This blog post and the accompanying audio were originally posted prior to the 2013 season.
South Carolina and Lou Holtz began 2004 with the intention of washing away memories of the horrifying 2003 finale. Skip Holtz had been stripped of play-calling duties (and of the notion he was the head-coach-in-waiting) and the Gamecocks took the field in god-awful black helmets and black and white uniform combinations.
After a somewhat encouraging 4-1 start with a close loss to a good Georgia team, USC stumbled to a 2-4 finish. Rumors began to swirl the last two weeks of the season that Holtz would be leaving. By the time the Clemson game rolled around not only was that a given, but there were also strong indications of who our next coach would be – Steve Spurrier. Obviously that seems easy to believe now that he’s entering his ninth season here, but at the time it was simply inconceivable that such a legend would come to USC.
Unfortunately, this garbage prevented us from giving Holtz a proper send-off. A 6-6 record would’ve probably gotten us a bowl bid, but the brawl cost us that and gave us a lot of bad national publicity. Even though things did not end well for Lou or the ’04 season, when Spurrier was announced as our next head coach a few days later, the program was given a much-needed shot of adrenaline.
Click here or click the graphic for the 2004 season review, and enjoy!
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