Steve Spurrier believes Florida football has 'everything here to be successful'

Steve Spurrier knows what it takes to win at Florida. From his run of winning seasons to hoisting a national championship trophy, he’s seen and done it firsthand.

And while there’s been no shortage of change to college sports since Spurrier last coached the Gators, he still thinks the pieces are in place for the Gators to thrive on the gridiron. He explained his thinking on The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday in Gainesville.

CLICK HERE to go to PrizePicks and use code ON3 to receive a guaranteed $50 once you play $5 in lineups!

“Three losing seasons in a row, first time since the 1940s. None of us were here in the 40s,” Spurrier said. “We’ve got everything here to be successful. We’ve got ballplayers in our state, of course you go all over the country, now. And we’ve got the fans, we’ve got the stadium. And I think we’ve got the coaches and the facilities are as good as anybody. So it’s all here and we need to put it all together.”

The question of putting together has, arguably, been where it’s fallen short for the Gators of late. And head coach Billy Napier, entering his third year with an 11-14 overall record, certainly would benefit from not only a win this weekend, but getting the Gators back to a more consistently successful spot — one Spurrier thinks shouldn’t be too hard to find.

Watch College Football Games Live -Try for Free Fubo! Click HERE NOW

Florida opens against Miami in a matchup some want to see more often

All eyes will be on The Swamp this Saturday for an electric in-state rivalry to help kick off the college football season in Week 1. As the Miami Hurricanes will travel down to Gainesville to take on the Gators in a matchup at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow made the trip a day before the Hurricanes and was in Gainesville on Friday. Joining The Paul Finebaum Show and discussing the significance of the Florida-Miami rivalry that he’s been a part of.

“I honestly, really believe it’s one of the more underrated rivalries that Florida has,” Tebow said. “But also around the South and around the country because we don’t play each other a lot. We haven’t played [in Gainesville] since my junior year in ’08 … We don’t get to play a lot and I think that’s really disappointing. I think this is a great rivalry.”

Florida and Miami have only squared off 56 total times with just one matchup in the last decade. A 2019 neutral site game in Orlando where the Gators came out on top in a 24-20 win to help narrow Miami’s 29–27 all-time record in the series.

“You have Miami, an unbelievable program, so many great players, some of the best teams in history and you look at the 2000, 2001 team, incredible teams. Like this game needs to take place more often,” Tebow added. “I think it’s good for the state of Florida, I think it’s good for ACC-SEC battles, I think it’s just good for college football.”