Steve Spurrier Being Cryptic With The Media, Quoting Taylor Swift. Steve Spurrier Is Probably Going To Retire.

This hasn’t been Steve Spurrier’s year.

It was supposed to be his year. Going into his 10th season as the head coach of South Carolina, Spurrier’s Gamecocks were ranked No. 6 in the A.P.’s preseason poll, the highest preseason ranking in university history.

After three consecutive 11-2 seasons and a very favorable schedule, South Carolina looked poised to finally break through, becoming a serious power player in the SEC East and earn a place in the national discussion. With the new playoff format doubling the number of teams competing for a championship, the timing was perfect.

On the eve of the Gamecocks season opener against Texas A&M, the SEC Network aired The Believer, a documentary dedicated to celebrating the life and career of Spurrier. Days earlier the university installed a massive Spurrier banner on the side of Williams-Bryce Stadium.

Twitter: @GamecockFB

Twitter: @GamecockFB

It really is massive—at least five stories!

Twitter: @GamecockFB

Instagram: gamecockFB

Regarding all the preseason buzz surrounding South Carolina, Spurrier said, “I hope we can live up to it. It’s flattering. I don’t know if we can live up to it or not, but we’ll try.”

They couldn’t.

Eleven days later the Gamecocks were blown out by the Johnny Manziel-less Aggies, who dominated every facet of the game, which was the first of many crushing conference defeats to come. The loss looks even worse now, as A&M has absolutely collapsed in the second half of the season.

There was the blown fourth quarter lead against offensively hapless Mizzou. Losing by a touchdown to Kentucky in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Most recently it was an overtime loss to Tennessee after blowing a 14-point in the fourth quarter.

South Carolina played their best game of the season by far against Auburn—a game they lost 42-35. When a loss is the best game of your season, it’s safe to say your season sucks.

Things have gone so disastrously off course in South Carolina that after the Tennessee loss many within the media began to public question if the 69-year-old Spurrier had another year in him. A fair question as he’s had enormous success as a college coach, without letting the game overtake his life the way it does for so many coaches.

Spurrier may be more cognizant of a life after football than someone like Nick Saban, but according to him retirement is at least a year away. “The plan is definitely to be back here and so forth,” Spurrier told The State on Tuesday. “Just say that’s the plan.”

Now if you’re thinking that “plan” seems a little open-ended, you’re right. No one in sports can turn a phrase like Spurrier—for all his faults, he’s not a liar and always says exactly what he means. Instead of shutting down speculation with a definitive lie, a’la Saban with the Dolphins, the Head Ball Coach opted for the truth.

The truth is that it’s the plan…for now. Plans change. Circumstances change. Minds change.

Although considering Spurrier has been trying to rally the troops with little bits of wisdom courtesy of pop star Taylor Swift, who knows where his mind is at this point. Probably not a great place.

So…I guess this is happening…

“I was telling our coaching staff, I think Taylor Swift’s got a song called ‘Shake it Off.’ Ugh. That’s what we’re trying to do, shake it off and get ready for the Florida Gators next week. That’s what we’re going to try to do, see if we can regroup and try to win a close game. You know we’ve had our share of close ones, though we’ve struggled on defense and so forth.”

[Click here to see Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”]

No offense to Miss Swift, but if this is the best Spurrier can do, calling it quits after this season may be the most humane option for everyone involved. This time next year he’ll probably just pop in a CD at halftime before retreating to his office to drink—sometimes returning to the sideline for the second half…sometimes not.

Only time will tell what the future holds for the HBC at South Carolina, but he’s had a pretty good run either way. This just hasn’t been Steve Spurrier’s year.