It was classic Steve Spurrier, but it was also too telling.
A day after his South Carolina Gamecocks thumped Tennessee 27-6 Saturday night in Columbia, Spurrier was asked why there wasn’t a bigger celebration among his players. It was, after all, South Carolina’s first win at home against Tennessee since 1992 and only its third against the Vols since joining the league that same season.
“Tennessee’s not what they have been in the past,” Spurrier said in his Sunday teleconference. “We didn’t try to make it that big of a deal. It was a good win, and they’re a decent team, but they’re not a great team this year. We all know that.”
Spurrier later quipped: “The Tennessee band was there last night, weren’t they? I’m used to hearing ‘Rocky Top.’ I don’t remember hearing it.”
After needling Tennessee throughout most of the 1990s when his Florida Gators would top Phillip Fulmer’s Vols for SEC East Division titles, Spurrier has helped contribute to Fulmer’s demise in his brief tenure with the Gamecocks. South Carolina has a history of mediocrity, yet the Gamecocks have split four meetings with Tennessee since Spurrier took over and have a better overall record.
Spurrier sort of offered his sympathies Monday night after learning Fulmer had accepted Tennessee’s demand to step down at season’s end.
“I don’t know whether to feel sorry for Coach or to congratulate him on the biggest buyout ($6 million) in the history of college football,” he said. “He got the best deal ever, I think.”
Asked if he would be interested in coaching the Vols, Spurrier said, “I am at my last gig right here.”
Georgia’s Mark Richt also was a factor in Tennessee’s slippage in recent seasons, as he was able to turn the East into a three-team race. Richt is 5-3 against the Vols and is among six current SEC coaches with winning records against Fulmer, joining Spurrier (10-6), Florida’s Urban Meyer (4-0), Alabama’s Nick Saban (4-1), Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville (4-3) and LSU’s Les Miles (2-1).
“I was sorry to hear the news about Phil,” Richt said. “My thoughts and prayers are with him, his staff and their families.”
Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson, whose Commodores clinched Fulmer’s first losing season (5-6) in 2005 with a 28-24 upset win in Knoxville, praised Fulmer for a fantastic career. Johnson is 1-5 against Fulmer, with his ’05 win snapping Vandy’s 22-game losing streak against Tennessee.
“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a guy who has done more for his alma mater than him,” Johnson said. “Coach Fulmer has always had an outstanding team over there. They are sound and ready to play. It’s hard to maintain every year the expectations that the program has.”
Johnson has won one more game against Fulmer than Kentucky’s Rich Brooks, who has the Wildcats headed to a third consecutive bowl for the first time in nearly 60 years. Brooks and the Wildcats took Tennessee into four overtimes last season in Lexington, but the 52-50 loss was their 23rd straight in the series.
“It’s a shame that a coach with a winning percentage of about 75 percent, who also won the SEC Eastern Division last season, is stepping down,” Brooks said. “It’s a sign of the times in our ‘What have you done for me lately?’ society. Coach Fulmer has been a great representative of college football and has given Tennessee a lot of great years.
“He’ll be missed in college football.”
David Paschall is a sports writer for the Times Free Press. He started at the Chattanooga Free Press in 1990 and was part of the Times Free Press when the paper started in 1999. David covers University of Georgia football, as well as SEC football recruiting, SEC basketball, Chattanooga Lookouts baseball and other sports stories. He is a Chattanooga native and graduate of the Baylor School and Auburn University. David has received numerous honors for ...
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