Carolina, please tell the 2014-15 story of Steve Spurrier bowing out at the Gamecocks

Only the idiot gamecock fans hold any kind of contempt for him

I wish he did it before or after the season, but I ain't mad at him. He was done after he said "I got 2-3 more years"

Gave up on recruiting the last couple of years and clearly wanted to be done after 2014. Still our greatest coach of all time by far, regardless of how he left.

He's a quitter

Here’s a good article that describes it well.

He got talked into not retiring. By his own admission he got greedy when Tanner appealed to his ego about getting to 100 wins even though his heart wasn’t in it.

The year prior he also let it be known that he only had 3-4 years left. Any recruit worth a damn immediately de committed. It got so bad Spurrier tried to retract his statement but the damage was done.

LINK

Longer article for those with a subscription.
The Athletic

Ray was at fault but it was SOS wife that is the main one at fault. She convinced him to keep coaching because she knew the whole family wouldn't be in the same town for ever

He guy his arse kicked in Athens and never recovered.

It was HBC not OBC

Spurrier had one of the better defenses in the SEC from 2009-2013. he was led to believe the 2014 edition would continue to be stout and provide much the same results as recent teams.

instead he was given the 104/128 ranked defense for yards per play. that shocked him in the 2014 opener vs A&M. Carolina couldn't get off the field at all that night and it would plague the entire 2014 season. it made him want to retire after a 48-34 win in Nashville the 5th game of the season. he saw it was over then.

Spurrier postgame 48-34 win in Nashville 2014 - he was never the same after this game. he was done.

as mentioned he was set on doing it after beating his longtime personal rival UMiami in the Independence Bowl. was enticed to try for 100 wins at USC even though he was already the winningest Gamecock coach in history. it didn't go as Spurrier wanted.

vintage HBC was Carolina at #5 Auburn in 2014 with Steve calling plays against Ellis Johnson and Gus. 42-35 Tigers - but Dylan Thompson and the Gamecock offense was outstanding that night. it was likely the only time in Steve's SEC coaching history his team was a 3 TD underdog. he damn near won the game.

Gamecock opening drive TD at Auburn - HBC dialing up plays

Whammy's 2014 defense cost Steve a legit chance for a 4th consecutive 11-win season. Missouri, at Kentucky, at Auburn, Tennessee all bad losses USC did enough offensively to win - with the UTK game being a complete abandonment of a win in the worst way a defense can shite all over its own team's offensive performance.

Spurrier's play calling 'by committee' that night saw Pharoh Cooper run, pass, catch and return a kick for a TD in one of the better individual player performances in SEC history. yes - that good. USC blew a 14 point lead with less than 2 minutes to play 4Q and eventually lost in OT. it went bad fast in unbelievable fashion and then it was over.

following week Spurrer returned to HIS "Swamp" he built with USC and Dylan gifted him a 23-20 OT win in arguably even more improbable ways than the loss he suffered to UTK the week prior. at that point - Steve was 5-5 and probably thought if he could get a bowl win and finish 7-6 with that disaster of a defense - he would hang up his visor at peace end of 2014.

2014 Vanderbilt was the game that changed the rest of his tenure at USC. he was never the same after that press conference. "As we know, Vanderbilt has not been an offensive juggernaught in the SEC" - Steve Spurrier

nothing that happened in 2015 forced him to hang it up - he saw it as a continuation of 2014 and knew it was not gonna get better for Carolina or for him.

Forever to Thee HBC - thanks for the great wins & memories at Carolina. Son of the South and a Legend.