Fall practice is slowly approaching and the after the SEC media days, time kinda speeds up a little bit. Right around the corner you have Fall practice, with interviews with Spurrier and the players after each one. It makes time go by a lot quicker. Here are some quotes from Spurrier from the SEC media days. He brings up a great point about an advantage of Sydney leaving for the NFL. Here you go:
On the SEC championship: "We've added a lot of players that we think are at a pretty close level with Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. Obviously, you need to be at their level to win the conference. We feel like our talent level is good enough now that we should say, 'Hey, let's go try to win our conference championships."
"I believe our players, our team, we need to come to the ballpark feeling like we're just as good as Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and that we can play with those guys. That's going to be our mindset going into the season."
On Blakey Boy: "Hopefully, his experience and his mental toughness is much, much better," Spurrier said. "I think he's ready to have a big year."
"Blake's the type of quarterback (that) we need a running game and we need pass protection," Spurrier said. "When those two things happen, he can be very productive. He was the most valuable player in the Liberty Bowl. He's very capable of taking us a long way."
On Chris Smelley: "I hope he's had a real good summer working out, throwing the ball," Spurrier said. "Physically, (Smelley) is certainly capable of being an outstanding quarterback, so I'm anxious to see how much he's improved through the summer."
On Sydney leaving: "Sidney was a very good player for us but his leaving may have helped us sign five outstanding wide receivers," Spurrier said. "We got a couple of guys (Barnes and Joseph Hills) that look just like Sidney."
On the O-line: "We need to get our offensive line straight before that Georgia game and go from there," Spurrier said. "It is crucial we get those guys playing together early and not wait until about the fifth or sixth game of the season like we sort of did last year."
On Spurrier's future at South Carolina: "I've always figured on at least five more years, five to seven," Spurrier said. "I have a seven-year contract, I think. I've always said that if I can't call the plays (then) maybe its time to get out of it. That's sort of what I do. I feel about like I did when I was 45, to tell you the truth. Yeah, I feel real good."
