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SPURRIER TAKES INTERIM TITLE OFF WARD
ORLANDO,
FLA. – The University of South Carolina football team arrived in
Orlando Tuesday afternoon, as they ready for Monday’s Capital One Bowl
against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Gamecocks will enter the bowl
game with a 10-2 record, while the Huskers, out of the Big Ten
Conference, are 9-3.
Head
coach Steve Spurrier made news on Tuesday by announcing that Lorenzo
Ward will be the team’s “permanent” defensive coordinator, not just for
the bowl game but for the 2012 season. “We don’t have an interim
defensive coordinator any more, we have a full-time (coordinator),”
said Coach Spurrier. “Lorenzo Ward is our defensive coordinator here at
South Carolina. He’s the best guy I could hire. That’s why I’ve hired
him. He knows what we want to do. He and I think almost exactly alike
defensively. We’ve talked a lot of defense over the last two or three
years and he knows how to coach it and we agree on how to coach it. So
he’s going to be our guy, hopefully for several years, and he’s
certainly the full-time guy as we go through the bowl game and next
year and so forth. I felt like I was going to do it anyway, and I felt
like we needed to do it right now.”
“It’s a
blessing that Coach Spurrier feels the way he does about me and I’m
excited about it,” said Ward. “Coach Spurrier announced it to the team
just a few seconds ago and they were excited, so it made me feel good
that the players wanted me to have this title. I never really went to
(Coach Spurrier). We visited and he came to me and said if Ellis
(Johnson) isn’t at practice, you need to control the practice, and it
went from there. I spent seven years in the 4-2-5 defense at Virginia
Tech, so the defense will stay very similar to what it is. I feel
confidence in my ability to coach. We’ve had good practices and the
guys really responded to me, so I feel good about it. I’m excited to
have the opportunity.”
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