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Playing careerSpurrier was an exceptional multi-talented athlete in high school starring not only in football but also baseball and basketball at Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee. A strong competitor, Steve played quarterback for the University of Florida, where he won the Heisman Trophy. At UF, Spurrier was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame, the UF Athletic Hall of Fame, and Florida Blue Key. He was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. From 1967-1976, he played quarterback in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers as a backup to Hall of Famer John Brodie and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he earned the dubious distinction of being the quarterback for the 1976 Buccaneers squad, the last team in NFL history to go through an entire season and lose every game (0-14). Coaching Jobs Before FloridaAfter retiring from the NFL, Steve Spurrier began his coaching career as a quarterbacks coach at the University of Florida. After further serving as assistant coach at Duke University and Georgia Tech, in 1983 Steve Spurrier was awarded his first head coaching job: the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League. The team had significant success before the league dissolved after its third season. In 1987, Coach Spurrier became head coach of the Duke football team. There he led the team to highs it had not reached in many years. For his success at Duke, Coach Spurrier received the ACC Coach of the Year award in 1988 and 1989. Florida GatorsOn December 31, 1989, Spurrier accepted the head coaching job at the University of Florida, his alma mater. Known as the "Ol' Ball Coach" or "The Visor" (due to his preference for, and tendency to throw his visor during games), Spurrier helped guide the team away from a period of scandal and captured the school's first ever Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship in 1991 (the 1990 team, while posting the best record in the SEC, was ineligible for the title due to probation). The Gators won the SEC Title in 4 of the next 5 years. The 1996 season saw the team reach the pinnacle of the college football world and capture its first ever National Championship with a 52-20 win over rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, avenging the Gators' only loss that season (Florida State had beaten Florida 24-21 in the regular season). However, Spurrier's finest hour as a coach may have been the game in 1997 versus undefeated and national title game-bound Florida State. Using a QB-shuttle strategy that brought Doug Johnson and Noah Brindise in and out of the game-- confusing the FSU defense and giving Spurrier an endless amount of counsel with both QBs without having to use time-outs-- Florida upset the heavily-favored Seminoles 32-29. Along with winning many games, Spurrier is also credited with changing the way the SEC played offense. Spurrier employed a pass centered offense in contrast to the grind-it-out, ball control, run-the ball-first offense that was traditionally found in the SEC. His offenses forced many in the conference to change their offensive and defensive playcalling. Other memorable feats during Spurrier's tenure at the University of Florida 1990-2001 were:
Under his leadership, the Gator offense became the only unit in modern collegiate history (since the NCAA started keeping stats in 1937) to score at least 500 points (including bowl games) for four straight years (1993-96). Yale also achieved that distinction from 1886-89 and Michigan from 1901-04. Spurrier is also credited with creating the nickname "The Swamp" for Ben Hill Griffin Stadium the Gators' home field, when he said that "The Swamp" is a good name for their stadium because only gators come out alive. On January 4, 2002, Spurrier abruptly resigned his University of Florida coaching position stating, "I simply believe that 12 years as head coach at a major university in the SEC is long enough."[1] Before Spurrier's return to coach the Gamecocks against the Gators on 11 November 2006, his most recent visits to Gainesville were on September 2, 2006, to take part in the Gators' celebration of the 10-year anniversary of their 1996 championship season and on September 30, 2006, when he was one of the first four inductees into the Gator Football Ring of Honor, alongside Danny Wuerffel, Emmitt Smith, and Jack Youngblood. At both appearances, Spurrier received standing ovations from the crowd.[2] [3] Spurrier is known to hold a deep love for his alma matter. In April 2007, after Florida beat Ohio State's teams in both the football and basketball national championship games, Spurrier -- notwithstanding his current position at the University of South Carolina -- was quoted as saying "We've kind of turned Ohio State into Runner-up U., haven't we?"[1] [edit] NFL CoachingTen days after Spurrier resigned his position at the University of Florida, Spurrier became head coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins. Spurrier's five-year, $25 million contract with the Redskins was the biggest coaching contract in the history of the league. In his first NFL season he put up a respectable 7-9 mark for a first year head coach, partially due to the presence of defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis. Lewis would depart after that season to become the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. When Lewis departed, the already underachieving defense suffered tremendously under his replacement George Edwards who had previously been Lewis' linebackers coach the year before. The defense created a modest amount of pressure and interceptions, but gave up 4.4 yards a carry and blew several leads during the season, including a 23-10 lead against the Miami Dolphins in week 12 and a 13-7 late 3rd quarter lead against Tampa Bay in week 6 that resulted in a 35-13 blowout. One bright spot on his staff was his son, Steve Spurrier, Jr., who helped wide receivers Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner reach their finest seasons so far in the NFL, including Coles' only Pro Bowl appearance to date. Another bright spot was in Week 4 of the 2003 season. Washington defeated the New England Patriots 20-17; it would be New England's last loss until Week 7 of the 2004 season. The Redskins went 5-11 in a season that saw the complete deterioration of an offensive line that featured former Pro-Bowl-caliber players Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen and a drastically underachieving defense composed of players like LaVar Arrington, Jeremiah Trotter, Champ Bailey and Fred Smoot. One of his biggest blunders during his brief NFL stay was his mishandling of quarterback Patrick Ramsey. Spurrier's offensive line troubles resulted in Ramsey often finding himself on his back as he was one of the most sacked and hurried quarterbacks in the league. Despite several heroic performances by the young quarterback, he never received a full vote of confidence under Spurrier who would often bench him mid-game during a bad performance in favor of Danny Wuerffel or Shane Matthews, who both played under Spurrier at Florida. Both combined for 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 15 games played. (TD/INT Wuerffel 3-6 with 7 games, Matthews 11-6 with 8 games). Spurrier would also bench him entirely after a bad performance, until usually being forced to re-insert Ramsey after a mediocre performance by one of his favored Florida back-ups. Many observers thought that Spurrier was overwhelmed with the complexity of the NFL and didn't wish to put in the extra effort required to win in the pro game. His practices were lazy and unorganized, and players could often be seen sleeping in team meetings. He had trouble coaching individual positions and his assistants were mostly ineffective. However, in fairness, discipline is more difficult to achieve in the NFL, and Spurrier may have eventually realized that his style is better suited at the college level. Spurrier's last game as a NFL head coach was a 31-7 blowout at the hands of the Eagles. In their last three games, the Redskins were outscored 85-31 including a 27-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. On December 30, 2003, Spurrier resigned as the Redskins coach. [edit] South Carolina GamecocksThroughout the 2004 football season, Spurrier openly discussed coaching for a college team in the Southeast. The University of Florida had announced that they would be looking for a new coach after Spurrier's successor at Florida, Ron Zook, was fired after three seasons, but after their athletic director, Jeremy Foley, said that Spurrier would have to go through the interview process like anyone else, Spurrier removed his name from consideration to coach the Gators. Rumors began circulating that Spurrier was considering the University of South Carolina. On November 22, South Carolina coach Lou Holtz officially announced his retirement. In his speech, Holtz hinted that Spurrier would replace him. The next day, months of rumors were put to rest as Spurrier was introduced as South Carolina's new head coach. Spurrier was criticized by Gator fans for taking the position with a team in the same division of the SEC, seeing it as a form of treachery. However, the president of the University of Florida, Bernie Machen, had a prior relationship with eventual Gator coach Urban Meyer when they were both at the University of Utah, and some speculate that Spurrier knew that Machen was set to pick Meyer regardless of Spurrier's decision. [2] In 2005, his first season at the helm, Spurrier led the South Carolina football program to several notable successes. The Gamecocks, which were not expected to have a winning season by most pundits, rattled off a five game SEC winning streak for the first time in school 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), which South Carolina had not beaten since joining the SEC. Spurrier was named SEC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press, but the Gamecocks lost their last two games to finish with a 7-5 record for the 2005 season. 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. [3] He then followed with a 15-0 win over Mississippi State in Starkville, Mississippi, a place 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 at Gainesville.[4] Later in the season on November 11, Spurrier returned to "The Swamp" to face off against his former team, ranked #6 at the time. 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 regular season, Spurrier led the Gamecocks to victory over in-state rival Clemson at Death Valley. Trailing 28-14 in the 3rd quarter, South Carolina scored 17 unanswered points to lead 31-28. With 8 seconds left in the game, Clemson field goal attempt missed wide left as USC hung on for their first victory over Clemson in five years. On December 2, amid speculation he was a candidate for head coaching jobs at Miami or Alabama, Spurrier received a contract extension through 2012 and a raise from $1.25 million to $1.75 million annually. [4] Spurrier and the Gamecocks went on to defeat the Houston Cougars in the Liberty Bowl on December 29, to finish the season 8-5. All five losses were to ranked opponents. Coaching RecordCollege Coaching Record
NFL Coaching Record
Quotes"My opinion is we don't need the Confederate flag at our Capitol, I don't really know anybody that wants it there, but I guess there are a lot of South Carolinians that do want it there." [5] On a video of the banquet, Spurrier is heard saying the South Carolina-Tennessee game last year, which was featured on ESPN's "GameDay," was marred: "by some clown ... waving that dang, damn Confederate flag behind the TV set. And it was embarrassing to me and I know embarrassing to our state." [6] "I realize I'm not supposed to get in the political arena as a football coach, but if anybody were ever to ask me about that damn Confederate flag, I would say we need to get rid of it. I've been told not to talk about that. But if anyone were ever to ask me about it, I certainly wish we could get rid of it." [7] References
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