Spurrier considers taking an ambassador’s role with USC

Steve Spurrier still is considering taking an ambassador’s role with South Carolina following the end of his official employment at the end of this year, he told The State on Tuesday.

Spurrier, who resigned in October after 10-plus seasons in which he became the Gamecocks winningest all-time coach, will be offered a position as special assistant to school president Harris Pastides, according to the last contract he signed with the school.

He could be a special assistant to Pastides and athletics director Ray Tanner at an annual salary of $100,000, provided he maintains his residence in Columbia.

“I’ve always had a wonderful relationship with Dr. Pastides,” Spurrier said.

On Monday, Pastides addressed South Carolina’s decision to pay Spurrier the remainder of his contract, approximately $1 million based on the payment schedule of his annual deal, despite his midseason resignation.

It “was something discussed and negotiated between the coach and the athletic director (Tanner),” Pastides told USA Today. “I and the board got involved with respect to being informed about it, but over an extremely short period of time. There was only a day between when we knew the coach was contemplating resigning and when he was making this public. There were alternate payment possibilities that could have cost the university more.”

South Carolina would have owed Spurrier more than $3 million had it fired him at the time of his resignation because his contract called for a $1 million buyout per year (plus a prorated amount for partial years) if the school ever fired him without cause.

“Without getting into detail, I think most people are thinking the alternative is zero. But there are alternate possibilities that could have been arrived at through negotiation with the coach that possibly could have been more,” Pastides said. “So I think the university felt, given how this all happened and our ability to move forward quickly, that this was appropriate.”

Spurrier declined to discuss his contract payments.

“I’ll let them talk about that,” he said.

South Carolina interim head coach Shawn Elliott will finish this season under the financial terms of his existing contract, which pays him $400,000 annually. Offensive line coach Travelle Wharton, who was promoted from a $60,000 per year quality control position, also will not receive a raise.

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Spurrier considers taking an ambassador’s role with USC."