The love-hate coach of the Gators changed everything in dozen years, from offensive philosophies to visor-tossing.

By JOEY JOHNSTON

Tribune Staff Writer

(c) Tampa Bay Times. Originally published Jan. 6, 2002.

 It began in 1990 with a four-play scoring drive, immediately telling us things would be different. It ended with eight touchdowns in an Orange Bowl, which by then was just another bowl to the program he saved.

In between, there was stuff that made for screaming headlines, jam-packed stadiums and water-cooler nirvana.

Go ahead. Boo him. Hate him.

But you couldn’t ignore the man.

The way he left even said something about him.

Bang-bang.

The Spurrier way.

The only way he knew.

When Steve Spurrier arrived as University of Florida coach in 1990, much of Gator football history resembled a cave drawing. No SEC titles. Lots of running, mostly in place. A state filled with football prospects, a program surrounded by resources, and yet it had won nothing of major consequence.

But this was a proud man. And this was his alma mater.

Once he got started, you wondered one thing:

Why did this take so long?

He proceeded to lift Florida football from its knuckles. He reached for the sky. He turned his stadium into The Swamp. He made the SEC his personal bombing range. He reduced “punt” to a four-letter word. He quoted Sun Tzu and threw conventional wisdom out the window. He drove the football like Sherman marched.

It seemed odd that the most famous play of his college playing career was a field goal. It helped him win the Heisman. Steve Spurrier earned the bronze. The brass he came with.

Hating him was an aerobic activity. An Atlanta columnist constantly referred to him as “The Evil Genius.” The Orlando Sentinel once called him “The Prince of Paranoia.” National television cameras were trained to watch the sideline, just waiting for the eruption, the raging at his quarterback, the eyes widening in fury.

Or maybe that little smirk after another Gator touchdown.

Steve Superior.

He still holds world records – wind-aided and not wind-aided – in the visor toss.

So naturally, other coaches wanted to beat the pants off him. One athletic director wanted him spanked.

Through it all, the son of a preacher man became the great deliverer in Gainesville. His program was as clean as it was reviled. He would not cheat, a fresh slant at Florida, because, well, what was the fun of winning that way?

He could be so small. He could seem so petty. He ran up the score on everyone, then challenged them all to keep up. Few teams could.

But he also began a tradition by giving his Hesiman to his school. He watched with pleasure as Danny Wuerffel, the school’s other Heisman winner, the best of his best, had his jersey number retired. The coach wouldn’t let his own No. 11 stay retired. He brought it out of mothballs and gave it to current players.

There he would stand after Florida home games, singing the alma mater. Unlike his players, he knew the words. He was high tech and old school at the same time. He made it great to be a Florida Gator. At last.

He could never not be himself. He couldn’t resist, on occasion, trying to teach his quarterbacks by showing them old game film of himself. In many ways, he never stopped being Florida’s starting quarterback. Someone once took to calling him an offensive “genius.” He resisted, coming up with his own way to describe himself: “Mastermind.”

He said what a lot of coaches would say – if they had the guts.

Free Shoes University.

The BCS is a sham.

You can’t spell Citrus without U-T.

Some of it was over the top. A lot of it was unnecessary. He didn’t care.

He couldn’t beat Florida State in Tallahassee. He could never beat Bobby Bowden at being beloved. Bowden was a cup of hot coffee. Spurrier was a shot glass of battery acid.

And yet, when it came time for the two biggest games between the schools in Spurrier’s era, Spurrier won them both, first to win a national title and the following year to keep FSU from one.

The uninitiated would come to his news conferences and ask why he hadn’t kicked a field goal in a certain situation.

Spurrier would turn his head.

“Where you from?” he’d ask.

Spurrier assumed the guy had to be from another planet. There was a way his Gators did things, no matter what was said or who said it.

He believed in making plays. Always. As a player, he was the guy you wanted on your side. He found a way. Maybe that’s why an Atlanta writer once wrote, “Steve Spurrier, blindfolded, with his back to the wall and facing a firing squad, would be a six-point favorite at his own execution.”

How you won is what mattered as much as if you won. On the golf course, there were no gimmes. Spurrier would make playing partners putt three inches from the cup if those were the rules.

There were no rules when it came to scoring points. He’d be all over you and didn’t blame you a bit if you tried to do the same to him. Spurrier smiled, almost like a father, when Kentucky hotshot offensive coach Hal Mumme, a five-and-dime Spurrier, tried an onside kick on Florida.

Spurrier didn’t mind at all.

He pounded Mumme just the same.

Stephen Orr Spurrier.

It’s a name that belongs next to Bowden, Paterno, Bryant, McKay, Parseghian, Wilkinson, Switzer, Osborne, Schembechler and all the others. The comet’s tail wasn’t as long as the other college football icons, but it lit up the night, just the same.

Quarterbacks threw to spots. Receivers got open. No deficit was too insurmountable. No situation was predictable. Well, except for one. The Gators would win nine games – minimum – each season.

So now he’s gone and the rest of the SEC probably is throwing a massive parade.

He changed his school. He changed his league. He changed his game.

The Gators won big. Sometimes, they lost big. They usually were a factor. It was never dull.

He claimed to never read newspapers, yet he could quote from practically every article in the state.

And what a memory.

Spurrier loved drilling Georgia because of the beating he once absorbed from Bill Stanfill. He hung 73 points on Kentucky’s Bill Curry, who once dismissed Spurrier from the staff at Georgia Tech. He scored 52 points against Mississippi State because a student manager had been assaulted in the previous season’s pregame celebration at Starkville.

What fun.

The day after Miami won the Rose Bowl, with the national championship still a fresh memory, word filtered to California about Spurrier’s resignation. Jaws dropped. There was a buzz in the hotel lobby. Suddenly, the Hurricanes were back-page news.

The Gators soon will have a new coach and a new era.

But there won’t be another Spurrier. There just can’t be. He was a real-life Jack Armstrong and a cartoon character, all at the same time. The stories will live on and we’ll need to remind future generations that they all were true. From start to finish, this was one unforgettable ride.

SPURRIER IN THE NEWS

Storylines during the Steve Spurrier era at UF:

1. QUARTERBACKS: Steve Spurrier’s demanding expectations

made All-Americans out of Danny Wuerffel, Shane Matthews and Rex Grossman. However, when Terry Dean and Doug Johnson bucked the coach’s wishes or questioned him publicly, it often got ugly.

2. THE FSU RIVALRY: The Florida-FSU rivalry hit its apex during the Spurrier era. Twice, the Gators and Seminoles staged rematches in the Sugar Bowl, once with a national title on the line. A nice little regional game became an annual national showcase.

3. SEC-OND TO NONE: Spurrier’s presence in the SEC changed the stodgy, run-oriented league forever. He handed each conference school the worst loss in its history, so opponents had to change just to keep up. Spurrier finished 11-1 against Georgia, formerly UF’s nemesis.

4. THE QUOTES: Name your poison. Free Shoes University? The public gigging of Ray Goff, Phillip Fulmer or (insert coach here)? Accusations of late hits by FSU? Dockett-gate? Open mocking of the BCS? Can’t spell Citrus without U-T? Spurrier took on all comers, fanning the flames of controversy without batting an eye.

5. LOYALTY: Spurrier is a Gator, through and through. UF is his school. He required his players to sing the alma mater. He thought Gainesville was the best place on earth. He bled orange and blue. You were either with him or against him.

SPURRIER HIGHS AND LOWS

The Important Wins

1. Florida 52, FSU 20 Jan. 2, 1997 How Sweet It Was: UF’s first national title in the Sugar Bowl.

2. Florida 35, FSU 24 Nov. 25, 1995 Gators move to 11-0, setting up SEC title and Fiesta Bowl bid.

3. Florida 35, Kentucky 26 Nov. 16, 1991 Gators hang on to clinch UF’s first official SEC championship.

4. Florida 17, Alabama 13 Sept. 15, 1990 Gators make statement, rally from 13-0 deficit in Spurrier’s second game.

5. Florida 62, Tennessee 37 Sept. 16, 1995 An NBA-like run: Gators rout Volunteers with 48 unanswered points.

6. Florida 24, Alabama 23 Dec. 3, 1994 Spurrier’s final-drive trickery pulls off SEC championship game win.

7. Florida 32, FSU 29 Nov. 22, 1997 Gators strike late, ruin season for unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Seminoles.

8. Florida 14, FSU 9 Nov. 30, 1991 Memorable defensive effort spotlights Spurrier’s first win against FSU.

9. Florida 41, W. Virginia 7 Jan. 1, 1994 Sugar Bowl rout clinches the first 11-victory season in UF history.

10. Florida 35, Tennessee 29 Sept. 21, 1996 Gators roll in Knoxville with 35-0 lead against Vols and Peyton Manning.

The Devastating Losses

1. Nebraska 62, Florida 24 Jan. 2, 1996 Cornhuskers rush for 524 yards in Fiesta Bowl’s national title game.

2. Tennessee 34, Florida 32 Dec. 1, 2001 Gators lose Rose Bowl opportunity, fail on late two-point conversion.

3. LSU 28, Florida 21 Oct. 11, 1997 No. 1 Gators go down in flames before Saturday night Cajun crowd.

4. Auburn 36, Florida 33 Oct. 15, 1994 Frankie Sanders scores late TD to deflate top-ranked Gators at home.

5. FSU 24, Florida 21 Nov. 30, 1996 No. 1 Gators go down, but get Sugar Bowl rematch and win national title.

6. FSU 31, Florida 31 Nov. 26, 1994 OK, it’s a tie; but surrendering 28-3 fourth-quarter lead made it a loss.

7. Tennessee 45, Florida 3 Oct. 13, 1990 Rocky Top still ringing in the ears of Spurrier’s first UF team.

8. Alabama 34, Florida 7 Dec. 4, 1999 SEC title on line; Gators were rarely this flat in such a big game.

9. Tennessee 20, Florida 17 Sept. 9, 1998 Gators miss field goal in OT; Volunteers go on to win national title.

10. Alabama 40, Florida 39 Oct. 2, 1999 Fumbled punt, missed PAT open door and ends 30-game home win streak.

SPURRIER’S TOP WEAPONS

Rk. Pos/Player Yrs. Comment

1. QB Danny Wuerffel (1993-96) The 1996 Heisman Trophy winner led national title.

2. QB Shane Matthews (1989-92) From obscure backup to 2-time SEC Player of the Year.

3. RB Errict Rhett (1990-93) UF’s all-time rushing leader at 4,163 yards.

4. WR Reidel Anthony (1994-96) Stunning ’96 season: 72 catches, 18 TDs.

5. QB Rex Grossman (1999-present) AP Player of the Year; could be UF’s best-ever.

6. WR Jabar Gaffney (2000-present) Had 71 receptions and 14 TDs as a freshman.

7. RB Fred Taylor (1994-96) Gators thrived when he ran well (3,075 career yards).

8. WR Jack Jackson (1992-94) Big-play man was two-time reception leader.

9. WR Chris Doering (1992-95) Former walk-on became star with 31 TDs in career.

10. WR Willie Jackson (1990-93) Early leader had 162 receptions in four seasons.