Who’s the best coach – Spurrier or Meyer?
By Shane from Centerpoint

Legendary football coach Steve Spurrier has always been one of the best at using the media to influence the public’s perception of an opposing coach. During a recent live radio interview with renowned sports talk-show host Paul Finebaum, Spurrier opened up a nasty wound in Florida coach Urban Meyer’s back – all while skillfully dodging Paul’s attempt to get his opinion on some public squabble between Meyer and former Gator quarterback Shane Matthews.

Steve proceeded to promote his own agenda by confirming for the Gator Nation that he believes Urban’s (publicly stated) desire to lead Notre Dame back to prominence to be absolute fact. Imagine, the “Bear” Bryant of Florida football planting a poison seed (Meyer leaving) in the heads of media geeks with nothing to do. By the way, Spurrier was using the Finebaum show as a recruiting tool. He knew exactly where he was and who would get the message. Not a bad play by the “ole ball coach”, huh?

Most of the insiders will tell you that Steve Spurrier will never coach the Gators again. I find that hard to believe, but apparently some power broker has more ego than brains. If Urban Meyer did leave Florida to coach the Irish, I couldn’t think of a better solution than bringing back Spurrier for 3-5 years. Imagine what he could do with the super talent that Meyer has assembled.

Look at the hard evidence. Coach “Visor” has been taking South Carolina (a third-world SEC school) to bowl games every year. Typically, South Carolina has been a “coach killer” institution. The promising careers of many young coaches have died there. The great Lou Holtz couldn’t save it – coaching the Gamecocks hastened the end for one of the toughest old birds to ever walk the sidelines when it wore Lou out. Do you get my point about SC yet? Is Steve Spurrier a great coach? Absolutely!

I believe Spurrier is really being sincere when he says that he wants to guide SC to previously unobtained goals, but I also know that — if he stays a Gamecock — he runs a very high risk of ending his career badly. Even the best can do only so much at South Carolina, where mediocre records are common and championships never happen.

Honestly, how bad does it sound? The great Steve Spurrier ends up retiring from a second rate, bottom-feeder like South Carolina?

Now, if Urban were to move to South Bend after the 2009 season finishes Charlie Weis off, Steve’s returning to lead the Gators for a 3-4 year stint would be a fantastic finish for one of the best coaches to ever coach the game. Spurrier could win “big” (and go out a winner)at Florida.

Besides, the Gator nation faces a much bigger loss than the “Urban turns Irish” thing – Tim Tebow is using his last year of eligibility. Yes! He will be gone. Finally, his reign of terror over the SEC will end. Can you handle losing Tebow (a modern day Jim Thorpe) and Urban Meyer (the hottest young coach in America) in the same year? A new head coach is very possible – a new quarterback is written in stone.

From Coach Meyer’s standpoint, Florida fans may be in for a reality check sooner than they think. Study the facts. What does Urban Meyer have left to prove at Florida? He has delivered two national championships in the last three years, with a very good chance of winning a third this year. There is nothing more he can do after that to make the fan base happier, but there are many things he can do to make them angry.

On the other hand, Notre Dame is hungry to return to the front of the pack. Those people are ready for national respect and BCS bowl games. As a result, the moneymen will have an open checkbook, and Urban Meyer would be a perfect fit.

If the Notre Dame deal does go down (I think it will), Florida fans should be thankful of Meyer for bringing excellence to the Gator Nation. He is a winner. In fact, I have no doubt that he will quickly return Notre Dame to its rightful place among the nation’s elite.

However, I’m convinced that the more interesting questions lie on the Florida side of the field. Who will Jeremy Foley turn to for guidance? Would Steve Spurrier be given serious consideration? If he wouldn’t be considered, name me somebody better than Spurrier? Come on! Quick! Bet you can’t!

It would be interesting to know how many Florida fans would want Spurrier back. I’d also like to find out how many Irish fans want Urban. Is Meyer going to become the first $5,000,000.00 (per year) college coach? Lastly, can Spurrier have a “magic” season, where his team stays healthy, the ball bounces right, and lady luck smiles his way?

Truthfully, I can’t judge who’s the better coach. They come from two very different backgrounds, but they usually get the same results – victories and championships. I can say that I would be honored for my son to spend four years playing for either man.

—Shane writes a weekly column for the Call News and the Capstone Report.
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51 thoughts on “Shane: Spurrier or Meyer?”

  1. Hmm. No doubt CSS was a good coach. However, he seems to have lost his fire and passion. Don’t know if he could rekindle it or not. I saw it happen with Bear. When he mellowed during his last 5 or 6 years and began treating his players like a loving father instead of like a brutal taskmaster, Bama’s W-L record suffered. Personally I’d like CUM to hang around a few more years and give CNS and Bama a chance to whip that ass a few times. To shut those damn swamp lizards mouths. If he leaves now, we’ll never hear the end of it! Who would Florida go after if CUM abandons them? The popular choice would be CSS. But i’m not so sure. Maybe Bob Stoops?

  2. There’s a whole lot to talk about in this post. First, let me say that I’m a Gator fan living in Gainesville… so I probably have a different perspective than people in Bama.

    I think most Gators would agree with me that Spurrier is more Gator than Meyer will likely ever be. Keep in mind that Spurrier played college football with UF, and won a heisman. Then he came back and took our program from mediocre to premiere. No one will ever forget this.

    That being said, Urban Meyer has without a doubt done better here than Spurrier has. Urban has two BCS Championships in 4 years, and is favored to win his third.

    First of all, I don’t think Meyer is leaving (see http://www.gatortailgating.com/content/the-best-quote-for-gator-football-since-tebows-speech). He had a chance to go to ND in 2005, but chose Florida. He has stated in his book (Urban’s Way) that one of his reasons of choosing Florida is that recruiting takes a lot more time when you’re in South Bend. You have to fly all across the country. In Florida, the recruiting is all within 5 hours.

    Urban still has his son, Nate, in middle school. I believe that he’s going to wait for Nate to graduate high school. Then I believe he will go to South Bend or the NFL. So, we still have 5 or so years with UM.

    That being said, I believe that if UM did leave, we wouldn’t have Spurrier back. Spurrier was great, but he could not live up to the expectations that the fans have set – post Urban Meyer.

    Spurrier will always be a Gator… perhaps the greatest, but his time as head coach is over.

  3. E.G White – Stoops turned down the position in 2005. To tell you the truth, I think we’d go after Kyle Whittingham. Urban Meyer’s protege and HC of Utah.

    By the way. Good luck with beating Meyer. It’s not going to happen this year… and after Tebow leaves, we have John Brantley as QB. I’m not sure if you follow Florida close enough, but this kid is awesome and would be starting for almost every SEC team out there (other than Ole Miss & Florida).

    One thing that Meyer has said after this year’s recruiting class is that we’re now in a state of perpetual reload similar to USCw. It’s going to be interesting to see how things play out in 2010. Keep in mind that we’re playing at Alabama 10/2/2010!! See you then!

  4. Well, Well! Barnie Fife and all his little animals got out of the ole doublewide long enough to scout around the national armpit memorial aptly named Aubutt.They heard a call that said, ” cry O yea pusses, cry out for Aubie”, ” bring down this Siren of Shane for he calls us out by name.” And so, the pitiful country punks fell upon the Western Sizzlin’ and silenced the voice of the great heretic, only to see his genius rise again in the land of polluted rivers and MOWA pseudo-indians. Now the poison pen of the great Shane will rain Aubert smack down upon the cow patties until the great rebel flag stealing councilman saves them from the hooded nightmare. Go Toros!!

  5. Well, Well! Barnie Fife and all his little animals got out of the ole doublewide long enough to scout around the national armpit memorial aptly named Aubutt.They heard a call that said, ” cry O yea pusses, cry out for Aubie”, ” bring down this Siren of Shane for he calls us out by name.” And so, the pitiful country punks fell upon the Western Sizzlin’ and silenced the voice of the great heretic, only to see his genius rise again in the land of polluted rivers and MOWA pseudo-indians. Now the poison pen of the great Shane will rain Aubert smack down upon the cow patties until the great rebel flag stealing councilman saves them from the hooded nightmare. Go Toros!!

    PS 36-0

    Iowa State Cyclones 2008

    Date Opponent* Result Record
    Aug. 28, 2008 S Dakota St W 44-17 1-0
    Sept. 6, 2008 Kent State W 48-28 2-0
    Sept. 13, 2008 at Iowa L 17-5 2-1
    Sept. 20, 2008 at UNLV L 34-31 2-2
    Oct. 4, 2008 Kansas L 35-33 2-3 (0-1)
    Oct. 11, 2008 at Baylor L 38-10 2-4 (0-2)
    Oct. 18, 2008 Nebraska L 35-7 2-5 (0-3)
    Oct. 25, 2008 Texas A&M L 49-35 2-6 (0-4)
    Nov. 1, 2008 at OK State L 59-17 2-7 (0-5)
    Nov. 8, 2008 at Colorado L 28-24 2-8 (0-6)
    Nov. 15, 2008 Missouri L 52-20 2-9 (0-7)
    Nov. 22, 2008 at Kansas State L 38-30 2-10 (0-8)

  6. Mike good stuff. I think Meyer stays at UF for a few more years (five or more) and then retires. He might get seduced by the NFL if a franchise wants to give Meyer’s version of the spread at try. I don’t think that the likeliest thing to happen, but it might. And if I were going to try the spread in the NFL, I’d want Meyer to do it.

    As for Spurrier, I think he is a great coach, but I think Meyer is better right now.

  7. “As for Spurrier, I think he is a great coach, but I think Meyer is better right now.” Boy, you really went out on a limb with that one. Don’t forget, Spurrier basically BUILT the program, and coached it to multiple championships. Meyer stepped into a loaded, built program that was not being coached up to its potential. Having a once every 50 years player at QB can skew the accomplishments a little as well. It’s really impossible to compare the coaching ABILITY of the two.
    Of course, the Mighty Auburn Tigers have OWNED both coaches. WAR EAGLE!!

  8. Mike actually I thought of Whitingham first but I didn’t want to say it on this blog and have 50 people say I’m nuts. Then again who knows if Fla’s admin. would roll the dice again with a non BCS coach. Can’t be lucky every time! As for regular season 2010 – you’re gonna see us a lot sooner than that! We were still playing wounded last year and look what we almost did. You got lucky in the SECCG. We got a lot of inexperienced players. But they are superior players from 2 #1 recruiting classes. Last years class brought us 3 All Americans and a star runningback. This years class is even more talented. GMAC has the potential to be another Bradford. My suggestion – watch the Va. Tech game very closely. If we win that game against #5 with our inexperience we’ll see you in December.

  9. “In fact, I have no doubt that he will quickly return Notre Dame to its rightful place among the nation’s elite.”

    Not so fast ShaneBo, Recruiting at ND is NOT the same as recruiting for FLA. Urby would have a long hard road to get ND up to ‘national’ speed. True enough, his name would draw some recruits there, but the incentives that he has at his disposal at FLA are all in place and the recruiting network is humming. ND has an established network as well, but their self-imposed restrictions has curtailed it’s effectiveness as of late. Are the chances of Urby being successful at ND over time good? Maybe, but ‘quickly’ is a relative term and I doubt it.

  10. EG White: Keep in mind that we were missing Percy last SECCG!

    I’m also a firm believer that “defenses win championships”. The Gator defense is returning it’s entire 2-deep. This is the same 2 deep that held 60+ points/game Oklahoma to a measly 2 TDs. So… I have high expectations this year 🙂 Not to mention, we have Tebow!

    Another long shot coach for the Gators would be Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong. He’s probably going to leave after this season to get a HC job… but if he does well, he’d have a chance

  11. Yeah I know you were missing Harvin. But Fla missing Harvin with all your talent was not like Bama missing both first round draft choices Smith and Copeland against Utah! We’ll have depth this year which is what we lacked against you. The O line and D line was wore out in the 4th quarter. We’ll see what happens in 3- 1\2 months.

  12. As Tebow goes so go the gators. Remember how they were getting punked before he got to Florida. Even Mike Shula put a swamp stomping on Meyer and the boys. If Florida makes it through this year they will take their permanent place as the fourth or fifth best program in the SEC. And that tells you what Heir Meyer will do. Later aligator he will say as he merrily skips away to Domerville.

  13. JIMBO………..I guess you dont remember 06 when they won it with that other quarterback……..Heck, I cant even remember his last name..But that may be more about the 8 hours of sleep Ive had in the last three days.

  14. Ballplay…..you’re messing up their thesis…..don’t you know bammer is just one obstacle (Tebow) away from winning it all year in and year out?? Once Tebow graduates, everyone else in the SEC is toast.
    I mean, if it were not for Tebow and the Utes, they would have already won their 29th NC.

  15. I do remember and Leak was not the reason they won. I seem to remember there was a guy named oh!!!!!! Yeah I think this freshman that scored most of the touchdowns was named something like Tebow.

  16. Oh and by the way sux, Did I say anything about Alabama.No ? I didn’t think so, but apparently you’ve got Alabama on the brain.

  17. Jimbo—does that mean you have Auburn on the brain?? Hell, you were the one writing comments about Auburn when Shane’s column didn’t even mention Auburn. My comments are much more relevant to the discussion than your stupid ass comments about toros and doublewides. The only doublewide I know about is the one Chiziks going to use on saban and the bama nation this year.

  18. Lemme see… South Carolina had the most players drafted of ANY SEC team this year. Bottom feeders, Butt Nugget?

  19. Jimbo……..uhhhhhhhhh……..Wrong again. While Tebow may have scored more than any other freshman, and yes, he did matter. He wasnt the reason that Florida won it in 06. If you believe that , well Im done talking to you because you are an idiot. Floridas offense was O.K. in 06…Floridas defense won it for em in 06. Not Leak ,, not Tebow.

    Now shut your trap kid.

  20. Another thing……….If Florida is only good because of Tebow, and he is the only reason they won 2 national championships………………Explain 07…….Stats like his that year are practically un-attainable, even by him…..He was the “one man show. He won the Heisman…………..And they lost FOUR GAMES !!!!!!!!!!!! Case closed. Game over. Somebody turn out the lights.

  21. It doesn’t surprise me at all that you crimson necks don’t know how to pronounce, or spell a two syllable word like Chizik, but y’all will know the name after this coming football season. Stubby hit his peak last year….his coaching trend will continue.

  22. Bamasgreat, if not for Tebow we would have at least won our 22nd SEC Championship, yes 22nd, I know it is hard for a school like the Auturd college to understand that one school could have that many, but it is just a fact. Like you said Tebow is a once in every fifty year qb, so quit talking out of both sides of your goober licker.

  23. Former Indian or whatever, Don/t you get the Toros thing, it meant that the post was in pun you fool!!!
    What is this ‘un-attainable’? Go get an education and stop inventing words!!

    ‘Unobtainable’ is probably the word you were looking for punk!!!! Notice I didn’t say kid because even though your a dumb (donkey), I will not call you a goat (kid).

    Fool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  24. Dumbo…Websters dictionary for “attain”….”to arrive at, OBTAIN, win”. Looks like both words can be used interchangeably.

    Were you saying something about Autards??

    Case closed. Game over. Somebody turn out the lights.

  25. Do you guys hear yourselves ? Bamaman (condensed version) “If not for losing games, we would have won the SEC”………duh. ” We would beat Florida if they didnt have such good players” ….You mean thats the way it works ? I thought losing games with crappy players menat you were good….You guys have some serious brainpower.

    Here is the bottom line Florida is better than everyone else. And yes, its because of good players and WINNING GAMES !!!

  26. Once again ‘un-attainable’ not a word, and once more, I have not mentioned Alabama or Auburn on this thread. Now turn out the lights!!!!!!!!!!

  27. Ballplay, Fla lost 4 games in 07 because of stupidity and because their defense sucked. Even a mediocre Mich offense rang up 40 on em. Stupidity because they used Tebow incorrectly and almost killed him! (Pun). You’re both right about 06. But the reality is that it took West Va. losing their final game for Fla to even play for the NC. All year that year the Fla offense consistantly choked on 3rd downs and in the red zone. That was why a freshman – I forget his name – came in at qb and bailed their asses out. If not for him Fla would have lost at least one more game and USC would have played Ohio St. That Fla team you saw beat Ohio St. was an aberrition. They had not played even half that good all year long. You Aubies know that – you whipped em! Bamasux, STFU inbread! You have to be the only dumbass on the friggin planet that thinks Cheeze Dip is gonna show CNS the door this year, or ever for that matter. What a born again moron! Finally, I’m a little confused about where I am! Why does this Bama blog have a hive of friggin Barners over here defending Florida, Michigan and Utah? You ignorant MF’s need to get a life for Christ sake! F–k, it’s a good thing nobody brought up Osama Bin Laden. Somehow he would have whipped our ass in football and would have become the Barner National Hero! Or was it Barak Obama? I forget! Oops! LMFAO! RTR!

  28. Egg. Florida had a great defense in 06, average in 07, great again in 08. Offense in 06 above average, 07 above average, 08 great. Tebow is a difference maker, no doubt. But without a great defense (see Chokelahoma the last 3 times theyve played in a BCS title game), you aint winning it. To say that Floridas dominant ways are gone with Tebow is foolish.

  29. I didn’t say that. I’m certainly not stupid enough to think that. I will say that without Tebow, today Florida has 2 less Crystal Footballs.

  30. But dude……Couldnt you say that about EVERY team that has won a Nat. Champ. ? Take away their best player and every team suffers. Comprehende ?

  31. Only when their best player is a running quarterback who, with his feet, scores 50% of the team’s touchdowns.

    That is my argument, and a very sound argument it is.

  32. YO! Once again, I MUST APPLAUD SOME OF THE BEST COMEDY I’ve experienced in awhile! Great stuff. Now, back to reality. First of all, I don’t believe that Steve Spurrier will return to Florida. He WAS WILLING to return to Florida when they were searching for a HC but if I remember correctly the current university president had a lot to do with Urban Meyer being hired at Florida because they had previously worked together at one of Meyer’s stops somewhere along the way. As for the possiblity of Meyer going to Notre Dame, well, MONEY TALKS. They have MORE THAN ENOUGH to lure him away. As for who is the best, everyone knows that Spurrier is one of the best offensive gurus to coach the game. Meyer has a very tenacious offensive mind as well, but I tip my hat at the coach who is able to do MORE WITH LESS. In this case I have to say that Spurrier wins the battle. Anyone who takes a job where its tough to win consistantly and is able to win more than lose, you have to say that he’s one heckuva coach. When Meyer arrived at Florida the talent was definately STOCKPILED. Say what you want to about Ron Zook, but the guy could & can recruit! He simply wasn’t a good fit in Gatorland. Hey, “BAMASUX;” as for the doublewide that Chizik’s gonna use on Saban & the ‘Bama Nation, is he gonna kidnap Saban and lock him up in it?

  33. Doing what Meyer di at Bowling Green and then at utah was a pretty good example of doing more with less. Spurrier is done. Hes washed up. Hes lost his fire. The talent is at , and has been at South Carolina for a while now. Look at the recruiting rankings and the NFL draft to see what Im talking about. 15 years ago, Spurrier was the man. Now, the torch has been passed to Urban. If he wins another BCS this year, Ill tip my hat to him as one of the best modern day football caoches in the country.

  34. Agreed Ballplay! And Tricky Nicky has done the same thing at Toledo, Mich. St. and LSU. Now he’s fixing to take the torch from CUM, whether he cums or goes. LOL! RTR!

  35. Yo! BAMMER…..it’s good to hear from you. We disagree, but you are funny.

    As for shorty getting a doublewide crammed in his nether regions this year, what will the fall out be, honestly? Who will saban blame? The fans? The media? The refs? You got to admit, it will create quite the firestorm when our paltry payed coach with the funny name takes down the mighty saban. Extreme pressure and revenge has been known to cause more than a few unexpected outcomes in football.

  36. Ballplay, don’t give me your version of what you think I said. You can talk about what FL might have, might could or might would do, but one thing is for sure Aub doesn’t have to worry about competing for any sec titles for years to come, Bamaman’s version “if Aub would not lose more than half of their games next year again, they could go to a lower tier bowl game but it won’t happen” now go help your mama set the table for the men and if I need anything I will tell you.

  37. Whoa!! Ten little indians….. or whatever. You just got punked because you couldn’t keep your eye on the ball. There was no Auburn or Alabama smack flying around until you just had to go there. And you know that is exactly the problem most folks have with the orange and blue, you just can’t let a day go by without constructing some sort of attack against your Daddy. Which is positive proof that you know who your Daddy is, always was and will always be. Da__ Boy, don’t you know anything?

  38. YO, “BAMASUX!” I’ll give you credit for “keeping the flag flying.” Your beloved Tigers will be defending their home turf in November and that DOES mean something, but a HIGH TIDE will ROLL IN & WASH AWAY any hopes of an upset. There will be some interesting moments, but Toomer’s Corner will remain unscathed after this game. RTR! Later!

  39. Actually I was thinking of bringing a case of red and white crap paper and giving ol’ Toomer a proper coronation after the game! RTR!

  40. Will one of you guys tell little jimmy that Im not gonna get into it with him. He obviously cant hang. Not worth the effort. He is the green fly that circles the turd. Nothing more.

  41. The only way Shane gets material is sloppy seconds from Finebaum. Admit it Shane. You suck his cock on a regular basis.

  42. The Song Remains The Same:

    Shane, you know as well as I do;
    As much as things change in the SEC,
    they typically stay the same.

    The allegiances of the leagues head coaches, are now comparable to gypsies from France. If any of you naive retards here on the comment page, think that any of the Head Coaches give a shit about your respective university, you are sadly mistaken.

    St Clair, is right. Money still talks and bull-shit still walks. We are all stuck with coaches with that mercenary mentality. We have no choice.
    The lucrative contracts concerning everything about College Football, has erased the last reminisce of what we all consider honorable about the SEC.

    The day’s when the Head Coach, was that fatherly dude with a whistle around his neck is long gone. The new breed of guy’s can’t relate to us at all.
    The clothes that they throw on the floor every night, are worth more than our pick-up trucks. The price of their shoes and belt, would more than cover all of the tools in the back.

    Football was a lot more fun, when there were not so many lawyers playing the game.

  43. Ty is right. It’s kind of funny, though, how the bammers talked for years about how sleazy they thought Tuberville was, and how he was constantly looking for perceived greener pastures (Texas A&M, Arkansas, etc.) and how he was going to leave us high and dry, blah, blah, blah. Now that they have the biggest “mercenary” coach to ever walk the sidelines, oh now, it’s just an unfortunate part of the game.
    You crimson necks beat all, just not on the field.

  44. Sux, the mercinary aspect is actually an area in which you will get no argument from me.

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