UF's allure matter of viewpoint

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© St. Petersburg Times
published January 8, 2002

GAINESVILLE -- Look hard at the job. Beyond its surface and into its heart. See it the way Steve Spurrier has grown to see it. As a trap.

Look hard at the job. Past its exterior and into its warmth. See it the way Mike Shanahan soon may learn to see it. As an escape.

Two coaches, two points of view, one job.

Their perspectives are entirely different, but their motives may prove to be the same. Spurrier is leaving the University of Florida because the timing is right. Shanahan may replace him at UF for the same reason.

If Spurrier made one thing clear on Monday, it was that the appeal of being Florida's head football coach had faded for him. He may be running toward the NFL, but he also is running away from the Gators.

This is not an indictment of the job or the university. Clearly, the NFL's lure has been tugging at him for years. He almost left five years ago and has been telling his family for months the time might be near.

"I'm intrigued to see of our style of offense, if my style of coaching, can be successful at the NFL level," Spurrier said at his farewell news conference in Gainesville. "I need to find that out before I completely hang it up and call my last play.

That explanation could stand on its own, but Spurrier went further. He talked of not wanting to be forced out. Of always being measured against a standard of success he created.

He hinted at minor differences in the past with athletic director Jeremy Foley. And Spurrier did not dispute the theory that he felt the university had not backed him strongly enough -- or at all -- in the Darnell Docket case.

The competitive zeal that makes Spurrier so relentless on game day also colors his world the rest of the week. He is incapable of seeing the gray areas of life. Either he is loved or hated. Either he is successful or failing. Lately, the love and success have been lacking.

Spurrier had greater job security than 99 percent of the NCAA's coaches, but spoke as if his demise was just a matter of time.

It was almost as if he felt unappreciated. As if he were bearing too much responsibility for two losses and not enough credit for 10 wins.

He seemed to relish the idea that he could be an underdog again in the NFL, like he was the first few years at Florida, not to mention Duke.

"If you study coaches and history and cycles of coaches, most all of them hang around long enough that the job chews them up and spits them out," Spurrier said. "That's something that's always been very important to me. To be able to walk out on your own instead of somebody shoving you out.

"To have somebody paying you for two or three years to do nothing. ... I hopefully will never be in that situation."

If Spurrier looks at Florida and sees a minuscule margin for error, Shanahan can view it as nearly impossible to lose.

This is one of the greatest coaches in the NFL. A two-time winner of the Super Bowl commanding an annual salary of nearly $4-million. Yet the Broncos have made the playoffs once in three years and have not won in the postseason since their 1998 Super Bowl season.

Shanahan, better than anyone, understands the gravitational pull in the NFL is toward parity and a league of 8-8 teams.

At Florida, competitive balance is the only parody. Shanahan safely could count on eight victories a year and go from there.

This is a move he and his wife Peggy have talked about for years, since Shanahan was an offensive coordinator at Florida in the early '80s.

Despite reports Foley was pursuing Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, there are strong indications that Shanahan has been the No. 1 choice from the beginning. Stoops pulled out Monday after learning he might have been UF's fallback candidate.

Shanahan would seem a more natural choice, not only because of his success in the NFL, but also his style. After 12 years of Spurrier's Fun'n'Gun offense and shoot-from-the-lip personality, Stoops would have been a drab alternative. A stoic personality with a defensive-oriented approach. Shanahan may not be glib, but he is more personable and has an offensive background.

The question Shanahan now must answer is whether this is the right time to turn his back on the NFL. At 49, he still has plenty of time in front of him, but no way of knowing when the Florida job will open again.

The job may hold great appeal to Shanahan, but it did not seem particularly painful for Spurrier to release his grip on it.

As his wife Jerri intermittently wiped tears on Monday, Spurrier said it was not emotional for him.

"I guess I'm supposed to cry a lot, because that's what the FSU people say I do," Spurrier said. "But I'm not really much of a crier. I don't get all choked up."

After all, it was only a job.

It depends on how you look at it.

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