Monday, July 09, 2007


Recap of the Spurrier presser


Wasn't really as long or as informative as I thought it would be. Usually the Spurrier pressers last about an hour but this one only lasted about 35 mins. Here are some quotes, a few general notes, and a few of my notes from the presser (My notes are in garnet):


On the Summer workouts:

"We've heard they're going a lot better than the prior two years that I've been here," Spurrier said. "We've heard from word of mouth that nearly everybody is there. Based on what we hear, it's been the best of the three years. Hopefully, that will pay dividends in those close ballgames this season and carry us through."


As we all know, Summer workouts are voluntary. That is the reason Spurrier says that he's "heard" that the Summer workouts are going well, ect. If you remember, Spurrier almost got into a little trouble last year by the NCAA by talking too much about the Summer workouts because they are voluntary. He stressed the "we've heard" quote during this conference. Crafty fellow.. lol.


On the player's recent attitudes:

"The guys understand what the program is," Spurrier said. "They know if they don't get with it, chances are they won't last very long and they won't be here. Hopefully, the message is out there and we're recruiting players who really want to be good. They want to graduate from our school and be on a championship team."

Spurrier is getting rid of that careless attitude that the Carolina team developed during Holtz's tenure. It's finally going away.


On the Fall practices being at night:

"Fans know we practice a lot at night because we play a lot at night," he said. "We'll have a lot of nighttime practices. The weather is better and we can get more done at that time."

Makes sense..


On the players that will not qualify:

"We still have one or two (players) with clearinghouse issues or what have you," Spurrier said.

It has been known that Carolina would not sign all 32 prospects that committed to them last recruiting season. This not a bad thing. It was expected. Although Spurrier didn't call any names, their are 3 players that are not likely to qualify along with 2 players that are likely to qualify but still waiting the word. The 3 players that probably won't qualify are Eric Baker, Michael Bowman, and Antonio Allen. Out of all these, I hope Baker qualifies the most. Not that he would contribute this season (likely redshirt) but I think he will be an awesome scat back down the road for Carolina. He will be placed in a prep school and signed with Carolina next year but I still would like to have him on campus with the team. If you remember, Clemson went hard afte Baker during the recruiting season. The other 2 that are still waiting are Joe Hills and Akeem Auguste. These 2 are likely to be on campus when they get the paperwork. It will probably be August before it happens for both.


On winning the SEC:

"We lost so many close games last year," Spurrier said. "We're not too far off. I believe our team is capable. I really believe our defense will be better this year. We played pretty well at times. We need to get in the top half the league defensively. Last year we couldn't stop third-and-15 when we had to. Believing we have a chance to win the conference might make a difference in the close games."

Spurrier believes that this defense will be better and as you guys know, because I have ran it in the ground, I do too. Last year we could not stop Auburn on a 3rd and 16 and Florida on like a 3rd and 21. Both of those drives that we could not stop led to scores. Imagine if we would have stopped those teams then. We would have beaten 2 of the #2 teams in the nation, at the time. There is no way that our defense can get worse.. and if they get better.. the SEC is in trouble!


On the media predictions of the team:

"I hope our guys come to the big games feeling we have just as much of a right to win as Georgia, Tennessee or Florida," Spurrier said. "When we look back on how we lost last year, we had to raise our goals around here. Going to a bowl game isn't that hard. I believe our talent level is close to the other schools. I'm not saying we're better. You don't have to be better to win. We're not going to be picked near the top. Most of the magazines have us in our usual spot."

Smart move by raising the goals. I thought that the goal of just winning the bowl game last year was too low anyway. Spurrier knows what he is doing though. Last year he didn't want to put to much pressure on the team. He proved to them that they could win a bowl game. This year he's telling the the same, but with the SEC. He has met his goals that he has set with the Carolina squads so far. In 2005 he set the goal of going to a bowl game. In 2006 he set the goal of beating Clemson and winning our bowl game. This year he has set the goal of beating Clemson and winning the SEC. Will it happen? I don't know, but so far he has met his goals..


Other Notes:


-Fall practice will begin August 4th.


-Spurrier announced the creation of a website, www.SpurrierHBC.com, that will run primarily video and audio of his weekly shows and press conferences during the season.


-Spurrier said Travian Robertson and Cliff Matthews are "two of the quickest, fastest big guys I've been around."


-Spurrier confirmed Jasper Brinkley and Cory Boyd will represent USC at SEC Media Days in Birmingham on July 25.


-With Blake Mitchell cemented as the starting quarterback, Chris Smelley will be No. 2 and Tommy Beecher No. 3 when fall camp opens. But it's close, Spurrier said. The wildcard, of course, is freshman Stephen Garcia, who hasn't taken a snap in a practice yet.

Spurrier also said: "Kenny McKinley was a highschool QB. Worse comes to worse, we can't block anybody like last year. We can always put Kenny back there like we did when our o-line was hurting early in the season last year."


-With Mitchell at QB, Spurrier said USC won't throw it 50 times a game. They'll "mix it up" with a strong running game and an excellent defense.


Highlight of the conference:


This was my favorite part of the conference. This was right after the quote about how quick Matthews and Robertson is. These were the exact quotes from Spurrier, and he was smirking through the whole thing :)


"I'll tell you whats really interesting. We got some really tall guys, ya'll noticed that? I look around and say 'Dang, we're starting to look like a football team around here now.' Yea, I saw Weslye Saunders the other day, he's a incoming tight end, about 6' 5", 265, 270 lbs. and Jason Barnes.. 6' 4" wide reciever. Chris Culliver, he's about 6' 2". I said 'Dang, (he looks up).. we got some guys that look like football players around here."

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