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Steve Spurrier wrote an open letter to South Carolina fans

Coach Steve Spurrier wrote an open letter to fans Tuesday, rehashing things he’d said before about his decision to step away from the team and applauding the job Shawn Elliott did in his stead.

I certainly believe, as the media has said, that our team played better after I resigned. Shawn Elliott did an excellent job getting this team prepared to play with enthusiasm and effort the rest of our season. Unfortunately, the close games turned into close losses.

The letter was published in The State with no comment. Just eight paragraphs of Spurrier rehashing and ultimately thanking the South Carolina fan base.

I understand the critics have asked why I didn’t announce I was retiring at the end of the season, as some other coaches have done. I felt that if I had done this, I would have been a distraction throughout the remainder of the season about my last game everywhere I went. I did not want a “Spurrier Farewell Tour.” The players deserve to be the story of each game.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Spurrier letter without a little bit of trolling.

When a coach gets fired, the change is often good and helpful to the team. Miami was 4-3 when Al Golden was fired, and the interim head coach went 4-1. Randy Edsall was 2-4 at Maryland when fired and his replacement got the team playing better.

Spurrier officially resigned on Oct. 13 and while he still keeps an office in the South Carolina athletic department, he walked away from the Gamecocks football operations altogether. The team was 2-4 when he left and went 1-5 without him. Still, he believes that stepping aside in the middle of the season was the right thing to do.

Our university was not going to fire me, so I thought it was best for our team that I basically fire myself by resigning.

For more South Carolina news, visit GamecockCentral.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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