Arrogant Spurrier wore big shiny pants under Dickey; BMF in shambles

[78]

I wonder how many of you can remember off the top of your head where he got his coaching start.

Florida.

After a dismal 1977 campaign, Doug Dickey felt the need to shake things up. He abandoned the wishbone for a more pro-style attack. Spurrier, 33, was brought in to replace Jimmy Dunn, although he was not given the formal OC title. Florida went without one that season.

The results weren't much better, in large part because the roster was thin on talent. John Brantley was the quarterback, sophomore Cris Collinsworth his top receiving threat. The running game was almost non-existent. Three guys put together a little more than 1,000 yards.

The Gators averaged 22 points a game and finished 4-7, losing to Georgia and rising FSU. The entire coaching staff was informed days before the season ended that it would not be retained. Spurrier left for Georgia Tech.

The Charley Pell era began the following season.

 

[deuce]

Say it ain't so........

 

[MissouriGator]

I don't remember that, but thanks for posting.
I do remember that Spurrier is the greatest thing that ever happened for UF.
I wish he could bring us back, like he did back then.

 

[stephenPE]

Remember his Health Spa on 23rd Ave between 6th and Main. Bldg still there but has changed
multiple times over the years. He jumped on Dickey's sinking ship when the bow was pointing up already,

 

[Theologator]

I wasn’t aware of his initial coaching stint at UF at the time but have heard it over the years and am happy for the reminder. He has always been publicly thankful for the opportunities that opened up for him along the way, starting with Coach Graves recruiting him.

I met him briefly in 1984 while we were both waiting for people outside the Holiday Inn on Columbus in Tampa, when he was coaching the Bandits in the USFL. He was drinking a Michelob. I asked him then about coaching the Gators and he said, “I have a job.”

He seems to like and respect Mullen and vice versa. I wonder if and how much they talk about offense. Seems to me that we need to set up the run with the pass and he’s among the very best at scheming that. When was the last time we saw a delayed draw play? Or how might he tweak our route tree?

 

[GatorFL]

He seems to like and respect Mullen and vice versa. I wonder if and how much they talk about offense.

Well we know Butters completely ignored him. I would guess Mullen consults with him.

 

[78]

From the 1978 UF media guide, a trip down memory lane.

 

[fischerwood]

I moved to Gainesville from Seminole in 1975 (job transfer), and remember SOS as described here. I also think he coached the Tampa Bay Blazers if memory serves. Charley Casey was on the team a former team mate. I think Steve went to Ga Tech as an assistant under Pepper Rogers about that same time. My, how time flies...

 

[BMF]

Awesome thread title, btw.

 

[78]

Awesome thread title, btw.

Thanks, man. It wasn't an easy decision. I mulled the idea of SOS or Orr or SOrrS or HBC or even '78 a couple nights ago. I couldn't decide. I decided to sleep on it and pray. The last title option was problematic. It might have led some to think it was an autobiographical thread. Plus it reintroduced the apostrophe. Can of worms. So I nixed that one.

The beauty in simply making it Spurrier is it limited the keystrokes. As you get older, your digits don't quite perform like they used to. They need rest. This was at once a simple and elegant fix. I'll probably continue to use it with all my threads.

Thanks for allowing me to expound on my thread title.

 

[PastyStoole]

About three years after Spurrier came to Florida as the HBC, I read a story in the paper about Spurrier's days under Dickey. They interviewed some of the assistant coaches under Dickey, and they all hated Spurrier. Couldn't stand his shiny pants or his 'confidence.' One of the guys said how pissed off everyone would get when Spurrier would diagram plays. He never put the Offensive Linemen in the diagram. The quips from the other coaches on that awful team made me remember this adage:
"When a true genius does arrive in this world, we shall know him by this sign: He will be surrounded by a confederacy of dunces."

 

[Durty South Swamp]

Awesome thread title, btw.

super original

 

[soflagator]

Should’ve made the thread title “Who is Steve Spurrier”.

Time to start weeding people out like in the Lounge.

 

[GatorAuthor]

Thanks, man. It wasn't an easy decision. I mulled the idea of SOS or Orr or SOrrS or HBC or even '78 a couple nights ago. I couldn't decide. I decided to sleep on it and pray. The last title option was problematic. It might have led some to think it was an autobiographical thread. Plus it reintroduced the apostrophe. Can of worms. So I nixed that one.

The beauty in simply making it Spurrier is it limited the keystrokes. As you get older, your digits don't quite perform like they used to. They need rest. This was at once a simple and elegant fix. I'll probably continue to use it with all my threads.

Thanks for allowing me to expound on my thread title.

I, for one, appreciate that you didn't rush to judgment. You spit balled a bunch of alternatives, sorted and considered the +/- of each, slept/prayed on it, and in the fresh light of a new day arrived at an exemplary result! Would that everyone invested the same in their thread titles.

P.S.: Going with the apostrophe would've been disastrous. Would've derailed the entire post.

 

[stephenPE]

confederacy of dunces."

Possibly the funniest book I ever read (apologies to Mr Clemens)

 

[lizardbreath]

I remember Rex Edmondson at the old Jax Journal remarking at the time that bringing Steve onboard was such a good idea that it was surprising Dickey even thought of it. Classic Gator lore. Great thread.

 

[ufgator812]

Auburn

On a fire at a football dorm that destroyed 20 books: "But the real tragedy was that 15 hadn't been colored yet."

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Thanks, man. It wasn't an easy decision. I mulled the idea of SOS or Orr or SOrrS or HBC or even '78 a couple nights ago. I couldn't decide. I decided to sleep on it and pray. The last title option was problematic. It might have led some to think it was an autobiographical thread. Plus it reintroduced the apostrophe. Can of worms. So I nixed that one.

The beauty in simply making it Spurrier is it limited the keystrokes. As you get older, your digits don't quite perform like they used to. They need rest. This was at once a simple and elegant fix. I'll probably continue to use it with all my threads.

Thanks for allowing me to expound on my thread title.

It does have the advantage of prolly being one of the few thread titles in this forum that won't have the word "shambles" added to it.

 

[Fodderwing]

I moved to Gainesville from Seminole in 1975 (job transfer), and remember SOS as described here. I also think he coached the Tampa Bay Blazers if memory serves. Charley Casey was on the team a former team mate. I think Steve went to Ga Tech as an assistant under Pepper Rogers about that same time. My, how time flies...

Ga Tech brought in Bill Curry and he fired all of Roger's assistants, including SOS. That is why SOS always ran the score up on KY & Curry when given the chance.

 

[MJMGator]

Thanks, man. It wasn't an easy decision. I mulled the idea of SOS or Orr or SOrrS or HBC or even '78 a couple nights ago. I couldn't decide. I decided to sleep on it and pray. The last title option was problematic. It might have led some to think it was an autobiographical thread. Plus it reintroduced the apostrophe. Can of worms. So I nixed that one.

The beauty in simply making it Spurrier is it limited the keystrokes. As you get older, your digits don't quite perform like they used to. They need rest. This was at once a simple and elegant fix. I'll probably continue to use it with all my threads.

Thanks for allowing me to expound on my thread title.

Shoulda just went with S.