By Buddy Martin
SouthernPigskin.com

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Steve Spurrier still dreams of winning the SEC one day at South Carolina to complete his own conference championship hat trick.

Before Bill Clinton ever had the nickname, Steve Spurrier was known as cThe Comeback Kid.d As Floridas Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Spurrier made his bones by finding ways to win games in the fourth quarter. Sometimes he ad-libbed game-winning plays. Sometimes he threw for it; one time he kicked the winning field goal to beat Auburn.

Such feats once inspired sports writer John Logue of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to pen: cBlindfolded, with his hands handcuffed behind him, Steve Spurrier would be a 2-point favorite at his own execution.d

Thats the same kind of grit its going to take for Spurrier to recapture the Gamecocks mojo, coming off a 7-6 season that was preceded by three straight 11-win campaigns.

Sometimes its tough to separate the legend of Steve Spurrier, The Player, from The Head Ball Coach. Because in many ways they are the same.

Thanks to the success Spurrier has brought to Columbia after a century of mediocrity or worse by South Carolina, the bar has been raised and the expectations involve competing for championships. So he can blame the self-induced pressure on himself.

And, yes, the stage is set for another Steve Spurrier Comeback.

I dont know that hes really gone anywhere, but there comes a time in everybodys life whereby some seem to enjoy embracing the sport of ageism, trying to quantify the potential of others by the representation of a number: Age.

Thats when you start reading in all the stories, cSteve Spurrier, 69xa6d Always the number after the name, set off by commas. Then off go the doubters or naysayers, some of which surfaced last season when South Carolina lost to Kentucky and Tennessee.

After finishing a disappointment 6-6 on the regular season, with a loss to Clemson for the first time in six years, the term cbowl eligibled became more meaningful to Spurrier than perhaps anytime in his career. Who knew that beating a downtrodden Miami team in what was once known as cThe Independence Bowl or cThe Weed Whacker Bowld could be so important?

Suddenly the Duck Commander Bowl win became crucial. How crucial?

cYou only have to ask every a coach who was 6-6 going into the bowl game, 8how important is it? theyll all tell you, 8Im either going to be winner this year or loser this year,d said Spurrier. cFortunately, we became the winner and Miami became the loser at the end of the game.d

Success can come in many forms, even for The Head Ball Coach, who once chided Tennessee by saying, cyou cant spell 8Citrus Bowl without the U and the T.d

Make no mistake: The fire is still burning in the gut of the feisty, colorful coach who has always breathed passion into his program. And dont think for a minute that just because hes about to turn 70 in April that the juice is gone. Spurrier has that look in his eye again.

There, indeed, is a finite number of years Spurrier will coach. We just dont know what that is, nor does he. But it has caused him to reassess and think more long term. He has already had to adjust that from ctwo or threed to cfour or fived after future recruits balked a little.

Spurrier knows he is at a crossroads if hes going to repeat what he did at Duke and Florida 3 lead his team to a conference title. Chief among those challenges is patching up a defense that finished 92nd nationally in total defense (432.7 YPG) and 89th in scoring defense (30.4 PPG).

Dont think for a minute that the challenge is lost on The Head Ball Coach. Upon my recent visit to Columbia I found him eagerly and energetically in pursuit of a turnaround season after being picked by writers last year to win the SEC East and watching his season fall apart when the defense crumbled, allowing 10 more points per game than in 2013. A 7-6 record is more like old Carolina football and not the new.

Hes already done the math: If the Gamecock defense would have met the previous seasons defensive standards by allowing an average of only 20 points, his team would have likely won 11 games for the fourth straight time. Which, by the way, would have put Spurriers career record at South Carolina at 88-45 with 230 wins at three schools. Of course he still holds the distinction of being the only college coach in America to have the winningest record at two schools after 10 years.

The winds of change have already blown through Columbia as Spurrier was entering his 11th year. Chief among the changes was the addition of co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke, the former Florida DC under Spurrier and veteran NFL defensive aide with the Texans and Bears. Hokes main job will be to shore up the pass defense working in tandem with Co-DC Lorenzo Ward.

Although reluctant to say much about the new defensive scheme, Spurrier said the Hoke-Ward tandem would cmix it up.d

cWe want to be organized,d Spurrier said. cWe want the players to know what to do so they can play fast. Blitz a little bit. Zone a little bit. Man a little bit. Thats what all good defenses do 3 a little bit of everything. And do a good job of disguising it.d

On the other side of the ball, running back Mike Davis left early 3 one of 11 players to depart the program since the 2014 season ended. Star wide receiver/wildcat quarterback Pharoh Cooper is back after a splendid sophomore season.

One that may have gotten away hurt a little more. Big defensive end star prospect Shameik Blackshear of Bluffton High School is in hot water with the law. He signed with the Gamecocks on Feb. 4, but was arrested two weeks later on petit larceny, accused of stealing items valued at $1,390. He maintains his innocence. Spurrier told The State: cWell let the legal system play out. Hes claiming hes innocent.d

The Gamecocks start from scratch at quarterback. We cant remember the last time Spurrier went into a spring without knowing who his starter would be. In this case, however, its very likely that the starter isnt even on campus yet.

Declining to narrow the list of quarterback candidates, Spurrier would only say that on campus right now he has cthree that will fight it out this spring,d but he says he probably wont name a starter until the fall.

That could be because his best prospect is incoming freshman Lorenzo Nunez, 6-3, 189 pounds, 4.55 speed in the 40, strong arm, quick and elusive scrambler. The Kennesaw, Ga. (Harrison High School) product will represent a departure from the pure dropback quarterback paradigm.

Nunez will have to beat out sophomore Connor Mitch ofRaleigh, N.C.; junior Perry Orth of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.; and freshman Michael Scarnecchia of Orange Park, Fla. (Fleming Island) 3 not necessarily in that order. But he easily could.

cTremendous athlete, good runner and good passer,d Spurrier said of Nunez. cHell have a chance to come in and compete with the guys who are here. But the guys on campus now should have a leg up, and well go from there.d

All of which makes for an intriguing and fascinating season of Gamecock football in 2015: New quarterback, new offense, new co-defensive coordinator and a new appreciation for how hard it is to win in the SEC.

Spurrier still dreams of winning the SEC one day at South Carolina to complete his own conference championship hat trick.

Maybe his new slogan should be: cAnd you cant spell SEC without the S and the C.d