Carolina.
``But we're in the process of a really outstanding recruiting class this year. With a few more players, a little help here and there, we believe it's a do-able goal. We're going to make that our goal starting next year and hopefully every year I'm here -- to win an SEC championship. That's the exciting and challenging part of coaching here at South Carolina.
'Some people said, `Coach, could you have waited a year or two and maybe gotten to a school that maybe had more players at the time, schools that maybe had a richer tradition of football?' I said that wasn't what I was looking for. I knew we would take our lumps a little bit the first couple of years or so trying to build our team up. But this is a wonderful place, wonderful fans.''
South Carolina is 6-5 this season and finishes its season Saturday against Clemson.
South Carolina is 6-5 this season and finishes its season Saturday against Clemson.
''We know it's not going to be easy [to win an SEC championship],'' Spurrier said. ``But it wouldn't be any fun if it was easy. . . . If [the Hurricanes] do make a change, there's a lot of guys on that list I'm sure they prefer to go after -- Schiano has to be the top candidate if they can get him.''
Spurrier said he would leave South Carolina only ``if the president and AD decide they have somebody better to hire . . . I hope I'm not going anywhere.''
Spurrier said when he was at Florida, 'every now and then a pro team would call and I would sort of say, `Are you offering me the job?' and they would say, 'No, we want to talk about it.' And I said, `Nah, I've got a job here. I don't need to talk about any jobs.
``I'm not looking for any jobs. . . . Miami is not going to call me. . . . I don't anticipate any school calling me because everybody knows I'm here at South Carolina to win an SEC championship. That's my mission.''
Spurrier said when he was at Florida, 'every now and then a pro team would call and I would sort of say, `Are you offering me the job?' and they would say, 'No, we want to talk about it.' And I said, `Nah, I've got a job here. I don't need to talk about any jobs.
``I'm not looking for any jobs. . . . Miami is not going to call me. . . . I don't anticipate any school calling me because everybody knows I'm here at South Carolina to win an SEC championship. That's my mission.''
Spurrier also told espn.com he's ''not a candidate'' for the Miami job: ``That is a tough job. This is the challenge for me.''
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