Coach Steve Spurrier ready to rumble in the Swamp Football Saturday isn't until tomorrow but around these parts all the talk is about tomorrow's Gator game. It's like this every Friday in Gator nation but there is something extra special about this week. Coach Steve Spurrier, the Florida Heisman Trophy winner and coach of a national championship Gator team will be in town with his South Carolina Gamecocks trying to defeat his alma mater. And with his stunning experiential background, it is sure to be an interesting afternoon.
Spurrier's rise in the coaching ranks followed his All American days as quarterback of the Gators. After graduation, he spent over ten years as a back-up quarterback with the NFL San Francisco 49ers, showing his athleticism by also serving as the team's punter. But he always knew he really wanted to be a coach.
He began his coaching days as an assistant to the legendary Pepper Rogers at Georgia Tech before being named the head coach at Duke, earning ACC Coach of the Year honors in his short two year tenure. He then got the chance of a lifetime and returned to his alma mater in Gainesville as head coach, quickly developing an innovative run and gun offense which he is noted for today. Always a winner and a formidable opponent for any SEC team, the Gators captured the national championship in 1996, beating arch rival Florida State, 52-20.
Several years passed and Spurrier began to get the itch for a new challenge, named Washington Redskins coach in 2002. He quickly found out, however, that his forte was really at the college level, leaving after two years but nonetheless taking with him a large pot of gold. Even though he was set for life, Spurrier could never be happy on the sidelines, and upon the departure of Lou Holtz from South Carolina, Spurrier began his current tenure in Columbia.
Spurrier lives, eats and sleeps football and when his team is on the field you can count on excitement, innovation and a no quit attitude. Once in a press conference when he was asked about running up the score (his team was ahead by nearly seventy points) he stated that you try to score every time you have the ball. Never give the opponent a chance to change the tempo.
So you can bet that Saturday at the Swamp in Gainesville when Spurrier and the Gamecocks take the field there might be a few obligatory boos, but there will also be some resounding cheers. He will be remembered fondly by many in the crowd for what he did for Florida football and deep inside I think he'll always be a Gator.
Love him or hate him, Steve Spurrier is coming to town. If you are his opponent, you can never count his team out and you better be prepared. Steve Spurrier is, after all, one of the all time greats in college football. Fasten your seats, Gainesville, it will likely be a wild afternoon. College football at its best is coming to town.
Spurrier's rise in the coaching ranks followed his All American days as quarterback of the Gators. After graduation, he spent over ten years as a back-up quarterback with the NFL San Francisco 49ers, showing his athleticism by also serving as the team's punter. But he always knew he really wanted to be a coach.
He began his coaching days as an assistant to the legendary Pepper Rogers at Georgia Tech before being named the head coach at Duke, earning ACC Coach of the Year honors in his short two year tenure. He then got the chance of a lifetime and returned to his alma mater in Gainesville as head coach, quickly developing an innovative run and gun offense which he is noted for today. Always a winner and a formidable opponent for any SEC team, the Gators captured the national championship in 1996, beating arch rival Florida State, 52-20.
Several years passed and Spurrier began to get the itch for a new challenge, named Washington Redskins coach in 2002. He quickly found out, however, that his forte was really at the college level, leaving after two years but nonetheless taking with him a large pot of gold. Even though he was set for life, Spurrier could never be happy on the sidelines, and upon the departure of Lou Holtz from South Carolina, Spurrier began his current tenure in Columbia.
Spurrier lives, eats and sleeps football and when his team is on the field you can count on excitement, innovation and a no quit attitude. Once in a press conference when he was asked about running up the score (his team was ahead by nearly seventy points) he stated that you try to score every time you have the ball. Never give the opponent a chance to change the tempo.
So you can bet that Saturday at the Swamp in Gainesville when Spurrier and the Gamecocks take the field there might be a few obligatory boos, but there will also be some resounding cheers. He will be remembered fondly by many in the crowd for what he did for Florida football and deep inside I think he'll always be a Gator.
Love him or hate him, Steve Spurrier is coming to town. If you are his opponent, you can never count his team out and you better be prepared. Steve Spurrier is, after all, one of the all time greats in college football. Fasten your seats, Gainesville, it will likely be a wild afternoon. College football at its best is coming to town.
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