COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Steve Spurrier insists that his bark is much worse than his bite.

Some see Steve Spurrier as beyond confident. To others, he's a breath of fresh air. Nelson Chenault/US Presswire

But to much of the college football world, the Head Ball Coach will forever be known as that wise-cracking son of a Presbyterian minister who's won more SEC games than any other coach in history not named Bear Bryant and revels in rubbing it in the faces of his opponents.

The only thing more entertaining than some of the plays Spurrier has drawn up in what's sure to be a Hall of Fame coaching career are some of his zingers.

That is, unless you're on the receiving end of those zingers.

And we learned earlier this spring that, even at 67, Spurrier is still on top of his game, which is probably good news for South Carolina fans and not such good news for everybody else in the SEC.

When he's chirping the loudest, that's usually a pretty good sign that he thinks he has a pretty good team.

His classic one-liner in April was that he'd prefer to play Georgia that second week of the season "because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended."

That's vintage Spurrier.

To some, he's beyond cocky and absorbed in himself.

To others, he's a breath of fresh air, and unlike a lot of coaches who are programmed to the point of being robotic, Spurrier will say whatever's on his mind.

"I think most coaches in football and basketball are too serious about everything. Everything is life or death," Spurrier said. "Very seldom do you see me upset about what some other coach says. I can't ever remember being upset about something coach (Phillip) Fulmer said or anybody else.

"Of course, he didn't say much."