Wednesday, 04 December 2024

Steve Spurrier

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Coaches 2024
Embed from Getty Images
Sport(s): Football
Statistics: 1 NCAA National Championship (1996)
1 ACC Championship (1989)
6 SEC Championships (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 & 2000)
1 AAF Championship (2019)
2 ACC Coach of the Year Awards (1988 & 1989)
7 SEC Coach of the Year Awards (1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2005 & 2010)
217-79-2 NCAA Record
11-10 Bowl Record
12-20 NFL Record
35-19 USFL Record

*1 Heisman Trophy (1966)
*2 First Team All-Americans (1965 & 1966)
*1 SEC Player of the Year (1966)

*as a player
Steve Spurrier was a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback at the University of Florida, so his legend in the swamp was already secure. Amazingly, that paled to what he did as their head coach decades later.

Spurrier's college skills did not translate into a promising NFL career, though he did last 11 seasons before he moved onto coaching. After being the quarterback coach at Florida, Georgia Tech, and Duke, he was named the head coach of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the new USFL.

Tampa was one of the few teams that lasted the three years of the league, and Spurrier was there for the duration. The Bandits had a 35-21 record and at times had higher attendance than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Spurrier favored an open offense, and it made for a fun product, but more importantly, it gained him further employment as a head coach, first with Duke.

The Blue Devils improved under Spurrier, with his last two years showing a winning record. His alma mater, Florida, brought him back as their new head coach in 1990, and the Gators would own the 90s in the SEC. Spurrier ran Florida until 2001, and he never had a record where his team had less than nine games. Florida won six SEC titles and, in 1996, won the National Championship. Under Spurrier, the Gators never finished with a post-season rank worse than 13, and they had six top-five finishes.

Spurrier resigned from Florida after the 2001 season and almost immediately after he joined the Washington Redskins. It was a miss for Spurrier as his two years there yielded only 12 wins, and he was let go, but he returned to the SEC with South Carolina in 2005.

The Gamecocks did not have the recruiting power or the name of Florida, but Spurrier did bring South Carolina to five bowl wins, including three straight 11-2 seasons (2011-13). After a poor start in 2015, Spurrier abruptly retired and never coached in the NCAA again. His 217-79-2 record and 11 bowl wins are among one of the best records in college football.

We are proud to nominate Steve Spurrier for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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