Spurrier impressed by Muschamp, says he tried to hire him to his staff

Will Muschamp has only been at South Carolina for close to two months, but he’s already impressed the former Head Ball Coach.

Steve Spurrier said on “Inside the Roost” on 107.5 Monday night that Muschamp and his staff are off to a great start.

“Will Muschamp and his staff have come in and they’re busting their tails all over the country,” Spurrier said. “They seem to really have it going right now. I think he will do a super job here and we’ll get the ballpark filled up and start winning again.”

Spurrier added he tried to hire Muschamp to his staff after Muschamp’s stint as the coach at Florida, but he was unable to convince him to come to USC. Muschamp instead served as the defensive coordinator at Auburn for a year before becoming the Gamecocks’ head coach.

“I tried to hire him. It’s sort of funny, after two seasons ago when he was available, he called me up and said, ‘I’ve gotta go to Auburn. My wife went to school there and I know all those people and this, that and the other,’” Spurrier recalled.

“I said, ‘Why don’t you come here? Maybe when it’s time for me to hang it up you’ll be next in line to get the job.’ But he was a little smarter than that. He said, ‘I’ll wait for you to hang it up and then I’ll go get the job.’ And that’s how it worked out. It’s interesting how life is.”

PAST SUCCESS CAN BE REPEATED

Even though Spurrier’s time at South Carolina didn’t end how he wanted it to, he’s hopeful he accomplished enough that current players will be confident they can win at a high level again soon.

“I think the current players and students need to know, ‘Hey, this did happen, and it can happen again and maybe even bigger things,’” Spurrier said. “You’ve always got to set your goals high and realize, ‘Hey, this is possible out there. Let’s go do it.’ I think Coach Muschamp and his guys are setting their goals very high here.”

Spurrier reiterated he wishes he would’ve retired following USC’s Independence Bowl victory over Miami to close out the 2014 season.

“Again, I apologize for the last football season,” Spurrier said. “Somehow or another, we thought we had a decent team ready to go and it just didn’t work out. When it was inevitable that some change was needed I think Shawn Elliott did an excellent job coming in.”

NOT COACHING YET

Spurrier said the day he resigned he would possibly be interested in coaching again at the high school or college level, but for now he is enjoying his time away from football.

“I’m not sure that’s something I need to do,” he said. “Gosh, I’ve been a head coach 30 years and that’s probably long enough. Maybe just like a consultant or something of that nature or maybe hanging around some team down the road might be something that I’d like to do… But you’ve got to have opportunity. Opportunity in life is what gives all of us a chance to do our thing. We’ll wait and see if that comes up.”