Coach, tailback go for milestones versus UAB 
It has been a long journey for Steve Spurrier since he first took the field as a college head coach in 1987 at Duke University.
He brought Duke football to relevance in his three short years there, winning ACC Coach of the Year honors two of those years. Spurrier then took over the head job at his alma mater, Florida, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1966 as a quarterback.
At UF Spurrier famously implemented his “Fun ‘n’ Gun” offense to perfection, winning six SEC Championships and one national championship in his 12 seasons with the Gators.
After a brief, unsuccessful two-year stint with the NFL’s Washington Redskins, Spurrier’s journey found its way to Columbia in 2005. In his eight seasons with the Gamecocks, Spurrier has brought the team to unprecedented heights, culminating in the school’s first SEC Eastern division title in 2010 and a program-high 11-win season last year.
And now, the 67-year-old is poised to reach another milestone Saturday if the Gamecocks can knock off the University of Alabama-Birmingham. If USC gets the win, Spurrier will become the 22nd Division I coach to reach 200 career coaching wins, something he doesn’t take a whole lot of pride in.
“That’s not really that big of a deal,” said Spurrier, who has a 197-75-2 career record. “There is a bunch of dudes who have won 200 games, so I don’t know how you brag about that too much. That just means you’ve coached quite a few years and were fortunate enough to stay healthy and not get fired.”
While Spurrier may barely raise an eyebrow at 200 wins, his son, Steve Spurrier Jr., the wide receivers coach at USC, is a little more impressed with such an achievement.
“It’s pretty impressive,” Spurrier Jr. said. “It is kind of a cool accomplishment, it really is; it puts him up there with the top coaches. It’s cool that he lays low about it. To him, it is not the biggest accomplishment that he wants to have. He has never been a guy that has gotten excited about personal accomplishments.”
Spurrier echoed those statements Tuesday, saying his eyes are on bigger and better things.
“I think a bigger deal would be when we, hopefully, get eight more (wins) to win the most here (at USC),” Spurrier said. “That’s sort of a neat deal because no one has ever done it.”
Spurrier includes his three years with the United States Football League Tampa Bay Bandits and the two years with the Redskins in regards to his record so, according to him, all of the fuss this week is for naught as he won his 200th game in 2006.
Regardless, Spurrier won’t be the only one facing uncharted territory Saturday. Junior tailback Marcus Lattimore needs one more touchdown to set the school’s career touchdown record held by George Rogers and Harold Green.
“Just to be up there with them is an honor,” Lattimore said. “Just have to keep it going and try to break it.”
As for Spurrier, he seemed a little more impressed with Lattimore’s accomplishments than his own.
“For a guy that hasn’t even played two full years yet, it’s nice for him to have that record here pretty soon,” Spurrier said.
Despite the personal achievements likely to be set Saturday, it doesn’t compare to the more important milestone both Spurrier and Lattimore have on their minds.
“Personal goals of total wins have not been my thing,” Spurrier said. “Trying to win some championships is most important. That’s something we haven’t done here yet. So if we can walk out of Atlanta a winner, I’ll be a happy Gamecock.”