Spurrier sticking around at South Carolina

Posted December 13, 2009 10:00 pm

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Football coach Steve Spurrier and basketball coach Darrin Horn are on board at South Carolina for a while longer.

The university's Board of Trustees approved contract extensions Monday for both coaches. Horn gets two more years, with his annual salary bumped by $300,000 to $1.1 million a year through March 2015. Spurrier got an extra year and his salary stays at $1.75 million a year through the deal's end in 2013.

Spurrier and Horn were rewarded for success on the field and for their players' success in the classroom, athletic director Eric Hyman said.

Spurrier's contract extension gives him an extra year to reach his goal of taking the Gamecocks to the Southeastern Conference title game for the first time.

"We believe we have some big years coming in the near future. We have the best group of players here now or on the way here next year since I've been at Carolina and our staff is looking forward to coaching them over the next four years," Spurrier said in a statement released by the school.

The Gamecocks went 7-5 this season and begin practice Tuesday to play Connecticut in the PapaJohns.com Bowl on Jan. 2 in Birmingham, Ala.

Spurrier is 35-27 in five season with the Gamecocks after going 142-40-2 in 15 seasons with Duke and Florida.

Horn finished his first season with the Gamecocks going 21-10 and winning a share of the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title. South Carolina is 6-2 this season and returns from its exam break Wednesday by hosting Richmond.

"I look forward to continuing to build upon the foundation we've laid for this program," Horn said in a statement released by the school.

Horn's extension included an increase to the coach's buyout. The new deal requires Horn to pay $2.5 million if he leaves this season, up from $1.5 million in the old contract. The buyout is $2 million after April 2011 and drops to $1.25 million in April 2012, tailing off to $250,000 at the end of the contract.

If the school fires Horn without cause, it has to pay the coach $800,000 for each year remaining on the contract and transfer to him whatever is in a tax-deferred compensation package. The school will pay $600,000 to the account through March 2012.