Steve Spurrier to Receive the Walter Camp Distinguished American Award
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida Gators Heisman winner, National Champion, and Hall of Fame former head coach Steve Spurrier will be honored with this year’s Walter Camp Foundation Distinguished American Award. The award will be given to Spurrier at the 57th National Awards Dinner, set to take place Saturday, April 16 in New Haven, Conn.
“It’s an honor to receive the Walter Camp Distinguished American Award, given annually to an honest person who understands teamwork and moves through life with integrity,” Spurrier said via X. “That’s something I’ve always strived to be and proud that all the teams I coached took on those characters.”
He will be the first Gator to receive the award, which is presented each year to an individual who has utilized his or her talents to attain great success in business, private life, or public service and who may have accomplished that which no other has done.
Spurrier earned Walter Camp All-American honors in 1966 for his 2,012-yard 16 touchdown season where he led the Gators to a 9-2 record. He was also awarded the Heisman Trophy.
Spurrier continued his playing career in the NFL where he played 10 seasons for the San Francisco 49ers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Spurrier went into coaching after his playing career. He led the University of Florida as the Gators’ head coach from 1990 to 2002.
Under his leadership, the Gators proceeded to win 122 games in 12 seasons, earned 12 bowl berths, and won six Southeastern Conference titles. Spurrier led Florida to the 1996 National Championship, a 52-20 victory over Florida State in the Sugar Bowl. Spurrier lost only 12 conference games while coaching the Gators from 1990-2001. In that time the Gators won six SEC championships (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000).
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017, making him just one of four members to be inducted as both a player and coach. In 2016, the University of Florida renamed its home field, “Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.”
Spurrier will be honored Saturday alongside other Major Award winners and members of the 2023 Walter Camp All-America Team, Player of Year Jayden Daniels (LSU), and Coach of Year Kalen DeBoer (Washington; now at Alabama).
