Earning Respect

COLUMBIA -- In the coming months, after he graduates from South Carolina, the easiest thing for Scott Spurrier would be to move to some remote area of the country where people aren't all that familiar with his surname.

The easiest thing would also involve taking a job that has little or nothing to do with sports, and especially not football.

Easier because the Spurrier name comes with awe, sure, but it also comes with responsibility, a microscope and an added bit of pressure.

But Scott's never shied from that. Why would he start now?

No, the 22-year-old son of Gamecocks football coach Steve Spurrier wants to stay here and get into -- what else? -- the family biz.

"It's in my blood," Scott said this week. "It's awesome, man, just to be part of this and see the program grow."

The plan for Scott is to perhaps latch on as a USC graduate assistant and begin the climb toward becoming a coach -- just as his dad once did and just as his big brother, Gamecocks receivers coach Steve Jr., did.

He'll start with an internship at West Columbia's Airport High, where Gamecock great Duce Staley got his start as a player.

"It's amazing. It's what he's always wanted," said Jerri, Scott's mom and Steve's wife. "It's always surprised me. He just loves it. He loves every part of it."

The youngest Spurrier son watched as his dad built Florida into a powerhouse. Looking back, he says he took that consistent success for granted. Winning is tough. Winning big is even tougher.

The entire Spurrier family learned that lesson when Steve took the Washington Redskins job.

Those were Scott's high school years in Loudoun County, Va., just outside D.C.

After going 12-20 in two seasons, in 2002-03, Spurrier hit eject on the NFL experiment.

Suddenly Scott's dad was around a lot more in 2004.

"He was driving my mom crazy," Scott said.

Out of nowhere, Steve stopped Scott in the house one day and asked him what he thought of South Carolina. Scott said he didn't know much about it.

That week, as Steve went to talk with then-AD Mike McGee, then-coach Lou Holtz and the Gamecocks' brass, Scott watched in horror as USC and Clemson brawled on the football field.

Clearly, things weren't nearly as bad as they seemed that day, but Spurrier had his work cut out for him when he took the job in November 2004.

Scott wasn't entirely sold on the program, nor on the idea of living in Columbia, so he chose to go play at Charleston Southern.

Not long after he had gotten there, Steve and Steve Jr. talked Scott into joining the family at USC after all.

Scott transferred and walked on to the team in 2006. Where did the time go exactly?

"It went by fast," he said. "Feels like I just walked out there for the first time."

As a 5-7 receiver with average college speed, Scott wasn't going to win a Heisman Trophy like his dad did at Florida in 1966. He knew that.

But Scott still thought he could make himself into a player of some kind -- even at the SEC level. He thought he could have a role, however small, in the program's progress.

Last season, first-year special teams coach Ray Rychleski took a shine to Spurrier. Undersized as he was, Rychleski regularly involved Scott in some of the coverage and return teams.

This year, he was in some of Shane Beamer's special teams plans. Spurrier also made his first career catch -- a 13-yarder late in the victory against Florida Atlantic. Hey, that's not a bad yards-per-catch average.

"He's got some toughness to him," Beamer said. "He won't back down from anybody. He'll fight you and compete. From that standpoint, you wish you had more guys like him."

Spurrier said he's to the point where, on the field, he doesn't think of Scott as a son but as a player.

He said Tuesday he appreciates Scott the player's contributions for four years.

"He's one of the guys," Steve said. "He and so many of these players understand their roles. Hopefully as coaches we treat all the walk-ons, the backup players, as if they're very important. Because they are. Every player is important and every player has a role on the team.

"He's fulfilled his role nicely, as have so many other of our players."

Beamer gets what it is to be a high-profile coach's son. And he gets that it's not easy.

After a high school career, Beamer decided to walk on to Frank Beamer's established Virginia Tech team.

Teammates -- heck, even coaches -- might not have made jokes about Shane to his face. But he could feel skepticism surrounding him.

Walk-ons have to earn their way more than scholarship players. But a walk-on that's the head coach's kid? Phew.

"You don't want to be seen as getting any kind of favoritism because of who you are," Beamer said. "My dad and I went out of our way not to let anybody think that was going on."

After sitting out a redshirt season, in the first year Beamer was eligible to play, he was a backup on the kickoff team. When the starter went down with an injury against East Carolina, Beamer was pressed into duty.

It was late in the game, and the Hokies were way up, but Beamer went down and blew up the Pirates' return wedge.

Some starters and veterans noticed. They started calling Beamer "The Wedgebuster." He was in, because of performance.

Scott Spurrier earned the same acceptance from the Gamecocks the past two seasons. He even earned a scholarship this fall.

"I was limited athletically," said Beamer, who is a bit bigger than Scott Spurrier but not by a whole lot. "But I'd do what was asked of me and hopefully bring a little bit of something to the team.

"The most important thing for me wasn't the playing time. It was having the respect of my teammates. The players on this team they respect Scotty for what he's about and who he is."

USC sells all of its bowl tickets

South Carolina has sold all 10,000 tickets it was alloted for the Papajohns.com Bowl and has ordered an additional 250 tickets to cover the orders it has received.

A statement from the school Tuesday said Gamecock fans wishing to attend the Jan. 2, 2010, game in Birmingham, Ala., can purchase tickets through the game's official Web site. Tickets are $40.

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Clemson Tigers

All tickets ordered through the Gamecock ticket office before noon last Friday were mailed that afternoon.

The Gamecocks will take on Connecticut. Both teams enter the game with 7-5 records.

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks.