Kane Wommack considers whether Steve Spurrier could succeed in NIL era

New Alabama Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kane Wommack never played or coached for SEC legend Steve Spurrier. However, his father did work for Spurrier at South Carolina, giving the two coaches an interesting connection.

While making an appearance on The Next Round, Wommack spoke about Spurrier. In particular, he shared some thoughts on whether Spurrier would be able to succeed the same way he did in his era during the NIL era.

“That’s an interesting question,” Kane Wommack said. “I don’t know if I have a good answer for it. I know everybody kind of handles it a little bit differently. Coach Spurrier was very matter of fact about how he’d talk to you, whether he’s known you for many years.”

At that point, one of the hosts interjected to ask if Spurrier would tell players if they weren’t getting the money they deserved. Immediately, Wommack made it clear that he would have done that.

“100 percent… It would have been very evident, I would guess, it would be a trigger that he’d use out there on the field in terms of what he did.”

To explain what he meant by that, Wommack told a story about being recruited to South Carolina by Spurrier, showing how matter of fact he can be and how that could translate to how he would communicate about NIL.

“He told me when I was coming out of high school, I was trying to decide where I was gonna go. I wanted to go to Arkansas but I met with him to see if I wanted to go to South Carolina. He came in and he goes, it’s just me and him sitting in the room and I thought this is the most amazing thing ever. I’m sitting next to Steve Spurrier and he’s talking to me,” Wommack said.

“He goes, ‘Well, we’ve gone through spring ball and I’ve seen our fullbacks. We’re not very good. So, you’ll probably come in and start as a freshman.’ And I thought there’s no way in hell I’m coming here to start for you and this offense. It was fairly complicated for anybody, let alone a freshman, but he’s just so matter of fact in the way that he communicates. I thought it was pretty good.”

Steve Spurrier last coached in college during the 2015 season. Midway through that year, he stepped down as the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks. So, he was removed from plenty of changes in the sport. At the same time, it would be interesting to see what Spurrier in his prime could do in the NIL era.