Now out of the public eye, Steve Spurrier is sure to resurface as a coach in the NFL or college. But where?
By DAVE SCHEIBER
Published October 3, 2004
Somewhere in cyberspace, message-board fodder was flying with a Fun 'N' Gun frenzy on a recent morning. The topic: a certain unemployed football coach who's enjoying the year playing golf and relaxing with his family.
"I think Steve Spurrier will be the Longhorns' coach next year if Texas doesn't beat Oklahoma this year," proclaimed a posting on IGN Boards.
A reply zinged in. "I doubt it. Florida will fire their coach whether he has a good year or not to get Spurrier back."
And the barrage was on:
"What makes you say that? Have they been talking to him?"
"I think Spurrier will go to UNC. He built up Duke for two years in the '80s, and North Carolina can't get any worse."
"If Ty (Willingham) somehow gets fired after this season, Spurrier will go to Notre Dame."
So it goes these days on the Spurrier Watch, Month 10. For the record, it began Dec. 30 when the "Ol' Ball Coach" walked away from the Washington Redskins after two years on the job, leaving a 12-20 record and $15-million remaining on his five-year deal with owner Dan Snyder.
There hadn't been much fun generated by his free-wheeling Fun 'N' Gun offense, with which Spurrier had forged a stellar collegiate legacy and won 122 games in 12 seasons at Florida. The promising 3-1 Redskins start in 2003 had fizzled into a 5-11 record, leaving him emotionally deflated, physically exhausted and professionally humbled.
There were rumblings that Snyder wanted Spurrier to upgrade his coaching staff, composed heavily of former Gator assistants with no NFL experience, and that Spurrier wanted more of a say in roster and personnel issues, areas in which Snyder was not likely to budge.
Whatever the reasons, for the first time in 25 years, one of the game's best-known innovators was suddenly out of coaching. Yet instantly, the guessing game of when and where Spurrier would resurface began.
You can find endless banter on Internet sites and sports talk radio. But the coach himself is laying low and saying little. Spurrier and wife Jerri spend some time in their condo on Florida's east coast. They've flown to Tucson to visit son Steve Jr., a tight ends coach at the University of Arizona, and watch his team play. But mostly, they're living in the Leesburg, Va., home they bought when Spurrier joined the 'Skins, allowing son Scott to finish his senior year at Loudoun County High, where he plays cornerback and wide receiver. The time away from the job - the last 20 years spent as a head coach - has given Spurrier, 59, a rare opportunity to follow his son's football career in person. He likes to attend practice, and he sits with Jerri high up in the stands at games, savoring life out of the spotlight for a change.
That outweighs any possible awkwardness or hurt feelings from remaining in the Washington area, where the return of Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs has dominated sports news - and put Spurrier on the receiving end of some less-than-kind comparisons.
Spurrier has declined countless interview requests, offering only a few comments along the way, such as the remarks he made Thursday to the Charlotte Observer when he declined to say when, and even if, he would return to coaching, adding "I don't want any big stories on me right now. My story is pretty simple."
But nothing's ever simple when it comes to Spurrier. So we decided to call an array of people close to him to get their views of what's up with the coach - and where he may land next.
Making the pro case
JOHN REAVES, former UF quarterback (1969-71), Tampa Bay Bandits/USFL star under Spurrier (1983-85), now a Tampa real estate agent:
"I just happened to talk to him about three weeks ago. I was up over there on the Palm Coast area, where he lives some of the time. He just wants to take a little break and get rejuvenated, then wait and see what happens afterward.
"He sounded the same to me, basically. He was kind of cracking on himself a little bit. He said, "How times have changed. You know what my check from Nike was the other day? $4.64.'
"As far as where he'll go, I would think the pros. Warm weather state with a grass field. I always tell people, don't think he can't coach in the NFL by what happened in Washington. They had quite a few injuries and a young quarterback. Of course, nobody ever wants to give you any leeway up there, and they wanted to try to crucify Steve.
"I'm sure Steve likes Joe Gibbs, and he's happy for him. But at the same time, I think Steve's a competitor and that he'll want to come back in and go out on his own terms. I know he'd probably like a job in Florida somewhere."
Pro vs. college
HUE JACKSON, receivers coach of the Cincinnati Bengals who served as Spurrier's offensive coordinator last season with the Washington Redskins:
"One of the better coaches in football is sitting on the sidelines. I think he can coach with the best of them, and I'm sure he'll get back in when he's ready.
"I know things didn't go as well as we hoped for. But I mean, everything takes time. There were a lot of lessons to be learned as you go through a process of putting together a team, with new players and a young quarterback (Patrick Ramsey) and new coaches. Nothing happens overnight. I always tell people - we had a tremendous start last season. We were 2-0 for the first time since 1999, and we come from behind to almost beat the Giants in OT the next week. Then we beat New England and go 3-1.
"A week later, we have a chance to tie Philadelphia and send the game to OT, but we miss a wide open guy, and we get our quarterback hurt. We weren't far from being 5-0, and then it's a different ballgame.
"Coach was brought into the pro game and he tried to see if his offense would work at the pro level. For whatever reasons, it didn't turn out the way we all wanted. But a lot of good things happened there. We just didn't have enough of them. Will his system work in the NFL? There's no question in my mind, with a little tweaking here and there. With another year, I think we could have totally turned it the other way.
"Coach Spurrier is like any of us. You don't want to have your name thrown in the dirt. Your name is your reputation and you need to protect it. So I believe he'll be back - whether it's in the NFL or college - and coach football the way he's always coached it."
BUDDY MARTIN, managing editor of the Charlotte Sun, longtime chronicler of Spurrier's career, author of a Spurrier book and working on a new book on the history of UF'S Swamp:
"I don't think it's fair to say that we saw the real Steve Spurrier in Washington. People I talk to who are journalists and otherwise say he never really got the chance. He deserves a mulligan in my opinion. Now, Steve made some mistakes. He made the mistake of thinking he could take the Florida package to Washington and play there with the same coaches and players. I think he'd admit that today it's a different situation, that you have to have the horses to win in the NFL.
"Now, the other side of the coin is, by my recollection, the three NFL teams in Florida haven't been scoring many touchdowns this season. So something is not right in the NFL when you can hardly score a touchdown - it could be going through an offensive crisis pretty soon. Guys like Spurrier, with a fertile offensive mind, are badly needed in the NFL. He's refreshing. He says what he thinks.
"Poor (UF coach) Ron Zook suffers not just from the fact that he followed the ultimate Gator in Spurrier. It's also that Spurrier is such a colorful guy who has more quotes after a game than Zook has in a season. So when (Zook) doesn't win, it makes him look worse.
"I hear scuttlebutt about how if Texas doesn't beat Oklahoma, Mack Brown could be in trouble. So if you're Texas, and you have the money and want to beat (OU coach and Spurrier protege Bob) Stoops, you hire the guy who knows Stoops' mind.
"Then there's North Carolina. They're in the ACC with Miami and FSU, and Spurrier has a background in the state (coaching Duke, 1987-89). He likes the state of North Carolina. So I could see that.
"But I also know there's been interest in the past in Steve on the part of (Miami Dolphins owner) Wayne Huizenga. Now maybe Huizinga has decided he doesn't like Spurrier as much after what he saw in Washington. I don't know. But it's a natural fit because I don't believe (coach Dave) Wannstedt is going to last the season."
Back to college
ALLEN TRAMMELL, ex-UF teammate of Spurrier's and fellow Tennesseean, now a vice president for Wachovia Insurance Services in Orlando:
"I think he will definitely coach again and I think he will coach in college. I don't think he'll coach in pro ball. I think he had a very, very bad experience (in the NFL). Now, as competitive as Steve is, some people are gonna say, "Well, he may take the pro job just to show people he can win.' I think Steve can win in the NFL.
"However, I don't think Steve wants to take that step again because he does not like the attitude of the professional player, in my opinion. From talking to Steve when he was coaching in Washington and hearing him make comments here and there, Steve is not one who likes any type of prima donna. That's one thing he will not put up with, whether it's with friends, football players or staff.
"The college kids who are working hard, trying to get to the next level, he enjoys working with them and in that atmosphere. He's a very, very loyal Florida fan and very interested in what they're doing - not that he wants the job. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying he loves the University of Florida.
"Wherever he goes, it's got to be geographic. I don't think he'll go north of the Mason-Dixon line. People have mentioned Texas - but that's a long way from Florida. And I think it'd be hard for Steve to coach at North Carolina, because of the rivalry with Duke. Really, it's too early to say where he might go.
"And Steve's one who could change his mind. He could change his mind any day about anything."
Anybody's guess
DANNY WUERFFEL, Spurrier's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at UF (and briefly with the Redskins), working with youngsters in New Orleans:
"Coach Spurrier wrote the foreward to my new book (Danny Wuerffel's tales from the Gator Swamp) and we've talked. But I'll tell you one thing in terms of what he will or will not do. The one thing I've learned to expect from Coach Spurrier is not to expect anything at all. I think that's one of the things that made him such a great coach. He was unconventional in a lot of the things that he did, and so it was hard to stop. I'm not going to try to guess. If I did, I would think he would maybe come back and coach college football at some point.
"But in terms of what he's doing now, staying in Virginia to allow his son to graduate up there, that's something a lot of guys in his position wouldn't do. I just think that's very admirable."
RAY GRAVES, Tampa resident and Spurrier's coach at UF:
"We talk every two weeks or so. He's doing great. He was really low up there in Washington. He always told me that Snyder stood behind him, but it was just a bad situation and he walked away from millions of dollars. I guess it was the thing to do, and I'm glad he did. He's really enjoying his time away from the game, but football is on his mind. I think Steve would be open to anything that he thought was interesting. The challenge is more important than the money."
JIM COLLINS, defensive backs coach at Marshall University, who coached for Spurrier at Washington, Florida and Duke:
"People ask me all the time what he's going to do, and that's just not something I discuss with him at all. For me to speculate would be ridiculous, because only he knows and maybe Jerri. Heck, he may get out there and decide there's a whole other life out there and like it a lot. Or he may miss football. He's never been one to tip his hand. In 2002, there wasn't a soul who knew he was leaving Florida."
NORM CARLSON, longtime Spurrier friend, former UF assistant athletic director and ranking Gator historian:
"I think his state of mind is great - he looks good and feels good. He's healthy. He's got his old sense of humor back, one-lining you like Steve Spurrier. I've seen him several times this summer. We have a condo at the beach in the same unit. So we go over and get to see him. He doesn't look frustrated like he has the last year or two in pro football.
"He said he would step back for a year and look at where he was. And at the end of the year, he'll make that determination. Knowing him, nothing will surprise me. He's Steve Spurrier. He does the unpredictable. Who knows what he'll do?
