With a gap of more than a decade gap between their college playing days, not many SEC coaches have insight on both Super Bowl starting quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Cam Newton, but Steve Spurrier remembers recruiting both.

Spurrier recently caught up with GridironNow.com’s Buddy Martin and talked about the signal callers he remembers trying to sign – and ultimately coaching against.

The former Head Ball Coach crossed paths with Archie and Olivia Manning not long ago and reflected on his efforts to make Peyton a Gator.

“I said (to the Mannings), ‘You know, looking back now, obviously it was best for Peyton to go to Tennessee because we already had Danny Wuerffel. If both of then would have been at the same school, one of then wouldn’t have gotten a chance to play and do what he did. So sometimes in recruiting, maybe it’s not supposed to be,’ ” Spurrier recalled to Martin.

Spurrier’s UF teams went 4-0 against Manning, with Wuerffel leading the Gators in three of those victories.

When Newton was a prospect, the former Gamecocks coach took notice of the Panthers quarterback’s size and athleticism.

“And I was smart enough to say, ‘If you can’t make it at quarterback, you could be a heck of a tight end.’,” Spurrier said.

Newton obviously did make it at quarterback, despite a rocky start to his college career at Florida, Spurrier’s alma mater. The two were on opposing sidelines when Newton led Auburn to a 56-17 SEC Championship victory in 2010 over a Spurrier-coached South Carolina team.

The currently unemployed head coach sees the former Auburn star as the model for the next wave of NFL quarterbacks.

“Fantastic athlete. He’s the quarterback of the future,” Spurrier said. “Every team in America would like to have somebody who is big and strong and can run like him. It really puts a lot of pressure on the defenses. So he’s the prototype quarterback now.”