In January 2009, three months before Flowery Branch High School quarterback Connor Shaw committed to Steve Spurrier and South Carolina, Chris Smelley, a South Carolina quarterback, went to see Spurrier in his office about whether Smelley should stick it out in football or go back to Alabama and play baseball.
There was no hand holding. Spurrier told Smelley, “You need to go.” Smelley transferred.
Shaw, now a freshman, knows Spurrier does not give quarterbacks a vote of confidence. If the Ball Coach likes you, you get another snap. That’s your vote of confidence. Shaw knows all about the lack of affection Spurrier shows for busted plays by his quarterback. He is living it right now in fall camp at USC and wraps his arms around the Spurrier culture.
Shaw became a Gators fan when Spurrier coached at Florida. Shaw’s room was painted the Gators colors because of Spurrier. Shaw’s hats were probably visors. He gave up on the Gators when Spurrier left Gainesville for the NFL.
When Spurrier offered Shaw a scholarship, Spurrier told the quarterback he understood he was a Gators fan, but Shaw quickly corrected him.
“He said ‘No sir, I grew up a Coach Spurrier fan’,” said his father, Lee Shaw. “I about fell out of my chair. It wasn’t rehearsed.”
There was a picture of the South Carolina quarterbacks lined up at practice recently. It is easy to pick out the Spurrier guy. Crew cut, eyes narrowed, all focus. Shaw is already No. 2 on the depth chart.
“I figured Coach Spurrier was a strict coach, especially on his quarterbacks, I knew that coming in, and that’s what I wanted,” Shaw said. “Him being so hard on his quarterbacks is something I figured was going to make me better.”
In a practice last week, Spurrier barked at his quarterbacks that they didn’t even know how to play catch properly. He had them work over and over on proper ball placement. Shaw, the son of a coach, is delighted by the fundamentals.
Spurrier, who is going into his sixth year in Columbia, has not made an indelible mark at South Carolina (35-28 overall, 18-22 in the SEC). There have been some good wins, but he is searching for the quarterback who will finally get the Gamecocks past Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia in the hierarchy of the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division.
Many South Carolina fans are convinced that they finally have their quarterback in Shaw. They have been begging for Spurrier to make a clone of Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel, or at least something close to Rex Grossman or Doug Johnson, successful former Florida quarterbacks under Spurrier.
Is Shaw it? Possibly, but we may not find out much this season. Shaw is a freshman and he is playing behind the enigmatic Stephen Garcia, who is in his fourth-year under Spurrier. Shaw, who entered college early in January to get a head start, understands this is probably not his year.
“I’m not focused on starting, I’m preparing myself for if I have to go in; I’m one injury away from having to go in,” Shaw said. “I’m still trying to prove myself and solidify myself as the No. 2. Stephen is the starter.”
Garcia, 22, is the engaging redshirt junior who has gotten into some mischief at South Carolina and caused Spurrier to grimace more than once in the last three years. He is 6-foot-2, 230 pounds and has a strong arm, but his statistics are average: 8-8 as a starter, 54.9 completion percentage, 23 touchdown passes, but 18 interceptions.
Garcia and Shaw are the odd couple as the 1-2 for Spurrier. Garcia has the shaggy haircut, and the wide smile at practice. He is also the father of 3-year-old Memphys, who was named after an animated penguin character in the movie “Happy Feet.”
His teammates flock around Garcia because of his good nature and personality. Sometimes it seems Garcia, when he escapes the pocket with the football, looks for a linebacker to run into just to have a collision to talk about.
Still, there is noted lack of trust for Garcia. The freshman Shaw is allowed to talk to reporters one-on-one while Garcia is restricted to group interviews, or usually has to meet the press after games. Spurrier wants it that way.
Garcia seems determined to change his image as a goof off. He has lost weight and became a team leader this summer with off-field activities, when three years ago his off-field activities was more mischief.
“I don’t think I worked hard enough to have a great season last year,” Garcia said. “I had a mediocre year last year, and with Coach Spurrier you can’t be mediocre. I didn’t have enough effort; I didn’t work out as hard as I should have.”
As for Shaw, he has adapted to Spurrier’s pro-style offense. He was a spread quarterback at Flowery Branch and took snaps out of the shotgun, but he says he has become comfortable taking snaps under center this summer and getting into a five and seven-step drops while reading the defense.
“That first week of spring practice it was nothing but me trying to adapt to being under center,” Shaw said. “I’ve got it down. The main thing it affected was I’m 6-foot-1 trying to look over 6-4, 6-5 linemen to find my receivers. I find some throwing lanes and I can fit it in there.”
Lee Shaw, the head coach of Connor Shaw and Jaybo Shaw, the former Georgia Tech quarterback, said there couldn’t be a better match than his son and Spurrier.
“Our family is intense, everybody is pretty focused up, maybe that’s why he was drawn to Coach Spurrier,” Lee Shaw said. “If you talk to Connor, he’s got this look. He wants to be that guy, that Danny Wuerffel guy. Connor understands he is at South Carolina to win.”
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