Dawn Michelle Staley is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team. A point guard, she played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers and spent eight seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), primarily with the Charlotte Sting. Staley also played on the United States women's national basketball team, winning three gold medals at the Olympic Games from 1996 to 2004, and was the head coach of the team that won an Olympic gold medal in 2021. She is the first person to win the Naismith Award as both a player and a coach.
Stephen Orr Spurrier is an American former football player and coach. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his nickname, "the Head Ball Coach". He played college football as a quarterback for the Florida Gators, where he won the 1966 Heisman Trophy. The San Francisco 49ers selected him in the first round of the 1967 NFL draft, and he spent a decade playing in the National Football League (NFL) mainly as a backup quarterback and punter. Spurrier was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986.
Louis Leo Holtz is an American former football coach and television analyst. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York Jets (1976), the University of Arkansas (1977–1983), the University of Minnesota (1984–1985), the University of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and the University of South Carolina (1999–2004), compiling a career college head coaching record of 249–132–7. Holtz's 1988 Notre Dame team went 12–0 with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl and was the consensus national champion. Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 15 rankings.
The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I.
The Clemson–South Carolina rivalry is an American collegiate athletic rivalry between the Clemson University Tigers and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, the two largest universities in the state of South Carolina. Since 2015, the two compete in the Palmetto Series, which consists of more than a dozen athletic, head-to-head matchups each school year. South Carolina leads the all-sport series 5–1, after Clemson won the 2023–24 series. Both institutions are public universities supported by the state, and their campuses are separated by only 132 miles. South Carolina and Clemson have been bitter rivals since 1896, and a heated rivalry continues to this day for a variety of reasons, including the historic tensions regarding their respective charters and the passions surrounding their athletic programs. It has often been listed as one of the best rivalries in college sports.
The South Carolina Gamecocks football program represents the University of South Carolina. The Gamecocks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference. The team's head coach is Shane Beamer. They play their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium.
The South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team represents the University of South Carolina in NCAA Division I college baseball. South Carolina has perennially been one of the best teams in college baseball since 1970, posting 35 NCAA tournament appearances, 11 College World Series berths, 6 CWS Finals appearances and 2 National Championships: 2010 and 2011. Carolina is one of six schools in NCAA history to win back-to-back titles. Since joining the Southeastern Conference in 1992, the team has competed in the Eastern division. South Carolina owns a stellar 32–20 record at the CWS and holds the NCAA record for consecutive wins (22) in the national tournament as well as the longest win streak ever at the CWS in which the Gamecocks played for national titles all three years.
The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina and competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Under current head coach Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks have been one of the top programs in the country, winning the NCAA Championship in 2017, 2022, and 2024. The program also enjoyed success under head coach Nancy Wilson during the 1980s in the Metro Conference, when it won five regular season conference championships and three conference tournament championships.
The 2001 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Gamecocks were led by Lou Holtz in his third season as head coach, and played their home games in Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.
The 2009 Outback Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 23rd edition of the Outback Bowl, it was one of the 2008–09 bowl games concluding the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Scheduled for a kickoff of 11 a.m. EST and telecast on ESPN, the game pitted the South Carolina Gamecocks against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
The 2003 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Gamecocks were led by Lou Holtz in his fifth season as head coach and played their home games in Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.
The 2011 NCAA Division I baseball tournament began on Friday, June 3, 2011 as part of the 2011 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 team double elimination tournament concluded with the 2011 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 29, 2011.
The 2015 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks competed as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as part of its East Division. The team was led by head coach Steve Spurrier, who was in his eleventh year before his resignation on October 12, 2015, after a 2–4 start; co-offensive coordinator Shawn Elliott took over as interim head coach. They played their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in SEC play to finish in seventh place in the East division.
The 2016 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina and competed in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gamecocks' first-year head coach was Will Muschamp, with Kurt Roper as offensive coordinator and Travaris Robinson as defensive coordinator. They finished the season 6–7, 3–5 in SEC play to finish in fifth place in the East Division. They were invited to the Birmingham Bowl, where they lost to No. 25 South Florida in overtime.
The 2017 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina and competed in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by second-year head coach Will Muschamp. They finished the season 9–4, 5–3 in SEC play to finish in second place in the East Division. They were invited to the Outback Bowl, where they defeated Michigan.
The 2019 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This season marked the Gamecocks 126th overall season, 28th as a member of the SEC East Division. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, and were led by fourth-year head coach Will Muschamp.
The 2002 South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2002 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Gamecocks played their home games at the new Sarge Frye Field. The team was coached by Ray Tanner in his 6th season at South Carolina.
Steve Spurrier, former national championship-winning head football coach at the University of Florida, served as the head coach of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks football team from November 23, 2004, until October 12, 2015. It was Spurrier's fifth tenure as a head coach, his second longest tenure as a head coach, and his third and final tenure as a head coach in college football. He served as South Carolina's 32nd head coach.
The 2020 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season marked the Gamecocks' 127th overall season, and 29th as a member of the SEC East Division. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, and were led by head coach Will Muschamp until his firing on November 15. Mike Bobo, the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
