The father of Florida football has spoken.
Steve Spurrier — the head ball coach, the Heisman Trophy winner, the national champion — made it clear in a Thursday interview with The Buddy Martin Show that he wasn’t a fan of the Gators’ offense under Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier.
Here’s what Spurrier had to say on the radio about McElwain, courtesy of a report from OnlyGators.com:
“I think he’s a good coach as far as really getting the players ready to play. I thought our guys came with energy, fire and passion just about all the time,” Spurrier said. “And we won a bunch of close ones and then we lost those two close ones … and then the Georgia game … and the death threats … and whatever. Maybe it was time for a change.
“Offensively, no, I don’t think [we were good], but you know, he really didn’t run the offense,” Spurrier added. “Coach [Doug] Nussmeier runs the offense and he tries as hard as he can to run a good offense.”
The Florida legend went on to speak about his fun-and-gun attack in the 1990’s and gave a general response to people who ask him to help out with the offense.
He also threw in a humble brag, as only he could do.
“The offense we ran in the 90s, that’s not what they do here now,” Spurrier said. “People always say, ‘Well, Coach Spurrier, why don’t you give them some ball plays?’ I say, ‘Listen, every play that we ran in the ’90s is there on video at the University of Florida. If they want to go back and watch Danny Wuerffel and Shane Matthews throw all those touchdown passes — we led the nation in touchdown passes through the 90s, more than any other school — it’s all on tape there. Go back and watch it.”
Why coaches don’t always ask for help:
“They don’t do that. Coaches coach what they know, and they coach how they’re comfortable coaching. And the way we coach at Florida now is not the way we coached back then,” Spurrier noted. “I’m not saying ours was a whole lot better — maybe it was — but they’re trying the best they can to coach what they know. It was hard for me to try to give some positive ball plays here and there.”
If there’s anything Spurrier knows, it’s ball plays.
Many Gators fans wish he was still calling the shots on offense.
Cody McClure is an SEC Football Writer for Saturday Down South. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he also co-hosts a midday sports radio show for FOX Sports. Cody previously worked for Athlon Sports.
