It’s one thing to be a college football legend. But how about being a college football legend four different times in the same lifetime?

There’s only one person in the long, storied history of college football who can claim that kind of legacy, and that’s one Stephen Orr Spurrier.

NCAA Football: South Carolina at ClemsonSpurrier retired on Oct. 12, walking away from the South Carolina school he made relevant. The departure ends one of the greatest careers in history.

In fact, it’s safe to say that as a player and a coach, there’s no one with a better resume than Spurrier in college football history. That’s saying a lot, but it’s true.

Consider:

  • He was the 1966 Heisman Trophy winner as a quarterback at Florida.
  • He was a nine-time conference coach of the year through his years at Duke, Florida and South Carolina, schools with no track record for success before he got there.
  • He won eight conference championships at the three schools.
  • He had 27 First-team All-Americans.
  • He had 143 All-Conference players.
  • He won a national championship at Florida in 1996.
  • He is the winningest coach in South Carolina history, and in Florida history.

Just try to top that.

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All Spurrier did was simply change the culture of football wherever he’s been. As a player, he won his Heisman at a time when Florida had no successful football history. In his three years at Duke, he tied for an ACC title and went to a bowl game, something that hadn’t been done in nearly 30 years. He won a national title at Florida and six SEC titles. And at his last stop at South Carolina, he had three straight 11-win seasons for the first time in school history.

He retired – or resigned, as he says, just to leave the door open a tiny crack – with a 228-89-2 record at his three stops. His 228 wins is 13th all-time at the top level of college football and second only to Bear Bryant in the SEC.

In reverse chronological order, here’s how Spurrier has left his footprint on the game:

1. South Carolina (2005-2015)

When Spurrier first set foot on the Columbia campus, he asked “Why not us?” South Carolina hadn’t been a real factor since joining the SEC in 1992 and even though it took a while, Spurrier brought them to unprecedented heights. He won the SEC East in 2010, the only SEC title in school history, and had 11-win seasons in 2011 through 2013, finishing the season ranked in the Top 10 nationally all three years. He is the winningest coach in school history, but at the end it was simply unraveling. It was time for a change.

“The last several years as I’ve traveled around the country, seen guys and so forth, I always get asked ‘How much longer are you going to coach?’ And my answer is always the same. As long as we keep winning, keep winning these bowl games, everybody’s happy, we’re ranked, life’s pretty good, I guess I could go several more years.”

But not winning, that was different. It just wasn’t any fun any more for the 70-year-old coach.

2. Florida (1990-2001)

Spurrier returned to his alma mater and went 122-27-1 as its head coach, the most wins in school history, His .817 winning percentage is the best in school history, slightly ahead of Urban Meyer (.813). Prior to his arrival, Florida had never won an SEC championship in football. Spurrier won six, and they’ve only won two more since he left. His biggest accomplishment might have been changing the culture of the SEC with his Fun-N-Gun pass-happy offense. He forced everyone to change up if they wanted to keep up, and made the brand much more enjoyable. The only blemish on his record was in inability to beat Florida State on a regular basis. He was just 5-8-1 against Bobby Bowden, but did beat FSU to win the 1996 national title, which more than balanced the scale. He also coached a Heisman winner (Danny Wuerffel), which no other Heisman winner had ever done.

3. Duke (1987-1989)

Everyone thought Steve Spurrier was nuts for taking the Duke position in 1987, because everyone considered that the worst program in the ACC. “I needed a job,” Spurrier said at the time. All he did was get the Blue Devils a piece of the ACC title and a trip to a bowl game, something that hadn’t been done at Duke for nearly 30 years. Even though he only stayed three years, he is still revered in Durham.

4. Florida as Heisman-winning QB as a player

Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy at Florida in 1966 and was a two-time All-American quarterback. He was a three-year starter and earned a reputation as the “Comeback Kid,” winning game after game with late fourth-quarter rallies.

There were also other parts of the Spurrier story on the professional level, but the results were nowhere near the same. He was mostly  backup for most of his career with the San Francisco 49ers and then was the starting quarterback on the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that didn’t win a game.

He was a very successful coach in the USFL for three years with the Tampa Bay Bandits before that league folded and had a stint with the Washington Redskins in between the Florida and South Carolina jobs that was deemed unsuccessful.

The mass exodus of veteran coaches this year is topped by Spurrier. Mark Richt and Gary Pinkel each left at 15 years. They all had quite a run, and a lot of battles.

Spurrier has taken some heat for quitting on his team in midseason, and a lot of that is justified.

The Gamecocks were struggling at 2-4 when Spurrier abruptly walked away and he could see the writing on the wall that this wasn’t going to be a good season. He said he wanted the players to hear another voice, and that he wanted his assistants – like interim coach Shawn Elliott – to have a chance to showcase their talents and maybe keep the job permanently.

Truth be told, Spurrier is 70 years old and running a big-time college football program is a grind. It’s tough, especially the endless recruiting. Spurrier just didn’t have it in him anymore. It was becoming obvious. There was a major rebuilding job ahead, and Spurrier wasn’t up for taking that on.

None of that, however, negates the great body of work. The man could win games, and he could have fun doing it.

And he could entertain. Reading the “Best of Steve Spurrier” quips is a must, over and over again.

Steve Spurrier has been a pleasure to be around and college football is really going to miss him.