Steve Spurrier looking for a new way to spend his Saturdays

— -- COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The day had already been surreal enough, an iconic coaching career coming to a close with Steve Spurrier resigning (not retiring, mind you) as South Carolina's head football coach.

But there the Head Ball Coach sat in his office, an hour or so after making it official before a packed house at Williams-Brice Stadium, and wondering if it even was his office anymore.

"I guess it's still mine unless they kick me out," cracked Spurrier, his eyes fluttering around to see what had been moved to make way for a television interview with ESPN. "It will take me forever to get all this stuff out of here, 11 years worth of stuff. I'm going to need some help."

In the end, Spurrier came to the sobering conclusion that he couldn't help the Gamecocks regain the form that made them a top-10 team for three straight seasons from 2011-13, and never one to just hang around, he pulled the plug on his Hall of Fame coaching career.

"Our players need to hear a new message," Spurrier said. "Sometimes you change quarterbacks. Sometimes you need to change the head coach. We'll see if it helps out. I hope it does because this school deserves a winner."

Spurrier didn't just make South Carolina a winner in his 11-plus seasons as coach. He made the Gamecocks nationally relevant and did it at a school that had won 10 or more games in a season only one time prior to his arrival in 2005.

As the program began to dip last season, nd Spurrier admitted that he could feel it, though he couldn't get it steered back in the right direction.

"Everybody likes to go out a a winner," Spurrier said. "I thought I would, but it didn't work out. Sometimes, I guess we all push the envelope a little too far. In hindsight, I probably should have walked away after the bowl game. But we thought we had a pretty good team ready to go with some junior college kids coming in and a new defensive coordinator [Jon Hoke], but it just didn't work out."

As Spurrier bounced around his office Tuesday pointing out old pictures, memorabilia and game balls (one of the game balls he made sure to point out was the first win over Florida and Urban Meyer in 2005), he didn't look or sound like the same guy who defiantly shook his fist at his "enemies" this summer during that impromptu press conference.

Among other things, Spurrier said during that fiery press conference that he was growing weary of answering questions about his age (70) and hearing rumblings that he was washed up. He assured South Carolina fans that he was as committed as ever and planned to be the Gamecocks' coach for five or six more years.

So what happened between then and now?

"2-4 is probably what did it," said Spurrier, referencing the Gamecocks' current record. "Times change. I meant what I said back then. I thought we had a better team. I thought I could help us be a better team. I was wrong. I guess we're all guilty in the preseason of thinking we're going to be better than we are. Nobody ever says, 'We're going to struggle to have a winning record.' I might have built us up too much, but I believed it."

Spurrier also understands that some will look at his leaving now as walking out on his players. He looks at it more as stepping aside and giving interim head coach Shawn Elliott and the staff a fresh start.

"Leaving now gives Shawn Elliott a better chance to change the direction of the program and gives the players a new voice," said Spurrier, who was asked by the South Carolina administration to finish out the season. "I just didn't see any reason to delay the inevitable. Hopefully, the fans are still OK with me. But I've always said that when things start going downhill, I won't need somebody to tell me when it's time to step aside. I'll know when it's time, and it's time."

Spurrier's wife, Jerri, didn't attend the press conference. He said she had a class that was much more important than a "silly press conference." Later, he admitted that she wasn't thrilled with his decision to step down.

"She doesn't like it. She'd like me to coach the rest of my life," Spurrier said.

Spurrier's youngest son, Scott, said the most emotional time was Sunday night when Spurrier told everyone in the family.

"Just the shock that it was really happening," Scott said.

With the Gamecocks having lost eight of their last nine SEC games dating to last season, Spurrier said he gave athletic director Ray Tanner a heads-up after a lackluster win over winless UCF a few weeks ago that the end might be near.

"I told him I was going to try and get through the season, but didn't make it that far," said Spurrier, who joked that he's gained a much deeper appreciation for "7-6 coaches" these last two seasons.

Spurrier said he doubts he'll attend many South Carolina games the rest of the season and thinks it's best for him to stay away for the time being. He'll still be around the football complex some, especially when it comes to hitting the workout room.

What he won't do is get in the way. He doesn't have any definitive plans other than improving his golf game, and he might do a little TV.

"I'll find something," Spurrier said. "I'll probably do what I do in the offseason, have an offseason year-round. Really I guess I'm fortunate that I lasted this long. Not many of us are still coaching into our our 70s."

Something says his retirement (err, his down time) won't come close to matching his epic run as the Head Ball Coach.

There was only one.