South Carolina Football: Steve Spurrier wins Walter Camp Distinguished American Award

The best coach in the history of South Carolina football is Steve Spurrier. Sure, coaches like Joe Morrison and Lou Holtz had some really good seasons, but the Head Ball Coach led the Gamecocks to heights never seen before or since.

In addition to being a great coach, Spurrier has been known as a person who will speak his mind. Sometimes, his straightforward musings came at the expense of his rivals, but he always sought to tell the truth.

Spurrier's commitment to integrity and team-building helped him build winning football programs at South Carolina, Florida, and Duke (and even with the Orlando Apollos), and he was the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career. However, now retired, those same character traits have netted the HBC a new award.

Steve Spurrier is the winner of the Walter Camp Distinguished American Award. Spurrier will be honored later this week.

The Walter Camp Distinguished American Award is given each year to someone (usually someone from the football world) who best demonstrates the character traits of "honesty, integrity, and dedication" to teamwork. A winner of the Walter Camp Distinguished American Award must also be a "leader, an innovator, even a pioneer, who has reached a degree of excellence that distinguishes him or her from contemporaries."

Like other Walter Camp Foundation awards, this award is named after Walter Camp, the man credited with altering the game of rugby to create the modern sport of American football.

Spurrier joins previous winners like Pat Summerall, Verne Lundquist, Lee Corso, Tom Landry, Steve Young, and Archie Manning.

In addition to winning the ACC Championship while coaching the Duke Blue Devils, Steve Spurrier won a National Championship with the Florida Gators, and he went on to become the winningest coach in South Carolina football history, leading the Gamecocks to a record 11 wins three years in a row.