Spurrier having trouble bringing QBs to Columbia

For more than two decades, South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier has built a reputation as one of the top offensive minds in college football.

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South Carolina Gamecocks

His ability to mold quarterbacks and get them to the NFL has been legendary throughout his career and has been a major allure for the top high school quarterbacks in the country.

Spurrier's resume speaks for itself. At Florida, the Head Ball Coach turned out great quarterbacks like they were on an assembly line. Shane Matthews, Doug Johnson, Jesse Palmer and Rex Grossman all went on to play in the NFL, while Danny Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy with the Gators.

Even at Duke, Spurrier molded Dave Brown into an NFL prospect. Brown played 11 seasons of professional football.

Spurrier's inability to lure a big-name high school quarterback to Columbia has baffled even him. In seven seasons with the Gamecocks, Spurrier's most successful protege has been Stephen Garcia, who was dismissed from the team three weeks ago.

"We're sitting around always wondering how come we can't throw the ball up and down the field as well as our teams used to at Florida," Spurrier said. "I thought we could get some guys to do it here and there's just a combination of reasons we haven't. We haven't sent any quarterbacks to the NFL."

Here's a look at all of the quarterbacks Spurrier has signed and what they accomplished during their careers with the Gamecocks:

2005

Tommy Beecher, Concord, NC

2-star rating

College: Played in 17 games over 3 seasons for USC. Threw for 320 yards with 2 TDs and 4 INTs. Transferred to Liberty in 2009 where he threw for 1,700 yards and 9 TDs and 5 INTs.

Cade Thompson, Maryville, TN

2-star rating

College: Played in 2 games for USC, completed 1 pass for 1 yard; transferred to Tennessee-Martin in 2007 where the threw for 6,260 yards and 48 TDs.

2006

Chris Smelley, Tuscaloosa, AL

4-star rating

College: Started 15 games with 9-6 record. Threw for 3,210 yards 23 TDs, 22 INTs. Transferred to Alabama to play baseball in 2009.

2007

Stephen Garcia, Tampa, Fla.

4-star rating

College: Started 34 games with 20-14 record at USC. Finished with 7,597 passing yards, 47 TDs, 41 INTs, 777 rushing yards and 15 TDs. Dismissed from team earlier this month.

2008

Aramis Hillary, Strom Thurmond HS

3-star rating

College: Did not play a down at USC. Transferred to Coastal Carolina in 2010. Has thrown for 1,267 yards and 8 TDs this season, while rushing for 222 yards and 4 TDs in 2011 for the Chanticleers.

Reid McCollum, Summerville HS

3-star rating

College: Played in two games, passing for 39 yards and 1 touchdown. Still enrolled at USC but does not play football.

2009

Andrew Clifford, Tampa, Fla.

3-star rating

College: Has played in four games during his career. Completed three passes for 33 yards and 1 TD.

2010

Connor Shaw, Flowery Branch, Ga.

3-star rating

College: Current starter for Gamecocks. 3-0 as a starter. Has played in 13 games in two seasons. Thrown for 495 yards and 5 TDs in 2011.

Dylan Thompson, Boiling Springs HS

2-star rating

College: Has played in two games in 2011 with two completions. He rushed for a TD against Kentucky.

2011

Tanner McEvoy, Oradell, NJ

3-star rating

College: Redshirted this season.