Urban Meyer raves about Steve Spurrier's impact at Florida
The shade is nice, but living in another person’s shadow can get old. Former Florida football coach Urban Meyer didn’t mind following in the footsteps of Gators legend Steve Spurrier.
During an interview on The Buddy Martin Show yesterday, Meyer discussed his Florida predecessor. His comments were pure adoration.
“Steve Spurrier is a winner. There’s a lot of things that people can say about a lot of people, and he’s a winner. He set the standard here at Florida,” Meyer said. “Every year in my six years there, I was chasing Steve Spurrier.”
Spurrier is a difficult target to run down. Before ever holding the clipboard for Florida, Spurrier held up trophies. In 31 games at UF, Spurrier completed 392 of 692 attempts for 4,848 passing yards and 37 touchdowns. He was reward for his efforts in 1966 with the Heisman Trophy.
As great as Spurrier was as a Florida player, he was even better as the Gators’ coach. Serving as UF’s head coach from 1990-2001, Spurrier won one national title, six SEC Championships and five SEC Coach of the Year Awards.
Meyer emphasized Spurrier’s praise and, consequently, the Florida fanbase’s expectations were well-warranted.
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“Rightfully so. Steve Spurrier brought a winning culture to University of Florida,” Meyer said.
A winning culture that Meyer built upon. The now 58-year-old won two national championships while at Florida. During the Gators’ second title run under Urban in 2008, Florida steamrolled Spurrier’s South Carolina team 56-6, Spurrier’s worst loss ever.
Despite Meyer’s merciless actions on the field, he felt grateful to Spurrier off it.
“When we won the national championship in ’06, I personally got Steve Spurrier a ring because I thought he earned that. How did he earn that?” Meyer asked. “Because he set the standard at the University of Florida.”
After going 6-7 last season, Florida football is no longer meeting this lofty standard. Nonetheless, Meyer believes the program can return to its once great heights.
“I think they can,” Meyer said. “Florida’s got what it takes. They’ve got a great coach right now. Obviously, he has some challenges ahead of him. Everybody’s just got to hang in there.”