re: Predict the football teams record for 2014

... continued.


Then there is Junior, Bubba and his wife Missy. I have never seen a Son, not even mine, more straight out of the mold of his Dad than Bubba. Honestly, Bubba may be more of all those strong leadership traits than even his Dad. Because Missy does not have to run interference in certain situations for Bubba like Jerri has had to do, and still does, with regard to the HBC. That's about all I can say about that. Bubba is the real deal.

Skippy Holtz was never the real deal. That's why the original deal was never consummated with Skippy because Mike McGee was a very very smart man.

So with all of that implied above, and I am sorry for being somewhat coded above, but the reasons are there so far, if you'll read between the lines ... let's look at Bubba's resume.

Two MNC rings on his finger ... UF and Oklahoma under Stoops.

Junior has done all the jobs, he's learned the ropes. The last one was as recruiting coordinator and he's beginning to take us to a new level in that regard.

He's doing it all very quietly and behind the scenes with little to no fanfare.

Junior is every bit the offensive-minded coach his Dad is, perhaps moreso at this phase and stage.

Junior is the quiet leader among the staff - good friends with everybody, well respected for what he does.

The players love Bubba too.

While Jerri is the matriarch of the current staff, the First Lady so-to-speak, make no mistake about it Missy is the Princess, the First Lady in waiting if you will. All the other coaches' wives revolve around her like the assistants' wives used to revolve around Jerri.

Have you ever watched any pack of anything, people, dogs, cows, pigs, lions ... whatever. The Alphas always stand-out.

Bubba and Missy are the Alphas.

Bubba and Missy have put down roots here, dropped anchor, this is their home and they are well-liked, if not downright loved, by most they come in contact with ... including certain members of our BoTs and including our AD and his wife.

The big question, where I think there is no question at all, is how will the transition go with Junior and Jamie Speronis. IMHO both of them recognize the need to, from a pure business standpoint, the need to make sure the transition is smooth and seamless. In that regard Speronis could prove invaluable by giving Bubba time to concentrate on becoming the HCIC and not having to worry about training a new DoFootball Ops guy.

So the next question is going to be, what about Shawn and Lorenzo?

Here's the thing about those guys. I think those guys stick around under Junior. They all get along well. Sure, if a head coaching job were to pop-open for either of those guys they'd probably take it, but that's a natural progression thing and bound to happen sooner or later. Staffs morph and change over time, we've been lucky to keep this one together as long as we have. We're going to lose some good guys - it is inevitable. We'll survive.

Finally, there is Spurrier's recent contract which extends his relationship with the program into a consultant status once he decides to step down. He came right out and stated he wants to stick around, to be near his grandchildren, his entire family, his friends ... Columbia has become his home. He likes it here. That's not a paper Gamecock, that's a written and verbal declaration for what is planned down the road. Bubba is going to be the man when the time comes.

Of course, that's probably not going to happen anytime soon. Spurrier's closest confidants all agree he is here through 2017, maybe longer if he is within a season or two of breaking The Bear's SEC wins total record. And Junior is biding his time, learning the inner workings of the program, making new friends, more friends, taking over the day to day stuff and working more hand-in-hand with Speronis on a daily basis. The transition is happening very much as it is done on the big corporate level ... very gradually, very smoothly, very quietly.

In time, within the near future, you're going to see Junior, more and more, becoming the face of the program. Junior and Missy. Perhaps not so publicly at first, but certainly where it matters in areas of dealing with the big boosters, the club chapter meetings, the board meetings, the behind the scenes stuff. You'll see Junior handing down directives from his Dad to other coaches ... heck, he's already doing it to some degree now.

I believe we have the HBC through 2017 unless we win the national championship between now and then. So that's 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

The Bear had what, 159 SEC wins combined Ky and Bama. Spurrier has what, 128 maybe, 129? Something like that I think. So the HBC would need 30-31 more SEC wins to catch The Bear, 32 to surpass him. That's gonna be tough to do over the course of the next four years. It would take what, 8 SEC wins per season? I love my Gamecocks but that's not likely to happen. Six per season is a more realistic goal so let's say he's close, does he go for 2018?

I kinda doubt it. Matter of fact he may bail and take the consultant job if we win the SEC Championship this year although I doubt he would given his promise to Conner Mitch. Still yet, you never know with the HBC, he might change his mind and step back and hand it to Bubba knowing he's left the cupboard full ... which would be a smart thing to do for a Son, we would like to do the same for our Sons, correct?

Spurrier has stated he's not chasing The Bear's record. Said he would have stayed at Florida if he were. He's hard to read when it comes to that but I just think he'll be here to 2017 and then he becomes Bubba's Consigliere like Don Corleone was to Michael.

Bubba will be chomping at the bit by then, ready to take the reins of the football program. He's already entrenched.

One more little afterthought worth mentioning. What better motivation for Spurrier, Jr, for Bubba, as the recruiting coordinator than to be told, "hey, listen, these players you are recruiting now ... choose them carefully because they will be yours one day soon and what you sign and what you make of them now will make you or break you when you take over ..."

Think about the beauty of that. It's genius. It's also why the HBC waited this long to give Bubba the RC responsibilities because, as I stated earlier, the man is calculating in everything he does.