next day, months of rumors were put to rest as Spurrier was introduced as South Carolina's new head coach. Spurrier had signed a seven-year deal that paid him $1.25 million per year and the Steve Spurrier era began for the Gamecocks. In 2005, his first season as the Gamecocks' new head coach, Spurrier led his South Carolina Gamecocks with newfound humility. The Gamecocks, who were not expected to have a winning season by most pundits, rattled off a five-game SEC winning streak for the first time in their fourteen-year SEC history. Included among those victories were historic wins at Tennessee (16–15) – the program's first win in Knoxville – and against then 12th-ranked Florida (30–22), who South Carolina had not beaten since 1939. The Associated Press named Spurrier the SEC Coach of the Year, and the Gamecocks finished the 2005 season with a 7–5 record and a trip to the Independence Bowl. Two days prior to South Carolina's 2006 season opener, Spurrier announced that he would kick off the athletics department's capital campaign with a $250,000 donation over five years. Spurrier's Gamecocks opened the 2006 season with a 15–0 win over Mississippi State in Starkville, where he was 0–2 while coaching the Florida Gators. With the victory, he reached 150 wins for his college coaching career. On September 30, Spurrier was inducted into the Gator Football Ring of Honor in a pre-game ceremony in Gainesville. Later in the season on November 11, Spurrier returned to "The Swamp" to face off against his former Gators team, which was then ranked sixth in the BCS rankings. Trailing 17–16, the Gamecocks had a chance to win with a 48-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the game. However, Ryan Succop's kick was blocked as time expired in a repeat of an earlier blocked extra-point attempt. In the final game of the 2006 regular season, Spurrier led the Gamecocks to victory over in-state rival Clemson at Death Valley. Trailing 28–14 in the third quarter, South Carolina scored seventeen unanswered points to lead 31–28. With only seconds remaining, Clemson's field goal attempt missed wide left and the Gamecocks celebrated their first victory over Clemson in five years.College Football Data Warehouse, South Carolina vs. Clemson (SC) . Retrieved August 26, 2009. On December 2, 2006, amid speculation he was a candidate for head coaching jobs at Miami and Alabama, Spurrier received a contract extension