COLUMBIA, S.C. — Steve Spurrier has a message for all those "enemies" out there, saying he will remain South Carolina's football coach for a long time.
The former Gators coach, invoking ancient conqueror Attila the Hun, said Wednesday that he's not too old at 70 to coach and is not leaving the school where he has coached the past 10 years and is the team's career victory leader.
"I got some enemies out there, I got some guys talking and writing and it's all part of the game," Spurrier said. "Some of our enemies out there want to make you think, 'Spurrier's getting old, he can't do it anymore.' "
Spurrier was angry that Mark Bradley, a sports columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, wrote a column about Spurrier's age and whether he was still fit to coach. The local Columbia, S.C., paper ran the column and Spurrier took issue: "That's allowing our enemies to write about us in our paper, and I don't like that.''
Who are Spurrier's enemies?
"The media. The media," Spurrier said. "We've got some enemies that write in the Atlanta paper. They cover the Bulldogs. We let that guy write in our paper the other day. That doesn't make sense, does it?"
Spurrier said questions about his future did not come up when the Gamecocks went 11-2 three straight seasons from 2011-13, but sarcastically notes that it's suddenly an issue after South Carolina went 7-6 last year.
Spurrier used comments attributed to Attila the Hun as a lesson he and Gamecocks fans need to seize on when others say South Carolina can't win.
"It's a simple truth that the greater your accomplishments — your victories — the greater opposition, torment, and discouragement your enemies will throw in your path. Expect it and don't become a victim of it," Spurrier said, quoting Attila.
"So I'm telling our fans expect those people that are our enemies to talk bad about us," Spurrier continued. "We finally won enough games.
"It was the same way when I got to Florida (in 1990). Some of the writers in Georgia said I'd never last and flame out, and then we started kicking Georgia's butt every year. They quit writing that (expletive). I still remember Vince Dooley saying when they fired Galen Hall that he couldn't believe it, and he was as good a coach as they could possibly have at Florida. I said then, 'I hope a Georgia coach never says that about me.' "
Spurrier is 84-45 in 10 seasons with the Gamecocks. He said the school's doctor said he had the physical and mental faculties of a 55-year-old.
"I'm smart enough to know when it's time to let somebody else come in and do this,'' Spurrier said, "but I'm also smart enough to know that we've beaten Georgia four of the last five years, beaten Florida four of the last five years and beaten Clemson five of the last six years.''
Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene
Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter
You’re all signed up!
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Explore all your optionsSpurrier said a member of the university's board of trustees wanted to name the field at Williams-Brice Stadium after him. Spurrier advised him to wait five or six years.
Spurrier believes the Gamecocks might surprise those who say they won't get back to double-digit wins. "It's going to be a fun year," Spurrier said.
MORE FOOTBALL: Navy and Notre Dame will play their annual game at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego in 2018, the first meeting between the longtime rivals west of the Mississippi. The Irish and Midshipmen have played 88 times. They play this season on Oct. 10 in South Bend, Ind., and will play in Jacksonville in 2016.
POLICE BLOTTER: Tennessee redshirt freshman lineman Charles Mosley was arrested early Wednesday morning and charged with first-offense DUI and speeding, according to an arrest warrant. Mosley, 18, was stopped by Tennessee Highway Patrol traveling 79 mph in a 55-mph zone. The arresting officer noticed an odor of marijuana as he approached the vehicle. "The defendant stated that he was not smoking, but his friends at the Econo Lodge were," the arrest warrant states. … Pitt sophomore defensive end Rori Blair was charged with DUI and driving at an unsafe speed this week after police said he was clocked going 117 mph in a 55-mph zone on March 15. A drug test was positive for marijuana. … Police arrested three Arkansas basketball players, alleging they used counterfeit money to buy merchandise at three locations. The school announced indefinite suspensions for starting point guard Anton Beard, forward Jacorey Williams and junior transfer student Dustin Thomas.
Women's basketball: Florida will face UCF and Mississippi State will meet USF in the SEC/AAC Women's Basketball Challenge on Dec. 30 at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. Times are undetermined. The one-year event was announced Wednesday.