South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier: ‘I’m resigning. I’m not retiring’

As expected, Steve Spurrier stepped down as South Carolina’s head football coach on Tuesday.

But contrary to most of the reports a day earlier that predicted such an event, Spurrier said at a news conference that the move should not be considered a retirement.

“I’m resigning,” Spurrier said. “I’m not retiring.”

He added: “I doubt I’ll ever head coach again, but who knows what will come in the future.”

Spurrier never finished with a losing record in his 25 previous seasons as a college football coach, but that looked likely to happen this year with the Gamecocks off to a 2-4 start, 0-4 in the SEC.

“We’ve slipped,” he said. “It’s my fault. I’m the head coach.”

Spurrier said he started taking the idea of resigning seriously on Sunday morning, then told athletics director Ray Tanner that afternoon and informed his players of his decision Monday night.

South Carolina President Harris Pastides said he was unable to convince Spurrier to stay through the end of the season. Spurrier said he would have lacked accountability with the players as a lame-duck coach and that such a situation would hurt the team’s recruiting efforts.

“I thought I was the best coach for this job 11 years ago, but not today,” Spurrier said. “I believe it’s important for me to step aside and let the rebuilding process begin. ... This is the best thing for South Carolina football.”

Spurrier is 228-89-2 as a college football coach after stints at Duke (1987-89), Florida (1990-2001) and South Carolina, where he has been since 2005. He did have two losing seasons with the NFL’s Washington Redskins.