In case there was any doubt before, it’s official: Steve Spurrier is the capo di tutti cappi in Columbia, S.C.
The city’s biggest newspaper, The State, removed Spurrier’s harshest critic, columnist Ron Morris, from the South Carolina football beat, media site jimromenesko.com reported Wednesday. The State also has hired writer Glenn Snyder, a self-described “superfan” of the program who received a recommendation from his friend, Spurrier.
Morris is now covering Clemson, South Carolina’s bitter rival, and writing about the national college football scene. Romenesko’s sources said the The State’s publisher, Henry Haitz III, made Morris agree in writing earlier this year to stop writing about South Carolina and talking about the Gamecocks on TV and radio.
Spurrier has publicly criticized Morris’ commentary for years as being too negative. The coach once held up the start of a press conference until Morris left the room.
Morris was once forced to apologize for equating Spurrier’s outsize influence on South Carolina to Joe Paterno and Penn State. Haitz is a Penn State graduate, according to Romenesko.
Spurrier denied that he muscled Morris off the beat.
“Ron Morris just wrote stuff that wasn’t true about me and I reacted,” Spurrier told Romenesko last week. “I was fine with him the first five or six years here, and then he would write stuff that wasn’t true.” Spurrier did not specify what was untruthful.
“I complained to the world about him,” Spurrier told Romenesko when asked whether he voiced his objections complained directly to Haitz. “I complained to Gamecock Nation on my radio show. But don’t put (The State’s decision) on me. (Morris) is responsible for that.”
Snyder has covered the program for more than three decades for various publications. He told Romenesko that he has attended “343 games in a row” involving the Gamecocks.
Spurrier confirmed that he went to bat for Snyder with The State.
“I did call The State newspaper and put in a good word for him, and they hired him,” the coach told Romenesko.
Spurrier said he spoke with Haitz, who was introduced to Spurrier by longtime USC football analyst Tommy Suggs, a former Gamecock quarterback. The State declined to address the situation directly in its response to Romenesko.