Head coach Frank Martin made waves this week when he decided to leave the successful program he helped to build at Kansas State for the challenge of resurrecting South Carolina. Speculation ran rampant over how the last couple weeks at K-State went down, with a senior player suspended for what wound up being the final game of the season, but Martin says that was not a determining factor in his decision. Instead, he simply embraced a new challenge that was laid out before him.

Frank Martin joined WHB with Kevin Kietzman to discuss his decision, why he would leave a program he helped build, talks about a contract extension midseason this past year, why the end-of-season suspension of Jamar Samuels bugged him but was not a factor in his decision and how his new challenge compares to the one he faced early on at K-State.

On deciding to make the move to South Carolina:

“It’s been one of, well, not one of, the most decision I’ve ever made in my professional life because I never put myself in front of others. For once in my life, I had to put myself apart from everybody and make a selfish decision. It’s been an honor to … serve K-State. I tried to do my job to the best of my abilities, honestly. I did everything by the rules; I fought for that school. We united the fans, the administration, the coaches, the players, everyone as one. We gave the school the five most successful years in the history of the school. … Our success gave me options and I saw a challenge here that I just fell in love with and I just felt I had to make this decision.”

Why leave after you built a program up to such success and had plenty of talent coming back?:

“Whenever people make decisions, just like when [Bob Huggins] left after a year, everyone thinks it’s a negative where you’re leaving, that there’s something wrong with where you’re leaving, that the person that made the decision feels that he’s going to a better place, which makes the place he’s leaving inferior. It’s never about that. As coaches, we’re ultra-competitive. Challenges is what drives us, makes us go. … I saw how successful [South Carolina's] other major programs are and I heard the passion in [athletic director Eric Hyman's] voice, just how excited he was about believing in me in leading his charge … I just kind of put my arms around that.”

K-State had said they ready to offer you a new deal and you said you wanted to wait until the end of the season. Were they pursuing a new deal with you after the year was over?:

“However John wants to speak about the university’s part, I respect it and I understand. Those are private matters that are not fair to me and not fair to the university as we both move forward, to elaborate on.”

Your tenure at K-State ended with your only senior suspended for the game where you lost to Syracuse. The situation has been ugly. Did you have discussions about it with the folks at South Carolina during the interview process?:

“They asked me and I asked them and it was a conversation. I’m not going to tell you that what they said is different than the actions that K-State took, because that’s not what happened. I just felt comfortable with the conversation and how it went. At the end of the day, that’s not the reason why I chose to take the job. I was unhappy about that, but that was not the major play on me making a decision. My decision was not one that was based on negative feelings.”

How much of a challenge is it going to be to take over the Gamecocks program?:

“It’s different in the sense that when we took over at K-State, we had a bunch of seniors. Here we’ve got a bunch of freshmen and sophomores. Where it’s similar is that the records weren’t good but we saw a group of guys that were real close to winning games, to winning a good number of games. … The responsibility factor has been laid out by the previous staff. Academically, the guys are great. Their willingness to compete, it’s been great. Now it’s going to be our job as a staff, my job leading the charge, to get these guys the confidence to go win those close games.”

Listen to Frank Martin on WHB here

The coaches showed the program some respect by putting the Bulldogs in the top 25 in their preseason poll, but to get back on the national scene, the Bulldogs could help themselves by having a great start to the season. Georgia opens with a nationally prominent game against top-10 team Boise State, then backs it right up with SEC title contender South Carolina. Make it through that gauntlet and the program might already be restored in the eyes of those forgetting it.

Mark Richt joined WCNN in Atlanta with The Rude Awakening to discuss playing Boise in the season opener, how that game got scheduled, what Georgia has to do to be better this year, the polarizing ways of Tim Tebow and what it would be like to start the year 2-0.

Why did you schedule Boise State in the opener?:

“I think we needed to play somebody that would get our attention, would get the fanbase’s attention and even the college football world’s attention. We certainly fell short of what we were hoping for a year ago. We declined in our record, I think we declined in how people perceived our program and a game like that can jump-start you. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

On the process of how the Boise State game was set up:

“[The athletic director] came to me with that and he was like, ‘Well, that quarterback’s a senior and he’s leaving.’ I really didn’t look at it. I knew that he had been there a long enough time that he was probably on the way out. After we signed on the dotted line, then I went and looked at the depth chart and realized he was still there. Then I was hoping he would turn pro early and he didn’t do that.”

Where do you have to be better to get off to the start that you want?:

“I just think overall we’ve got to play harder and faster. I think we’ve got to be able to make plays in the fourth quarter. Those are the two main things for me. As I look back, did we play fast enough every single down? I don’t think we did. Did we finish like we should in the fourth quarter? Did we make the plays in the fourth quarter that needed to be made? … We didn’t do that. … Individually, everybody’s just got to get better and better and better as they go.”

Having coached against him in college, what makes Tim Tebow so polarizing?:

“The thing about Tebow is I think he has the wonderful ability to focus on the things that are important in life. Number one, his faith and his love for the lord is paramount. There’s nothing wrong with that, that’s very healthy. … I think maybe sometimes that makes people upset. But the bottom line is he’s not a cookie-cutter quarterback in the NFL. He’s different. But he’s got some skill sets that other guys don’t have and he’s got some unbelievable characteristics that some guys don’t have. … I’m a Tebow fan. I’ve had some debates before the draft, should he play quarterback or should he play something else? My best bet is he’s going to be a great quarterback in the NFL before all is said and done.”

You guys are flying under the radar, but if you can win the first two games, they’ll be talking about you as a title contender:

“We’ll see what happens. I hope we have that problem. We’ll just see. That’d be all right with me.”

Listen to Mark Richt on WCNN in Atlanta here

Perhaps it sounded crazy back then, but it’s just what he’s done. Spurrier’s Gamecocks were picked to win the East in the Southeastern Conference in preseason polls, and some believe South Carolina could even contend for a national championship. Spurrier says that’s the goal, but they’ve got to win the East again first. That’s a pretty good start considering some thought they’d never even do that.

Steve Spurrier joined ESPN Radio with Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo to discuss the Gamecocks’ lofty expectations, his prolific running back and wide receiver tandem in Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery, why he embraces being picked to win the division, the challenges of coaching quarterback Stephen Garcia, his reasoning for giving Garcia repeated get-out-of-jail free cards, why the Gamecocks are better suited to close out seasons late in the year now, how long he’ll continue to coach, and what it means to have the program winning.

How optimistic are you that you guys can live up to high expectations?:

“We’ve got to go play and find out, probably, but you’re right. Some years South Carolina may have been picked to have good years, but this was actually the first year that we’ve actually been picked to win the Eastern Division in the 19 years we’ve been in the conference. I tell people that’s pretty neat. When we’re getting picked over Florida, Tennessee and Georgia to win the division, that means some things have changed.”

What’s it like to have a prolific running back-receiver combo like Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery?:

“I’ve been saying all summer that Marcus is the best running back in the country and Alshon the best receiver. … We’ve got to run Marcus, we know that. And hopefully he can stay healthy. Two of the games we lost last year, he got hurt early and did not play the second half. … We do have two really good players there. We’ve just got to get the ball to them.”

Why, when so many coaches seem to downplay being picked first in the preseason, do you embrace it?:

“I’m downplaying that I think we’re going to win it. I don’t know who’s going to win it. What’s neat about it is the media people believe we have assembled a team better than the other teams, and that’s the first time that’s happened. It never bothered me that people would pick us to do well. You don’t really talk about the preseason picks, I don’t, when you get with your players. Hopefully your guys are smart enough to know that you’ve got to go play the game, prepare, that kind of stuff, if you’re going to have a big year.”

Has quarterback Stephen Garcia been as big a challenge for you as any player you’ve ever had?:

“He’s been a challenge and he’s been frustrating to coach, but there’s probably some reasons for it. But, again, like I said, he’s made some lifestyle changes that maybe will help him stay more focused during the game and make better decisions.”

Why have you stuck by him through this stuff?:

“We felt like he was our best quarterback, so if he had a mistake or an errant play, you don’t just jerk him out of there. … Of the eight conference championships I’ve been fortunate enough to coach, in four of those years of the eight, we had two quarterbacks play. … So, you can play two if you have to.”

Why have some of your teams had trouble closing out seasons in the month of November?:

“The reason South Carolina’s not played well at the end of the year is probably the schedule, with Florida and Clemson. But we’ve beat Clemson a couple years in a row and of course we beat Florida this year, so we’ve turned that around a little bit. But we lost those games in December last year in the Georgia Dome. But we’re putting together, I think, a stronger team than we’ve had in the past.”

How much longer are you going to coach?:

“Well, I’ve been saying four or five years for about 15 years now. I never thought I’d be coaching in my mid-60s, but here we are and we’ve got a good team ready to go. I think I’ve got three or four more years. I’ve got [Jadaveon] Clowney and I think I’ve got Lattimore at least two more.”

What would it mean for you and to the state of South Carolina to win a national championship?:

“Well, the first goal is to win the East and then try to win the SEC. And then the winner of the SEC has won the national the last five straight years. But will shoot for the East first and go from there. But that’s our goal. Our goal’s to win at South Carolina. A lot of people said it couldn’t be done there. … A lot of people never thought we’d even be picked on top.”

Listen to Steve Spurrier on ESPN Radio here

Over the course of this week, Auburn rather silently declared Cam Newton ineligible. Shortly thereafter, the NCAA reinstated the Tigers’ quarterback and Heisman Trophy front-runner before anyone could even really find out he was ineligible. Turns out Newton’s father and Kenny Rogers, a former Mississippi State player, had shopped Newton around. However, the NCAA has ruled that since Newton had no knowledge of that, that he is eligible to play.  With the Tigers in the midst of preparations for the Gamecocks, Chizik seems to have been afforded the luxury of taking a pass on answering all the tough questions.

Gene Chizik joined ESPN Radio and The Scott Van Pelt Show to discuss the Newton process that has occurred over the past week, what the Tigers expected when they declared their quarterback ineligible, if he always thought Newton would be able to play this week, if he thinks the investigation is completely in the past, how Auburn and South Carolina have gotten better since their regular season meeting and the confidence that came with the comeback at Alabama.

On what the process has been this week with the Cam Newton ordeal:

“Well guys, without going into a lot of detail, as I said last night, at this point in time, our focus is so much on this championship game. We’re glad to get the whole issue behind us. The details of the way the NCAA works is really exactly what you read. It’s a process, it’s just kind of a due process where that’s the way it unfolds, that for him to be cleared officially by the NCAA it’s just kind of the way it unfolds. Without me being able to go into a lot of details of that and really, again, trying to look forward and move ahead, that’s just the way the process works. And the bottom line is we’re just happy to have it all behind us.”

On what he thought would happen when the university made Newton ineligible:

“Well, again, we’ve been so focused and driven on what the task is at hand. Really, we’ve never come off of that. We’ve never felt like there’s a lot of indecision one way or the other. We’ve always prepared the same way. For our coaching staff and myself, we never prepared or thought any differently no matter how the process unfolded, no matter what all the protocol was. We just carried on as business as usual.”

On whether he ever thought there was a chance that Newton wouldn’t play this weekend:

“Well, again, my opinions and everything, we just felt like the best thing for us to do was to stay on the track that we were on and continue to prepare and do the things that we’ve done the previous weeks. We didn’t really have any preconceived notions about anything. On the other hand, we just thought it was the best and just thought it was right to continue to move on.”

On whether he thinks the investigation is completely in the past:

“Well, you know, again, as far as I’m concerned, just like everybody yesterday that read that … we’re continuing to march forward just like always. So, in that regard, we’re just marching on.”

On the differences in Auburn and South Carolina since they met early in the year:

“I hope that we’re a better football team all the way around. I know they are. This is going to be a huge challenge for us. They’re playing the best football of the year. At this time of the year, that’s what you want to be doing and they’re certainly doing that. I hope we’re a better team, I hope that since then we’ve learned a lot. We found so many ways to win at so many different place at different times … yet we’ve always found ways to win. I think, more than anything, we probably understand the chemistry and we understand our team better now than we did eight weeks ago. I hope we’re better, Xs and Os-wise, in terms of what we’re trying to do on the field, but we have a better working knowledge of our team and who they are and what they can and can’t do.”

On the comeback at Alabama creating more confidence for his undefeated team:

“That was one of those days that you look back on probably a pretty good amount of time after it happened and say, ‘Wow.’ We don’t have time to do that right now. I think we all understand that it was monumental and it was huge and it was something that was really, really hard to do. … I’m really proud of our team. That’s one of the things I was saying earlier. I know who our team is. You can sit on the sideline and you can get down by 10 points and that’s one thing, you can get down by a touchdown … when you’re down by 24, you’re really checking your oil.”

Listen to Gene Chizik on ESPN Radio here

Steve Spurrier joined the Dan Patrick Show to talk about what keeps bringing him back to still coach football, whether he thinks an attitude like Lane Kiffin’s is good for college football, and what he took away from Dan Snyder working for the Redskins.

What keeps bringing him back to still coach football:

“Dan, I would like to win an SEC Championship.  We would like to win one here at South Carolina.  Some people say that it can’t be done against the big schools; Florida, Alabama, Georgia’s and so forth.  I really believe we can and we have had some really good recruiting the last several years.  Maybe not as great as the big schools as far as total number of players, but we have got a number of good players.  Our quarterback and offensive line play has got to get better and we have got to coach a little bit better, but our defense, gosh we were ranked third in the SEC in total defense behind Alabama and Florida.  So we have got some guys that can play but we just haven’t gotten it together yet.”

Whether he would root Alabama in the National Championship game because they are an SEC school:

“Let’s see, they were playing Texas this year.  Yeah probably.  I was probably rooting for Alabama a little bit maybe because they are in the SEC, correct.”

Whether he is going to miss Lane Kiffin:

“I think our commissioner is happy that he has left.  He didn’t bother me, but we didn’t play really well when we played Tennessee.  We ended up with the same record they did last year, but I think we will do ok, he will do well out in southern California.  He has got too many good players and that is a pretty good situation and so we will see how it all plays out.”

Whether he thinks an attitude like Lane Kiffin’s is good for college football:

“Oh just talking about it is not that big if a deal.  Now if you fudge on the rules a little bit, I am not saying that he broke rules, I am saying that there were some things that happened that just got into that gray area.  As long as he was within the rules and just talking a little bit, it can either come back and bite you or you can live up to it so that part doesn’t faze me one way or the other.”

On the gray areas of the rules:

“Yeah there is a lot of gray area and one of those things is that secondary violation and I really think that you have got to add them up.  If you get five secondaries, you are suspended a month from recruiting or something like that.  But the NCAA just says ‘Don’t do that again’ if you get a secondary violation.  Any way, I think they ought to add up and you have got to have a total.  Have a little total sheet beside your name and if commit a whole bunch of them, maybe sit out a year of coaching.  That would get people’s attention.”

What he took away from Dan Snyder working for the Redskins:

“You know we just didn’t really have a good team and I didn’t really enjoy pro football that much.  I think who I am, that I enjoy playing golf, I enjoy going to the beach, I enjoy family time, in the off-season I am just not a guy that could sit there and watch tape six or seven hours a day like some of these guys do.  So anyway, the college life is better for me.  Dan was OK to work for.  He was OK.  Of course the second year when he picked the team, I didn’t have it in my contract that I could pick the team, then I realized that I was not in control and it was going to be difficult.  Anyway, it didn’t work out.  I was happy to move on and I am sure that he was happy to see me move on.”

What he thinks about Tim Tebow in the NFL:

“I think that Tim Tebow is a tremendous competitor and obviously all of the wonderful qualities that, at least character and so forth, and he can work on his passing motion.  He can work on it and go from there.  If a team believes in his and says ‘Come on, let’s go and play’ I think he will do well.”

Steve Spurrier joined the Dan Patrick Show

On his golf game:

“Oh, I’m not that good. But I can shoot in the 70s. Not all the time, but I’m capable. But we get a lot of 10, 20 dollar bets from guys like Mike Shanahan, Maury Povich…guys who are pretty close golf wise.

On how he feels the Gamecocks program is doing since he arrived and how he thinks they’re keeping up with the powerhouses in the SEC that are not at all strangers to sustained success:

“Traditionally, we don’t have a lot of success behind us. Actually, qualifying for a Bowl four years in a row – I think that’s the first time that’s ever happened. So we’ve done a little bit, but not near enough as we think we’re capable of. Our facilities have been vastly improved in the last four or five years so we’re heading in the right direction I think.”

On the growing problem of college athletes running in to trouble with the law at programs across the country:

“Yeah obviously a whole lot of athletes have been getting in trouble. At South Carolina, we had a whole bunch arrested and most all of them have been removed or kicked off the team. As coaches, you try to say, well he’s a freshman, he made a mistake, let’s give him another chance. It depends on the degree of the sin, and at some point you have to cut them loose. But it’s a different day. The police, they arrest football players now. Back in the old days, you go home and they’d call it even. But they take them on in. But, you just try to do the best you can and all coaches realize that there’s a limit to how much you can live with, so you just try to do the best you can.”

Listen here to Spurrier on Fox Sports Radio