Steve Spurrier Jr., who has served on the coaching staffs of two national championship teams and tutored a bevy of outstanding receivers at both the collegiate and professional levels, is beginning his fifth season as the coach of the Gamecock wide receivers. He also took on more responsibilities with the play-calling duties during the 2008 campaign and was given the additional title of passing game coordinator for the 2009 seson. His receivers had another strong year in 2008 as Kenny McKinley became the school's all-time leading receiver in both receptions (207) and receiving yards (2,781), surpassing the records previously held by former Gamecock great Sterling Sharpe. McKinley, who missed part of the season with an injury, still managed to haul in 54 passes for 642 yards to lead the team and earn honorable mention all-conference recognition. In 2007, junior wide receiver Kenny McKinley earned first-team all-league recognition after setting a school record with 77 receptions for 968 yards and nine touchdowns. In 2006, his top two receivers, Sidney Rice and Kenny McKinley, combined for 123 catches and 1,970 yards receiving, the top tandem marks in school history. Rice owns two of the top three receiving seasons in Carolina history and set numerous records in just two campaigns in the Garnet and Black. In his first season with the Gamecocks, Spurrier mentored Rice, who broke nearly every receiving record at the school en route to freshman All-America honors. Rice ended the campaign as the school's single-season receiving yards leader after catching 70 passes for 1,143 yards. Spurrier brought 11 years of coaching experience to Carolina, with his most recent stop being at the University of Arizona under head coach Mike Stoops. He spent two seasons as wide receivers coach with the NFL's Washington Redskins. While with the Redskins, Spurrier, Jr., coached Laveraneus Coles, whose 2003 receiving totals of 82 receptions for 1,204 yards earned him his only Pro Bowl appearance. He also coached Rod Gardner, who was Washington's leading receiver in 2002 with 1,007 yards. Spurrier was part of Bob Stoops' rebuilding project at Oklahoma, which culminated with a perfect 13-0 record and national championship in 2000. He spent three seasons as the Sooners' wide receivers coach, working with such standouts as Mark Clayton and Josh Norman. Prior to his stay at OU, he worked at Florida for five seasons and was part of the Gators' 1996 national championship club. During his collegiate coaching career, he has been involved with nine postseason bowl teams, four conference championships (three SEC and one Big 12) and two national championships (Florida, 1996 and Oklahoma, 2000). Born Sept. 26, 1971 in Palo Alto, Calif., Spurrier played college football at Duke University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1994. He later earned a master's degree at Florida in 1996. Spurrier and his wife, the former Melissa Beauchamp, are the parents of triplets: Luke, Gavin and Emmaline; and another son, Nolan. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
