If Steve Spurrier had bought the South Carolina job in a store, he could have returned it for a refund. The team he has is nothing like the one former South Carolina coach Lou Holtz advertised.

Holtz trumpeted the team's returning talent, saying the program had a solid foundation and was ready for bigger things. As it turns out, the foundation was crawling with termites.

South Carolina recently announced 10 NCAA violations. Its proposed penalty included the loss of four scholarships over the next two years.

The loss of potential players isn't the most pressing problem. The loss of proven players already threatens to sabotage Spurrier's first season.

There was more reason for optimism the day he was hired.

His team then had experience, talent and depth at running back. It had Troy Williamson at wide receiver. It had veteran defensive end Moe Thompson, who tied for the team lead in tackles for loss. And it hadn't been found guilty of NCAA violations.

The attrition preceded the violations. Williamson opted for the NFL; Thompson and running backs Cory Boyd and Demetris Summers were dismissed from the team.

It's hard enough that Spurrier has to break in a new quarterback. But he also has lost the advantage of surrounding that quarterback with so many proven players.

Spurrier must build his fabled passing game around a new quarterback, a former quarterback (Sylvelle Newton) who was converted to wide receiver, and wide receiver (Noah Whiteside), who suffered an ankle injury in the spring game and is expected to miss most of preseason practice.

Spurrier doesn't express regret about taking the South Carolina job. He still talks about the program's great potential.

But you can't argue that his job has become increasingly more difficult in the last seven months.

South Carolina's potential wasn't the only attraction for the former Florida and Washington Redskins head coach. The low expectations were appealing, too. Just playing in a bowl game is cause for celebration among South Carolina fans. Ron Zook, Spurrier's successor at Florida, was fired after taking the Gators to three consecutive bowl games.

Florida fans wanted to play for the national title. Redskins fans wanted to make the playoffs.

South Carolina fans would be thrilled to play in a New Year's Day bowl.

Although the expectations might be low for South Carolina, they're high for Spurrier. He won an Atlantic Coast Conference title at Duke. He won a national championship at Florida.

When he left Florida for the Redskins, he was regarded as one of the best coaches in SEC history. Not since Bear Bryant at Alabama had a coach had such an impact on this conference.

But if Spurrier doesn't succeed at South Carolina, how will he be remembered? As the coach who won four consecutive SEC championships at Florida and the coach who won where so many failed at Duke? Or the coach who failed with the Redskins and Gamecocks?

How Spurrier fares at South Carolina will affect more than his legacy.

After back-to-back bowl seasons in 2000-01, Holtz was 16-19 in his last three seasons. That failure has been compounded by the NCAA violations on his watch.

If his successor isn't successful, fans won't remember Holtz as the South Carolina coach who won back-to-back bowl games. They will remember him as the coach who left the program in such bad shape, not even Spurrier could help it.