Steve Spurrier was known for fast starts and plenty of fantastic finishes during one of the most decorated coaching careers in college football history.
Spurrier assumed jobs at Duke, South Carolina and most famously Florida, his alma mater, and engineered turnarounds that led to unprecedented football success at each stop.
The Football Writer’s Association of America will now present an award in Spurrier’s name to the top first-year head coach at a new school. Speaking Wednesday night during a videoconference, the 76-year-old Florida legend said he is thrilled the Steve Spurrier Award will recognize someone who embraces the Head Ball Coach’s no-nonsense approach to building a program.
“I’m looking forward to voting the guy who wins it and honoring a guy that comes in his first year and says, ‘Hey, we can win here. We don’t have to until we get all our guys, or this, that and the other,'” Spurrier said. “I admire those coaches that eliminate the excuses.”
Spurrier inherited difficult situations at Duke, UF and South Carolina, but quickly turned around each program.
Spurrier’s time in Gainesville is still celebrated by many fans as the program’s hey-day and gold standard.
Two of Spurrier’s former UF greats, quarterback Danny Wuerffel and receiver Chris Doering, spoke glowingly about their former coach Wednesday. In fact, Chris Doering Mortgage is the primary sponsor of the novel award in Spurrier’s name.
“This award is perfectly fit for him and someone who has had success everywhere he’s been in his first year during an era where a lot of coaches say they are going to need two or three recruiting cycles before they can win,” Doering said, echoing Spurrier’s sentiments. “He did it with guys he largely didn’t recruit. He was able to get guys to believe. That’s one of the most powerful forces in the universe – the ability to believe in yourself and the ability to believe in each other.”
Wuerffel credits Spurrier with much of his success as a player, including the 1996 Heisman Trophy, and even today during Wuerffel’s charitable endeavors. The 47-year-old’s Desire Street Ministries in New Orleans helps impoverished neighborhoods through spiritual and community development.
“My ability to impact the world is incredibly different because I had the chance to play for Coach Spurrier,” Wuerffel said. “It created a trajectory of my life that people respond to and want to hear from me and answer calls. It’s just been incredible.
“I think of the many times in his career he arrived as a new coach. Not only did he change the trajectory of many of our lives as players, but you have three programs that the trajectory of the program was affected. And in many cases you can say the trajectory of offensive football was changed because of Coach Steve Spurrier.”
Wuerffel and Doering, both record-setters during their time with the Gators, were key pieces to Spurrier’s successes at Florida and his ability to change offensive football in the SEC.
During his 12 seasons on the sideline, the Gators won six SEC titles, the school’s first national title in football and established the Swamp — a moniker coined by Spurrier — as one of the sport’s best game day environments and home-field advantage. Spurrier’s teams scored at least 50 points 48 times and still hold myriad school records, including a scoring average of 46.6 points in 1996.
UF was 68-5 at home and 122-27-21 overall (.812 winning percentage) under Spurrier, who arrived after three seasons at Duke.
The Blue Devils were Spurrier’s first head coaching job at the college level following three seasons with the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL. Duke was an ACC bottom-feeder when Spurrier arrived in 1987, but soon rose to the top of the conference, capturing the 1989 league title and going 8-4.
The Blue Devils finished 5-6 in 1987, ending the season with a convincing 25-10 win against in-state rival North Carolina.
“We had a good team,” Spurrier recalled.
During a four-game stretch, Duke lost 23-22 at Maryland, 47-45 N.C. State, 30-27 at Wake Forest and also routed Georgia Tech 48-14, highlighted by an ACC-record six touchdown throws by Steve Slayden.
Spurrier said the performance led an Atlanta sportwriter to call Duke athletic director Tom Butters to get his thoughts about Spurriers’ squad piling on Georgia Tech.
Spurrier recalled Butters telling the scribe, “You know what: this is the first time in 23 years anybody has ever accused Duke football of running up the score. To tell you the truth, I sort of like it.'”
Spurrier continued, “So when people accuse you of running up the score with Duke football, that must mean you’re doing something pretty good.”
Spurrier followed his run with the Gators with an ill-fated decision to jump to the NFL to coach the Washington Redskins, where he remained just two seasons.
In 2005, Spurrier returned to the college game with South Carolina, a struggling program in the nation’s top football conference. Again, it did not take long for the new coach to make his mark.
Spurrier’s first South Carolina squad finished the season 7-5 and with five straight SEC wins, including a 30-22 decision at home against UF and first-year coach Urban Meyer. The Gamecocks eventually posted 11 wins during three straight seasons (2011-13) and won five bowl games under Spurrier; the school had won just three overall before he arrived.
Connor Shaw was Spurrier’s primary quarterback during the Gamecocks’ run of success, positing a 27-5 record as a starter. Shaw is now on the South Carolina staff with first-year coach Shane Beamer, a former Spurrier assistant and potential candidate for his former boss’s award.
UCF’s Gus Malzahn is another possible candidate.
Shaw said Wednesday night that Spurrier’s impact on him and the South Carolina program remains palpable.
“He he made South Carolina relevant,” Shaw said. “There is a belief, there is a hope and there is a standard in place based on a what Coach Spurrier built and what we accomplished under Coach Spurrier’s leadership.”
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Edgar Thompson at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com .
