COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former South Carolina athletic director Mike McGee, a former Outland Trophy winner at Duke who hired Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier to lead Gamecocks football, died Friday. He was 80.
The University of South Carolina announced McGee’s death Friday, saying he died “peacefully” at his home in Montrose, Colorado.
McGee was Gamecocks athletic director from 1993-2005. He was responsible for hiring several high-profile coaches to the Southeastern Conference school, including Holtz after the 1998 season and Spurrier following Holtz’s retirement in 2004. McGee also hired current AD Ray Tanner, who won a pair of College World Series as South Carolina’s baseball coach.
McGee also served as athletic director at Southern Cal and Cincinnati. He was head football coach at his alma mater, Duke, for eight years. McGee was an All-American offensive lineman with the Blue Devils, earning the Outland Trophy in 1959, and spent three seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals.