Spurrier interview - thoughts on 2017 season

[BMF]

Good Spurrier interview:

https://www.seccountry.com/florida/...michigan-preference-not-start-marquee-matchup


Steve Spurrier shares thoughts on Florida’s ’17 kickoff with Michigan, perils of marquee openers

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — While discussing the Florida football team’s 2017 potential among other topics on Tuesday, Steve Spurrier was asked his thoughts on the Gators’ marquee season-opening showdown with Michigan in Arlington, Texas.

The legendary former Florida coach said those kind of matchups weren’t discussed much during his tenure in Gainesville, and if such a game had been proposed, it doesn’t sound like he would have had a lot of interest.

“It didn’t come up too much back then. Everyone was sort of happy with the way the schedule felt. I think it can be detrimental, to tell you the truth,” Spurrier said. “I saw (Ole Miss coach) Hugh Freeze last night at the golf tournament and I said, ‘You know, during the summer it sounded real neat and cool to want to play FSU in Orlando, Fla., when realistically Ole Miss (has) got no business coming into Florida to play FSU down there.’ But there was a lot of money involved, and I guess it would be nice if you beat them. But they went down there and got beat and kept getting beat and went 4-8 this year.

“So I’m not sure when you’re in the SEC and you’ve got 8 big conference games, plus Florida, we’ve got FSU, I don’t know that we need to schedule all those big guys. Because it sounds cool and it sounds like, ‘Hey, we want to play anybody.’ But in the long run at the end of the season when they start (deciding) who’s going to be in that final four, they usually say, ‘What’s your record?’ So your record is, to me, more important sometimes than your schedule, although they say it isn’t.”

Spurrier met briefly with reporters before his speaking event with the Historic St. Augustine Gator Club on Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day he had competed in the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament near Georgia’s Lake Oconee.

Before entering the main room of the Riverview Club to sign books and speak to the fans in attendance, Spurrier talked about his golf performance earlier in the day along with other matters pertaining to the Gators.

With regard to his Ole Miss example, the Rebels opened the 2016 season with a 45-34 loss to Florida State in the Camping World Kickoff in Orlando. They actually finished the season 5-7 after a daunting early schedule.

Meanwhile, Freeze and former Ole Miss tight end Wesley Walls won the golf tournament Tuesday. Spurrier said he and former Gators quarterback Shane Matthews took second.

As for the matter of scheduling, Spurrier noted that during his time as head coach at South Carolina the Gamecocks routinely opened their season in Charlotte against a quality ACC opponent, but not necessarily a national power.

“We played an ACC school and it was a fair game — North Carolina, NC State and so forth. But we didn’t try to bring too big a team,” he said.

During his 12 seasons at Florida, Spurrier’s Gators started every season at home in The Swamp, and aside from a home opener with Oklahoma State his first season in 1990 and an immediate SEC clash with Kentucky in 1992 those games were mostly against mid-major competition.

That’s the standard recipe for power conference programs looking to build some early momentum.

Florida’s 2017 opener with Michigan in the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium was announced back in late 2013, well before Jim McElwain wash hired as head coach.

“Obviously we loved playing at home. We were 68-5, pretty good. But you can’t play all of them at home, so you’ve got to win on the road also,” Spurrier said. “It will be a difficult game with Michigan in Dallas, but getting LSU at home and Tennessee and so forth, hopefully that will lead to a big year. Only time will tell.”

Spurrier insists his golf game isn’t showing any improvement since his retirement from South Carolina during the 2015 season, but he felt good about the way he and Matthews finished the tournament Tuesday.

Alabama coach Nick Saban and former Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram formed another team in that tournament while Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Auburn coach Gus Malzahn were among the other SEC representatives.

Saban made headlines earlier in the day when it was reported that his new contract with Alabama will pay him more than $11 million this coming season, including a substantial signing bonus.

“I didn’t hear about his numbers, but he certainly deserves it for what Alabama has done,” Spurrier said when asked about the ever-growing spectrum of college coaching salaries.

He was more eager to discuss his golf round with his former Gators quarterback.

“We actually finished pretty strong. We were 4-under the last 3 holes, had a shot on the last hole and made a birdie,” he said. “The team that won, Ole Miss, they had a couple more shots that we did, so we basically sort of tied them off the stick. …

“But today was fun. I made a few putts at the end of the tournament today so it was fun to get in the hunt there. To come in second is not too bad. I think we raised something like $80,000 for the University of Florida and charities. Chick-fil-A does an excellent job raising and giving away a lot of money to charities back to the schools.”

 

[Bernardo de la Paz]

Just another reminder how glad I am that we didn't hire that jerk Freeze that everyone was in love with.

 

[T REX]

Yikes...why do I get this feeling that SOS doesn't think we're going to have a good year.

hopefully that will lead to a big year. Only time will tell.”

THAT does not sound very good to me.

 

[aka]

Nothing sounds very good to you.

 

[rogdochar]

I'm disappointed that UF Ambassador Spurrier is not interested in talking Gator football?
However, Steve may be guarding against the press invalidating Mac by seeking Spurrier's take on the games, invalidating Mac and the HC position he holds.

 

[BMF]

“So I’m not sure when you’re in the SEC and you’ve got 8 big conference games, plus Florida, we’ve got FSU, I don’t know that we need to schedule all those big guys. Because it sounds cool and it sounds like, ‘Hey, we want to play anybody.’ But in the long run at the end of the season when they start (deciding) who’s going to be in that final four, they usually say, ‘What’s your record?’ So your record is, to me, more important sometimes than your schedule, although they say it isn’t.”

This is the quote that stands out to me. For all the "we should move UGA to home and home" people.....take a read on what the greatest Gator of all-time had to say.

 

[Gatorraid81]

I've always thought our schedule was strong enough without adding anymore non conference big boys, but once every 3 years or so maybe we should try to schedule one of these games. Honestly I'd just like to have Miami back on our schedule annually, get tired of those fans calling us cowards for dropping them off the schedule. Perfect scenario would also be to have Fsu and Miami in our conference so we could play each other in conference and they would be stuck playing a tough schedule every year, but we know they don't want any part of that. Then that would really open up our non conference schedule to have a different national power every couple of years we could play a home and home with.

 

[TheDouglas78]

I've always thought our schedule was strong enough without adding anymore non conference big boys, but once every 3 years or so maybe we should try to schedule one of these games. Honestly I'd just like to have Miami back on our schedule annually, get tired of those fans calling us cowards for dropping them off the schedule. Perfect scenario would also be to have Fsu and Miami in our conference so we could play each other in conference and they would be stuck playing a tough schedule every year, but we know they don't want any part of that. Then that would really open up our non conference schedule to have a different national power every couple of years we could play a home and home with.

Miami has turned us down twice since Spurrier took over to make it annual again.

 

[Gator Fever]

Yikes...why do I get this feeling that SOS doesn't think we're going to have a good year.

THAT does not sound very good to me.

I kind of think that also with some of his comments. They have been coming off like they are forced when talking about our passing game. I think he knows it hasn't looked too good in closed practices.