Rubbing the Rock
Fansided

Clemson Football: Steve Spurrier made for the perfect villain

By Shawn Spencer

COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 26: Head coach Steve Spurrier of the South Carolina Gamecocks watches as his team takes on the University of Central Florida Knights during the second quarter on September 26, 2015 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Todd Bennett/GettyImages)
COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 26: Head coach Steve Spurrier of the South Carolina Gamecocks watches as his team takes on the University of Central Florida Knights during the second quarter on September 26, 2015 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Todd Bennett/GettyImages) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Steve Spurrier was the perfect villain for Clemson football fans

There may not be a more universally-hated figure in Clemson football history than former South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier.

Pegged as the ‘Head Ball Coach,’ Spurrier had success at both Duke and Florida before eventually making his way to South Carolina.

When the Gamecocks hired Spurrier, there was one overarching belief from Clemson football fans: The Gamecock program is nothing more than a coach’s graveyard. It’s where their careers go to die.

Little did they know the success that Spurrier would build in a relatively short amount of time down in Columbia.

Though Spurrier started out just 1-3 against Clemson football, things quickly got turned on their head when he started bringing in top in-state talents like Marcus Lattimore, Connor Shaw, Jadeveon Clowney and Stephon Gilmore.

During that time, Spurrier would go on to win five-straight against the Tigers and lead South Carolina to unprecedented success.

That success, especially during a time where Dabo Swinney was carefully building the Clemson football program from scratch, was hard for Tiger fans to have to swallow.

The result? Steve Spurrier became the perfect villain for Clemson football

While Dabo Swinney was obviously still focusing on building the program on his own, he has even admitted that the Tigers were trying to play ‘catch up’ to South Carolina.

Clemson football fans had to look on with envy and rage as they watched their team lose consistently to their in-state rivals, something that frankly Tiger fans were not used to.

Spurrier didn’t just win games, though. He constantly looked for ways to poke fun at Clemson and take shots at the Tigers whenever he possibly could. Just take a look at this video following the Gamecocks’ bowl win in January of 2014, following the 2013 season.

Spurrier’s cockiness and unbridled disdain for the Clemson football program made things so much sweeter just a little over 10 months later when the Tigers delivered the final knockout blow to get back on top in the rivalry, led by a freshman QB by the name of Deshaun Watson.

Finally, for the first time in more than five years, Clemson fans didn’t have to listen to Gamecock fans- and their coach, for that matter- continue to throw the rivalry in their face.

Next. All-time Clemson great may not be eligible for CFB Hall of Fame. dark

Instead, the tides officially turned and the super villain Spurrier was left on a downward spiral that resulted in him leaving the program the following season before the year even came to a close. He obviously didn’t want to suffer another loss to Clemson.

Home/Clemson Football