The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 16, 2005, Page B6, Image 14
Spurrier draws
comparisons to
legendary Bama coach
Jonathan ttillyard
■SPORTS EDITOR
When USC coach Steve Spurrier
was an 18-year-old hotshot
quarterback at Science Hill High
School in Johnson City, Tenn., he met
the man who today might be the most
famous man in college football
history: Paul W. “Bear” Bryant.
Being recruited by Bryant’s
Crimson Tide at the time, Spurrier
said he just simply wasn’t good enough
to play at Alabama.
“I wasn’t high on (Bryant’s) list
probably; they had Joe Namath there
and Steve Sloan and a bunch of other
guys,” Spurrier said. “But they did
offer me a scholarship. My dad, that
was maybe a place he sorta liked with
coach Bryant there.”
Forty-two years and six Alabama
championships later, Spurrier will yet
again face the program that dons the
“Bear’s” legacy.
Since entering the coaching ranks,
Spurrier has created his own SEC
legacy, the only one comparable to
Bryant’s. They are the only two coaches
to win at least four consecutive SEC
championships — Spurrier at Florida
from 1993 to 1996 and Bryant at
Alabama from 1971 to 1975. Both are
among the top six coaches in
conference history in SEC winning
percentage, with Spurrier topping the
list and Bryant coming in at sixth.
SEC championships are more
abundant in the resumes of Spurrier
and Bryant than in any other in the
conference’s modern history.
The two coaches dominated their
respective time periods in very
different manners. Bryant pummeled
opposing teams with good old
fashioned power running games.
Spurrier put the SEC in awe in the
‘90s, introducing his Fun ‘n’ Gun, now
the Cock ‘n’ Fire, offense.
Since joining the SEC coaching
ranks in 1990, Spurrier and his teams
have traditionally had the Tide’s
number. With an overall 6-3 record,
USC’s head ball coach has experienced
his fair share of battles against
Alabama. From 1992 to 1996, four of
the first five SEC championship games
featured Spurrier’s Florida Gators
against the Crimson Tide. Alabama
got the best of the Gators in 1992,
when a vaunting Tide defense was
enough to hold off Shane Matthews
and the Florida offense, winning the
SEC championship, 28-21. That
Alabama team went on to defeat
Miami in the Sugar Bowl and win the
national championship.
Spurrier would get his vengeance on
the Tide, winning the next'two SEC
championship games against then
Alabama coach Gene Stallings and his
bunch. The most crucial win for the
Gators under Spurrier against Alabama
came in 1996, when Florida defeated
Bama 45-30 on their way to winning a
national title the following January.
In what Spurrier has repeatedly
called the most important win in his
time at Florida, the Gators traveled to
Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 1990 in Spurriers
second game at the helm. Florida
trailed at halftime in what looked like
another overmatched team in
comparison. Finally, Matthews, a
sophomore at the time, led the Gators
back to a 17-13 victory that would
propel rioriaa to a rirst
place SEC finish. The team
was not recognized as the
champion because of
probation.
The Florida-Alabama
series ended on a sour note
for Spurrier in 1999 when
Alabama beat his Gators
not only once (40-39 in
overtime, breaking what
was at the time the longest
home winning streak in
the nation), but again in
the conference
championship. The 1999
season marked the first
time in six years that
Spurriers Gators did not
win 10 games.
Spurriers new school
does not have quite as
glamorous a history,
especially against Alabama.
Despite winning the last
two meetings, Carolina
still trails Alabama 10-2
all-time. The Gamecocks
did not win their first
game against Alabama- until 2001,
when a late touchdown led Carolina to
a 37-36 win. Last season, the {
Gamecocks won for the first time, in
Tuscaloosa, Ala., defeating the Tide
20-3.
On Saturday, Spurrier will look to
push the Gamecocks past a nationally
ranked Crimson Tide team and prove
that the glory days of “Bear” Bryant
football are over, and that the year of
the rooster has finally arrived.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockspons@gwm.sc. edu
■iv > i niii'in i pi- am
Katie Kirkland/THE GAMECOCK
USC coach Steve Spurrier instructs his team.
T Graphic illustration by Laura-]oycf Gough/'m K C AM Ki l » K
Walters repairs battered players
Tof
USC head athletic
trainers credentials
among nations best
Stephen Demedis
FOR THE GAMECOCK
A torn meniscus. A strained
quadricep. A hyper-extended
knee. These are all injuries that
might make the average fan, or
even football coach, say “huh?”
That’s where USC’s Rod
Walters comes in.
Last week, when junior tight
end Andy Boyd went down,
Walters, a recent inductee to
the National Athletic Trainers
Association Hall of Fame, was
there to evaluate the injury, just
as he has been for the past 16
years.
Since 1990, Walters, USC’s
athletics director for sports
medicine and head athletic
trainer, has been responsible tor
the health and caretaking of
student-athletes.
“As the head athletic trainer,
I deal with the prevention, care
and rehabilitation of athletic
injuries, but my job is also
administrative,” Walters said. “I
manage the other athletic
trainers and the wellness
program for athletes.”
Walters oversees the work of
six full-time assistants and
consults in the construction of
training programs for nearly
450 USC student-athletes.
Recently, Walters worked on a
committee to revise and improve
the athletics department’s drug
policy, and is responsible for
coordinating the random testing
of athletes.
Walters takes a more active
rofe in the trainer’s room
LLLduring the summer and
fall, working with Bill
Martin to evaluate and
rehabilitate injuries with USC’s
football team. This includes
traveling with the team and
preparing the players for games.
Before each game, Walters
takes an hour to tape and brace
vulnerable or injured body
parts of every player, and then
meets with coach Steve Spurrier
to discuss the team’s medical
condition.
Walters’ pre-game workload
has decreased because of
developments in technology, a
change Walters attributes to
advances in “space-age
technology.” The increased use
of materials such as graphite and
titanium has seriously decreased
the weight and awkwardness of
traditional braces, allowing
athletes to perform in added
comfort, despite being injured.
“Today, so many people are
using braces or lace-up ankle
guards instead of taping,”
Walters said. “We used to tape
85 to 95 percent of the team,
but now we probably tape 10
percent now.”
Away rrom the athletic held
and trainers room, Walters plays
an active role in the classroom,
teaching a class in athletic
training on campus and
working with graduate assistants
in the athletics department.
Walters started his work in
athletic training with the
athletic teams at Appalachian
State while earning his
undergraduate and masters
degrees. The Fayetteville,
N.C., native received his
doctoral degree in physical
education from Middle
Tennessee State.
Walters went on to become
athletic trainer for Lenoir-Rhyne
and his alma mater, ASU.
As a nationally recognized
trained Walters has served on
Filt Photo/ TUB QAMECOCK
Associate Athletic Director Rod Walters, right, helps an injured
Cory Boyd off the field in the Gamecocks' season opener in 2004.
task forces for the National
Athletic Trainers Association,
which considers necessary
improvements in the field to
keep up with increased
standards of care and changes
in sports.
“The games have changed
quite a bit since I started as an
athletic trainer and not just
with technology. The athletes
are bigger, stronger and faster,
but the body can only handle so
much force, and then it will
start to break down. And that is
when we see ligaments and
tendons tear,” Walters said.
This year, Walters gets the
added benefit of working with
his son $)avid Walters, a first
year criminal justice student who
is working on the manager’s staff
for the football team.
For Walters, the most
rewarding part of this job
comes from seeing the athletes
do well after coming back from |
injury. §
“I think the reason that people «
get into athletic training is S
because they want to be part of a ft
team, and we get to help people ^
when they really need help, -t;
which is a great opportunity,” i
Walters said. When you can do _g,
something to help a young J
person succeed, it’s a big plus.” |
■a
_' .J
Comments on this story? E-mail f
gamecocksports @gwm. sc. odu ®