The flying of the Confederate flag on South Carolina state grounds remains a contentious issue in the state, and never more so than in the last week, when a tragic church shooting in Charleston left nine innocent people dead.
Public figures in the state generally stay out of the debate, but Gamecocks Head Coach Steve Spurrier took the opposite approach. According to ESPN, in 2007, Spurrier called the flag “embarrassing” and pushed for its removal:
“Some dude was waving the Confederate flag behind the TV screen [during Game Day] and it’s just embarrassing to me, to our school, to our state … I realize I’m not supposed to get in the political arena as a football coach, but if anybody were ever to ask me about that damn Confederate flag, I would say we need to get rid of it.