SEC INSIDER

Spurrier understands players desire to unionize

Ben Cook

March 31, 2014 at 1:09 pm.

Steve Spurrier understands the Northwestern players' stance on unionizing. (Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports)

The South Carolina Gamecocks are at the halfway point of spring football.

They held their eighth practice Saturday morning in a scrimmage in Williams-Brice Stadium.

The scrimmage featured rotating quarterbacks as Steve Spurrier has done all spring long.

“They move around — the second, third and fourth guy — every day,” said Spurrier after the Thursday practice.

“Connor Mitch did a lot better than he’s been doing today. He got the ball out of his hands and didn’t hold on to it too long. Brendan (Nosovitch) struggled throwing the ball some, but he’s an excellent runner.

“Don’t tell anybody but he might be our running quarterback.”

Spurrier said that Perry Orth and Mitch would be the co-No. 2s on the depth chart following Thursday’s practice. The No. 1, of course, is veteran Dylan Thompson, a senior.

“Perry Orth throws a good ball,” the coach said. “He throws a spiral. A lot of times there are not a lot of spirals going around here. Every now and then there is one, but Perry throws a good spiral. He throws it pretty well for a walk-on kid.”

“A typical scrimmage,” said Spurrier. “Some good plays on both sides. The quarterbacks all did pretty decent. I’m not disappointed in the quarterbacks. They’re trying as hard as they can. The pass protection isn’t all that super right now, but that’s part of spring football and letting these young guys play that haven’t played much. Hopefully someday they’ll become a player, although we’re not sure if they will, but we hope they will.

“Dylan (Thompson) was sharp,” said Spurrier. “Dylan knows what he’s doing. He knows where everybody is. It’s good to see him dump off to the backs underneath. He has a good awareness of where all the players are and how much time he’s got. That’s what good quarterbacks have.”

Spurrier singled out a few players who had solid performances.

“Darius Paulk made some nice runs at the end. Perry (Orth) did ok. Perry has probably moved up to No. 2 right now. (Brendan) Nosovitch and Connor Mitch are the co-3rd guy right now.”

Orth was the second quarterback to enter the scrimmage, followed by Nosovitch and Mitch.

Spurrier also seemed intrigued by the Thursday ruling that the Northwestern football players could form a union. He has been an outspoken advocate of giving players a stipend and perhaps the Thursday ruling might move the NCAA in that direction.

“I thought it was interesting,” he said. “I’ve advocated giving college football players and college basketball players a stipend. Our commissioners and our presidents and our NCAA people talk about it but haven’t done anything at all yet, so we’ll see if they come up with a plan here real soon.

“I think the Northwestern kids were just trying to show that they work for the university a little bit. They bring in a lot of money to the university. I think that’s what they’re trying to say. I see their point a little bit. I hope it doesn’t come down to where all schools are forming unions. I hope that the NCAA, the BCS conferences especially, can afford to give a stipend.”

When asked what he would do if one of his football players came to him and said they were forming a union.

“Well the NFL did that. They have the Players Association,” he said. “They went to their owners and said here’s what we want to do. So the owners said okay.  The players want to play. I don’t think they want anything unrealistic. The Northwestern kids are just trying to show that we work for the university a little bit. We bring in a lot of money for the university. That’s what they are trying to say.

“I see their point a little bit,” said Spurrier. “I hope it doesn’t come down to where all schools are forming unions. I hope the NCAA , the BCS conferences especially that can afford it, can afford to give a stipend of $4,000 to $5,000 somewhere in that neighborhood depending on how many games you play so that football and basketball players can afford to help their parents with travel expenses and maybe live a little better as a student athlete.’

One of the complaints that led to the Northwestern players action was that the Wildcats coaches often went over the NCAA-mandated limit of the 20-hour work week. But that’s not the case at South Carolina according to Spurrier.

“We monitor it closely and abide by it,” Spurrier said.

So should the South Carolina players decide to unionize, they will find a supportive coach in Spurrier, at least up to a point.

Of course at this point the ability to unionize is restricted to private schools such as Northwestern, but you can bet it will be watched closely by every university and every football coach in America.

With that said, a college football playoff may not be the only thing on college football’s horizon.

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