By Buddy Martin
SouthernPigskin.com

Follow us at Twitter.com/SouthernPigskin.  Become a fan at the SouthernPigskin.com Facebook Page

If you think just because The Head Ball Coach turns 70 next month that hes putting the play-calling on remote control while he dashes off the beach to work on his tan, think again.

For all you naysayers out there who expected Steve Spurrier to cut and run or be banished to an Old Folks Home after South Carolinas disappointing 2014 season, guess again. Instead, he has dusted off his ball play sheet and announced to the world that the maestro is back!

“I plan to be the play-caller again,” Spurrier told the South Carolina media. “I did delegate at times last year, but I usually took over before the game was over. But I certainly plan on doing it, and I’ll be ready to do it, and go from there.”

So if you think just because The Head Ball Coach turns 70 next month that hes putting the play-calling on remote control while he dashes off the beach to work on his tan, think again.

Matter of fact, I have it on good authority that during spring drills Spurrier is also practicing the rhythm of his own calls.

cYou cant just show up on game day and say, 8OK, Ill call the plays now,d he once said.

So hes working on his rapid-fire decision making this spring, doubling down. Along with the addition of co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke, plus a new quarterback, this makes 2015 a season of significant change for the Gamecocks.

Maybe one of the reasons the HBC is getting more involved is that hes breaking in a new quarterback. Right now, sophomore Connor Mitch has the edge, but there wont be a decision about the starter until the coaches get a look at freshman running sensation Lorenzo Nunez from Kennesaw, Ga. in the fall. So theres a break in the continuity after the last four years of Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson.

It will be interesting to see how Spurrier integrates the running freshman into what has been mostly a pass-oriented attack.

When hes on his game, there is no better play caller. Georgia fans had dubbed him cThe Evil Genius.d Those who know him will object to the word cevil.d Spurrier objects to the word cgenius.d And if you press him on what makes him such a clever strategist under live fire on the sideline, he really cant define it.

cI really dont know,d Spurrier told me recently. cI guess a little bit, youre born with it.d He has been blessed with that acumen.

Spurrier first blossomed as a play caller as offensive coordinator at Duke, where head coach Red Wilson allowed Steve to design the offense and call the plays. Based on his success, Spurrier was hired as head coach of the Tampa Bay Bandits and was able to show the world his creative approach to offense. Those were the seeds of the famed Fun 8N Gun which he and Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel executed so brilliantly that changed the offensive trends of the entire Southeastern Conference.

During his childhood days in pickup games, Spurrier drew up the plays in the dirt at Kiwanis Park. At Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tenn., his coach let him call all the plays in the second half of a bowl game and he lit up the scoreboard. At Florida, Spurrier gained the trust of coach Ray Graves and his offensive coordinators Pepper Rodgers and Ed Kensler to the point where he was allowed to improvise extensively.

In the pros, while he didnt get many chances to start for the Forty Niners, he was often there next to the quarterback when decisions were made. Starter John Brodie publicly admitted that Spurrier was instrumental in part of his success as an cadvisor.d In that same way, Spurrier seeks counsel from those around him.

Last season his brain trusts were quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus and his son Steve Spurrier Jr., who were allowed more freedom than usual in their decisions. The announcement made this week was a clear declaration that the Head Ball Coach will take a firmer hand in things.

cI listen to them,d Spurrier said, cbut I don’t always go with the suggestions, which is expected.”

Keep in mind that South Carolina won 33 games in the three years leading up to 2014. And by the way, the Gamecocks beat Miami in the post-season to become one of four teams in the country to make the claim of four straight bowl wins.

So why doesnt Spurrier always call all the plays at South Carolina? Well, sometimes the feelings just not there, nor are the results.

cYou make a bad call and you say, ‘Aw, dumbass, why did I do that? Maybe somebody else can do it better.’ And then you realize it’s not necessarily the play call, it’s just what happens.”

The Gamecocks enjoyed one of their best offensive seasons in school history, but the defense gave up more than 30 points a game. The secondary was especially Swiss Cheesy, so former NFL assistant Hoke was brought in to team up with Lorenzo Ward in helping plug up the holes.

Spurrier takes umbrage at those who labeled South Carolinas 2014 record of 7-6 cterrible.d He feels the way the Gamecocks scratched back to win three of the last four, including a victory over Miami in Shreveport, that in another one of his classic quotes, he fired a shot across the bow of a couple of SEC teams with the same results.

In Knoxville, he said, cTheyre turning cartwheels about a 7-6 record and winning a bowl game.d Then he added that Arkansas fans were also pleased with the same record.

Out on the road once again, drumming up support, Spurrier told a sold-out crowd of 400 in Sumter, “It wasn’t our best year last year, but again I was proud of our players, our coaches for hanging in there.”

Terrible? No, it wasnt a terrible year for the man who is the winningest coach in history at two schools.

“A terrible year is when you go 3-9, 4-8, don’t go to a bowl game, don’t win bowl games. That’s called terrible. We know what terrible is. Sometimes 7-6 is not all that bad. Sometimes you need to celebrate your small achievements in life.”

The good news for Gamecock fans is that the less-than-stellar year has fired up their coach, whose legacy as a winner is important to him. This can only be good for South Carolina football, but not so much for the SEC competition.