Former Gators coach Steve Spurrier celebrates 25-year anniversary of 1991 SEC title in October at The Swamp. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Carter's Corner: Spurrier Keeps Adding to Legacy
Monday, January 9, 2017 | Football, Scott Carter
The former UF player and coach set to become a two-time college football Hall of Famer.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Steve Spurrier took a seat on the ESPN "SportsCenter" set Monday morning to discuss his latest accolade.
The 71-year-old Spurrier's retirement from coaching has been one big celebration since he returned to UF in late July as ambassador and consultant for Florida Athletics.
The Swamp was renamed Steve Spurrier-Florida Field in his honor. He did a memorable rendition of Mr. Two Bits at the opener, celebrated the return of his first two Florida teams (1990 and '91) with an on-field speech late in the season, released a best-selling book and Monday was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame for a second time.
That's right, once was not good enough for the most famous Gator of them all. The Head Ball Coach's legacy still has room to grow.
The 1966 Heisman winner was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1986, the year before he became head coach at Duke. He will be inducted as a coach in December in New York at the National Football Foundation's annual gathering.
"Memories of a lifetime are what college football is all about,'' Spurrier said.
As I watched Spurrier talk with ESPN announcer Kevin Negandhi, a memory flashed through my mind, sparked in part by the place (Tampa) and location (Raymond James Stadium) where the two discussed Spurrier's election.
Spurrier has always had close connections to Tampa, where he became a head coach for the first time in 1983 when he was hired by the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL. Spurrier played the final season of his 10-year NFL career in 1976 with the expansion Tampa Bay Bucs and the Bandits job brought him back.
The Bucs played in Tampa Stadium, and when the Bandits were founded, they also played there. The stadium, which was demolished in 1999, was located just a long punt to the north of where Spurrier sat Monday morning at Raymond James Stadium, site of tonight's national championship game between Alabama and Clemson.
In the old sports department of The Tampa Tribune, where I worked for more than a decade, a photo of Spurrier and wife Jerri hung on a wall. It was from a Bucs game at Tampa Stadium when Spurrier was coaching the Bandits.
Spurrier sat in sparsely filled bleachers in one of the end zones, relaxing with a beverage in hand and no shirt on. Jerri sat next to him on what appeared a leisurely Sunday afternoon for the couple.
That photo used to always make me stop to take a look, followed usually by a grin. By the time I started at the newspaper, Spurrier was already into his 12-year run as head coach at Florida and taking the program to places it had never been.
Spurrier is certainly one of a kind and as college football fans, we're all better off for his presence in the game. He will be only the fourth person in history to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player and coach. He is the first in the modern era.
The others: Amos Alonzo Stagg, Bobby Dodd and Bowden Wyatt. Stagg, Dodd and Spurrier are household names for those who know the game. Wyatt played for Robert Neyland at Tennessee in the late 1930s and returned to his alma mater later as a coach.
Spurrier called having his name attached to Florida Field as the biggest honor of his career. After all, that's the place where he first became a national figure.
More than 50 years later, Spurrier continues to shine a light on the Gators.
"Getting into the Hall of Fame, that's about as good as it gets,'' he said Monday.
The 71-year-old Spurrier's retirement from coaching has been one big celebration since he returned to UF in late July as ambassador and consultant for Florida Athletics.
The Swamp was renamed Steve Spurrier-Florida Field in his honor. He did a memorable rendition of Mr. Two Bits at the opener, celebrated the return of his first two Florida teams (1990 and '91) with an on-field speech late in the season, released a best-selling book and Monday was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame for a second time.That's right, once was not good enough for the most famous Gator of them all. The Head Ball Coach's legacy still has room to grow.
The 1966 Heisman winner was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1986, the year before he became head coach at Duke. He will be inducted as a coach in December in New York at the National Football Foundation's annual gathering.
"Memories of a lifetime are what college football is all about,'' Spurrier said.
As I watched Spurrier talk with ESPN announcer Kevin Negandhi, a memory flashed through my mind, sparked in part by the place (Tampa) and location (Raymond James Stadium) where the two discussed Spurrier's election.
Spurrier has always had close connections to Tampa, where he became a head coach for the first time in 1983 when he was hired by the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL. Spurrier played the final season of his 10-year NFL career in 1976 with the expansion Tampa Bay Bucs and the Bandits job brought him back.
The Bucs played in Tampa Stadium, and when the Bandits were founded, they also played there. The stadium, which was demolished in 1999, was located just a long punt to the north of where Spurrier sat Monday morning at Raymond James Stadium, site of tonight's national championship game between Alabama and Clemson.
In the old sports department of The Tampa Tribune, where I worked for more than a decade, a photo of Spurrier and wife Jerri hung on a wall. It was from a Bucs game at Tampa Stadium when Spurrier was coaching the Bandits.
Spurrier sat in sparsely filled bleachers in one of the end zones, relaxing with a beverage in hand and no shirt on. Jerri sat next to him on what appeared a leisurely Sunday afternoon for the couple.
That photo used to always make me stop to take a look, followed usually by a grin. By the time I started at the newspaper, Spurrier was already into his 12-year run as head coach at Florida and taking the program to places it had never been.
Spurrier is certainly one of a kind and as college football fans, we're all better off for his presence in the game. He will be only the fourth person in history to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player and coach. He is the first in the modern era.
The others: Amos Alonzo Stagg, Bobby Dodd and Bowden Wyatt. Stagg, Dodd and Spurrier are household names for those who know the game. Wyatt played for Robert Neyland at Tennessee in the late 1930s and returned to his alma mater later as a coach.
Spurrier called having his name attached to Florida Field as the biggest honor of his career. After all, that's the place where he first became a national figure.
More than 50 years later, Spurrier continues to shine a light on the Gators.
"Getting into the Hall of Fame, that's about as good as it gets,'' he said Monday.
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