Spurrier, forever the Head Ball Coach, draws a crowd

“Mashed potato!” someone yelled as Steve Spurrier smacked his opening drive.

Spurrier — the Head Ball Coach sporting a striped USC polo and Gamecocks visor — had stepped on the tee box to a round of applause.

He adjusted his visor, got set in his stance and swung. A little hitch in his swing, perhaps. He might’ve been a bit off-balance during his follow-through.

Didn’t matter. The 70-year-old split the fairway of Harbour Town Golf Links’ first hole.

He hobbled off the tee box toward his ball. More applause. A few friendly jeers.

“War Eagle!” an Auburn fan shouted. (OK, that one might’ve been for Auburn alum and PGA Tour pro Jason Dufner, who anchored Spurrier’s group.)

“Go Gators!” a Florida fan added.

“Go Clemson!” someone said, getting in the last word.

Spurrier walked past the hundreds-large crowd that had lined the fence to watch him tee off at 12:50 p.m. in Wednesday’s RBC Heritage Pro-Am presented by Boeing. He pointed at a woman clad in Gamecock garnet. He cocked his head, flashed a grin.

He’d flashed a grin last weekend, when he posed with some Gator recruits on the sideline at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium — “The Swamp” — in Gainesville, Fla. He wore Florida blue-and-orange that Saturday, which makes one wonder what color he’ll wear next weekend in Knoxville, Tenn.

Spurrier, a Johnson City, Tenn., native, will receive the Robert Neyland Award during the Volunteers’ Orange and White spring game in Neyland Stadium, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. Remember: The Head Ball Coach has beaten the Vols with three different teams — Duke, Florida and South Carolina — on Neyland’s turf.

Spurrier, the former Gamecock coach, didn’t watch South Carolina’s spring game.

“No, no, I don’t miss anything,” Spurrier said when asked if he missed being on the field coaching during the spring.

“In the back of my mind, I knew the day was coming when I’m not gonna be coaching, and I’m there, and I just accepted it, and I’m sorta glad I’m out of it.”

As for his round at Harbour Town, Spurrier praised Dufner’s play. And he offered an honest assessment of his own.

“I made a couple birdies on the front,” Spurrier said, “and missed about three putts for par. I played a lot better this year than last year, for whatever reason.”

He hit his ball out of bounds on the last hole, though. He didn’t finish the 18th.

Regardless of what school colors he’s wearing, Spurrier remains a fan favorite at the pro-am. He’s played in the event for 12 years, and he once joked that he ought to have been awarded an honorary plaid jacket.

“We haven’t had that kind of crowd on this hole yet,” tournament volunteer Anne Casavant said as she stood near the edge of the fairway on the second hole.

“Zach Johnson had a decent crowd,” she said, “but not like this.”

After his opening drive on the first tee, Spurrier had stopped near the fence to sign two boys’ hats.

Harrison Smith, 9, of Bluffton, placed the hat on his head. He’d wanted Spurrier’s autograph because his granddad was a South Carolina alum.

He watched the Head Ball Coach amble off down the fairway.

He clutched an orange sweatshirt in his hands.

“You can put your Clemson shirt back on,” his father said.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 8:57 PM with the headline "Spurrier, forever the Head Ball Coach, draws a crowd."