Posted by: Chris Vannini on February 7, 2013

He wouldn't be the Head Ball Coach if he didn't do things a little differently.

While most coaches were up early with a lot of coffee stressing over National Signing Day, Steve Spurrier treated it mostly like a normal day. Recruiting is important, but he wants to keep it in perspective.

"Well, I have my usual workout at about 10:30 a.m. to 11:30, quarter to 12:00, something like that. Then came back and checked on the faxes," Spurrier said. "I think all of them were in, except maybe one that we weren't sure of. That was about it. Made a few calls here and there, called a few of the guys that came with us, so that's about what I do.

"You're not going to see me doing a whole bunch of rah-rah-ing on signing day. I don't think I ever have too much. But it's an important day. I'm not trying to sound like it's not important. But we'd rather make our noise out here in Williams-Brice on game day. That's where we prefer making our noise rather than on signing day. But we're fired up about these guys. Don't get me wrong. It's a good, solid class. But the real noise, I think, is on game days."

The Gamecocks' class was ranked No. 21 in the composite rankings, which is very respectable. But when you realize it was No. 8 in the SEC, it puts things in perspective. But again, Spurrier is more worried about what he does with the players, rather than who he gets.

"When you're watching that TV today, you're saying, 'Man, I'm glad I'm in the eastern side instead of in the western side (of the SEC).' But, yeah, that recruiting can be a little deceiving at times. You never know what you've got until you really, really play it out and so forth.

"The only thing I know, back in 2008, I think Florida had the No. 1 class, and two years later, that No. 1 class drove Urban Meyer to retirement. Of course, he came back a year later and he's an excellent coach, but I know later there were comments that that No. 1 class just didn't pan out. Of course, it usually pans out at Alabama every year. But, again, recruiting is extremely important, but after they get there is really what's most important."

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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com