Danny Ford: Spurrier won't slow down any time soon

Instead of a practice field, former Clemson University coach Danny Ford spends most days on his farm in Pendleton.

At 67, Ford is more content driving an air-conditioned tractor to bale hay than driving thousands of miles to recruit football players. A long day's work on the farm always trumps a two-a-day practice in summer camp.

"When you go out there, and it's 100 degrees in August, you don't feel good," Ford said. "It takes a lot out of the young man, the players, so you can imagine what it takes out of a coach with a little age on him."

Ford coached his last game in 1997. He has no interest in returning to the drudgeries of college football, although he still would be a spring chicken compared to some of his counterparts.

Steve Spurrier celebrated his 70th birthday on April 20. He is preparing to open his 11th season at the University of South Carolina, with revitalized energy and renewed responsibility.

After delegating last season, Spurrier revealed during the spring practice session that he will reclaim full play-calling duties this season. Ford said Spurrier's vigor is indisputable, not because he is willing to endure another sweltering August camp in Columbia, but because he still can handle the heat of game management.

"If the mental part became too stressful, that would be easier to tell than the physical part, because you could see a lot of mistakes made on the football field," Ford said. "If he's too old to coach, that'll certainly show up in the future, but I don't think it's shown up yet."

However, Spurrier believes some critics and competitors have mistaken his most recent birthday as an expiration date.

Spurrier summoned reporters for an impromptu news conference July 22 to address doubts about his age, the pending proximity of his retirement and the trajectory of the Gamecocks program.

"I can still run the show. I plan on coaching a long time," Spurrier asserted, aiming his defiant declarations at detractors who have cast stones of doubt along the recruiting trail.

Competitors easily can caution prospective athletes against committing to Carolina by speculating that Spurrier will retire before the players graduate. However, Spurrier proclaimed he has no plans to depart or any intentions of being propped up as a figurehead leader.

"He is just as involved as he has always been and just as fired up as he's always has been," said USC quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus, who played for Spurrier at the University of Florida in 1991.

College football has changed drastically through the 24 seasons since then. New personalities have surfaced. New strategies have emerged. New dynasties have formed. Conferences have been reorganized more than Martha Stewart's living room. Revenues have rocketed. Rules have been amended.

But time has waited for no man, and, on the recruiting trail, there are no senior citizen discounts.

"When a young man is down to two or three schools, everybody is negative recruiting in some way, shape or form," said Steve Wiltfong, national recruiting director of 247Sports. "You're obviously accentuating your positives, but you're going to slip in one or two reasons why they shouldn't go to the other school, typically. That could be in pointing out that a head coach isn't going to be there because he's going to retire because he's perceived to be old."

Wiltfong contended that recruiting battles can be dramatized by the magnified attention it commands from fans. National, regional and team specific websites chronicle every second thought of the most coveted recruits. Pitches and promises once confined to a prospect's sofa are now consumed by vigilant fans in 140-character morsels. Social media exchanges can amplify doubt and indecision. The scrutiny intensifies the competition.

"There's more of a spotlight on recruiting now than there used to be. These are becoming relevant national story lines that were maybe just facts seven or eight years ago," Wiltfong said. "It has to be (cutthroat) sometimes, because you're recruiting for your livelihood. You're going to run into some hairy situations.

"Kids make the decision based on where they are the most comfortable. South Carolina is more than Steve Spurrier. It just so happens that age is the obvious way to negative recruit South Carolina right now."

Spurrier cannot avert the inevitability that, as he coaches into his 70s, he will reach a threshold where he no longer will be able to keep the four-year promise he issues to recruits. Yet, job security is affected by much more than age. Any combination of disciplinary issues or losing streaks can curtail a coach’s term before the ink dries on his contract.

Since 2011, 96 of the 128 (75 percent) Division I Bowl Subdivision teams have changed coaches at least once. Eight of Carolina’s counterparts in the Southeastern Conference have experienced turnover through that span.

Thus, many of the rivals pitching against Spurrier’s tenuous tenure will be wearing different logos in five years.

For Spurrier or 68-year old Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer or 75-year old Bill Snyder at Kansas State, the age argument can be countered only by proper diet, adequate exercise and excessive winning.

Eight coaches in the Power Five Division I Conferences— the Atlantic Coast, Southeastern, Pacific 12, Big 12 and Big Ten— will enter this season at 60 or older. Seven of those coaches earned a winning record last season. Four notched at least nine wins.

Spurrier and Beamer both closed last season 7-6. It was a startling drop from the 11-2 record USC enjoyed in each of the previous three seasons. After winning at least 10 games each year from 2004 to 2011, Virginia Tech has suffered at least five losses in each of the last three seasons.

Beamer said, in addition to the relationships he builds with his players and his genuine enjoyment of the game, the desire to restore his reputation of success rejuvenates him each year.

"The challenge of trying to make a team you think has good ability, making them a good football team, I like that challenge," Beamer said. "That's kind of what drives me."

Audacious ambition may be the fountain of youth. Spurrier revealed that USC's team doctor assessed that Spurrier functions with the physical and mental faculties of a 55-year old. Perhaps his sharpness is fueled by a combination of his dedicated workout routine and his brazen motivation to ensure that his critics respect their elders.

"He still feels young. He still feels like he can coach," Ford said. "The criticism is kind of funny. Your mind tells you when it's been too long. I don't see that with Coach Spurrier."

Staff writer Willie T. Smith contributed to this report.