Spurrier spotted on SEC sideline Saturday, but wasn’t supporting Gamecocks or Gators

Since stepping down as football coach at South Carolina in 2015, Steve Spurrier has been spotted at almost every SEC stadium, and at a few ACC games as well.

This has led to rumors that the Head Ball Coach is coming back, rumors he’s emphatically denied.

On Saturday, conspiracy theorists could add another SEC school to the list as Spurrier was spotted in Nashville prior to Vanderbilt’s game against Western Kentucky.

But there isn’t much room for speculation in this instance. Spurrier wasn’t even supporting the SEC team in this game.

The HBC was clearly rooting for the Hilltoppers, a fact made obvious by the blaring red shirt he wore that screamed “WESTERN KENTUCKY.”

And no, Spurrier wasn’t angling for a job, he was on hand to support his son, Steve Spurrier Jr., who’s the quarterbacks coach for the Hilltoppers.

Spurrier was spotted on the field before the game chatting up former rival Derek Mason. The Commodores coach guided his team to a bounce-back victory after losing in Williams-Brice Stadium to Spurrier’s old school, South Carolina, last week.

Spurrier has a lot of old schools these days. Spurrier coached collegiality for 26 years at Duke, Florida and South Carolina, compiling a 228-89-2 record. He won the 1996 national championship as the Gators’ coach.

Spurrier led the Gamecocks to their only SEC East title, three consecutive 11-win seasons and was 86-49 in 10 1/2 years at the school.

When he was honored at Duke two weeks ago, Spurrier admitted he still feels allegiance to all three colleges where he coached. Even he admits it can be strange at times.

“I call Duke we and I call South Carolina we, and Florida we,” Spurrier said. “I guess that would look strange, I got three schools out there. That’s just the way it happened.”

At that game, Spurrier made it clear he won’t be putting his trademark visor and headset back on as a head coach – ever.

“I don’t want to be a head coach. There’s too much involved with the head coach,” Spurrier said, leaving open the possibility of coaching quarterbacks on some level. “If it’s a high school, or junior, well they don’t have junior highs anymore. Just high school, or somewhere there to coach quarterbacks and pitch the ball around. That might be something, something I want to do again. It would just have to be the right situation.”

In addition to serving as a professional fan, Spurrier also serves as an ambassador for Florida. that’s where he won a Heisman Trophy as a player and a national championship as a coach. Spurrier had been hired as an “ambassador” in Columbia, but ultimately returned to Florida.

Don’t expect to see Spurrier at Williams-Brice Stadium on Nov. 11 when the Gamecocks welcome the Gators to Columbia. Although there was discussion of Spurrier being recognized at that game, he has different plans.

Spurrier’s grandson, Hammond graduate Davis King, will play that day with his Trinity University Tigers against Berry College in Rome, Ga.

“It’s my only chance to see him in his college career, so we’re going to go up there and see him play,” Spurrier said.

Spurrier might be honored at Williams-Brice before the Nov. 18 game against Wofford or before the Nov. 25 game against Clemson, he said.

This story was originally published November 4, 2017 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Spurrier spotted on SEC sideline Saturday, but wasn’t supporting Gamecocks or Gators."