The College Football thread

“I wonder why Spurrier is leaving Florida? I thought the salary cap in the SEC was higher than in the NFL.

Could there be an NCAA investigation in the works?”

“Is SEC salary higher than NFL? I figgered he was going for the big bucks.. was just discussing this earlier..
Maryland game was a joke..”

“Thanks, dayhiker. Yep, I'm a bit bummed on this glorious Friday.

Probably true, kleetn. Brock Berlin was the consensus #1 pick out of High School. But as long as Rex is here, Brock's going to sit on the bench. Another scenario has Brock redshirting next year and hoping that Rex goes pro. But now that Spurrier is leaving, transfering might be a really good move for Brock.

Nice try Chuckster, but Spurrier ran a squeaky clean program as evidenced by his not starting Rex Grossman in the Orange Bowl, for what many coaches would coinsider a minor infraction. Do you think media darlings Tom Osborn or Bobby Bowden would have done the same? Don't bet your salary cap on it. BTW, Bob Stoops makes more that Steve Spurrier.

smokygirl, Spurrier's salary was under 2mil. With incewntives and endorsements it's said he made around 4. College football is now paying big bucks for it's coaches because the colleges make big bucks from boosters and merchandise sales. I'm sad to say that the amount of money in college football is getting, in my opinion, out of hand. But it is a market driven system. Spurrier had a hand in setting the bar a little higher when he came to Florida. Rumour here has it that he's going to the Bucks for 3.5mil base. Shshshshh, don't tell Tony Dungy. As I said, it's all just rumour as of now.

We've been discussing reasons. Spurrier has a well publicised disagreement with SEC comissioner Roy Kramer. Kramer is a fan of the bowl system. Spurrior knows that Florida has less chance to compete for the mythical national championship, with its schedule, than teams that play weaker schedules. Steve made a comment before the bowl game that, "It's more fun to climb to the top than it is to hang on once you get there." He may be looking for another challenge. He's certainly had more than his share of bad press, but maybe he can avoid the wags who argue against running up the score in the pros. There's not much thought to Marquis of Queensbury in the pros. Winning the game is the important thing.


I'm going to go home and cry now. I'll think about godhood next week.”

“Bring Spurrier to the Titans!!!! The coach Tennessee loves to hate could become our "long lost prodigal son". Wouldn't that be a drastic reversal of fortunes.”

“Congratulations, Arc. You whipped up on the competition. Your godhood shines upon us like a star gone nova.
Sorry to hear about Steve Spurrier leaving. Hello, Bob Stoops! You'll like Stoops in Florida, he is a talented coach.”

“Thanks, Dunadan. Besides getting less picks right that both Max and Dayhiker, I feel pretty good about the contest. Max really is the champion picker though. 21 right out of 26 impresses the heck out of me.

Stoops was our defensive coordinator for a couple of years before he went to Oklahoma, Dunadan. But I think you already knew that. He's a midwestern boy and it's hard to beleive that he'd give up his roots, but a friend of mine says that Norman is not the garden spot of the midwest.

I was wrong Chuck D. They must have upped Spurrier's salary while I wasn't paying attention to the now astronomical sums being payed to college coaches. It seems that Spurrier's 2.1mil beat out Bob Stoops 2mil as highest payed coach. Salary Cap? Nah, Florida is probably going to set the bar again. Rumour has it that Florida is offering between 2.5 and 3mil to Stoops. It's a job that even has pro coaches drooling. I just don't see how someone could manage to live on a small salary like that. Must be tough. Oh well, coaching THE BEST TEAM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL has it's rewards I suppose.”

“O.K., back from my holiday hiatus. Congrats Arclite! You took that system and ran with it. My calculations had me in second in a squeaker, just a couple points off the lead. Curse Auburn and BYU! And curse me for being stupid enough to buy the BYU hype, after I saw Hawaii manhandle them. No, I wasn't trying to be cute w/Miami and FL, I ranked like I thought they would go down. Only losing five games but blowing the pool hurts, but I can take it until next year's redemption (plus I won a little $$ in another pool; that helps the old ego).
Where will Spurrier land? Jacksonville or San Diego? Stoops to FL? The rich just keep getting richer. He'd be a great hire.”

“Stoops, Shanahan, a few other pro coaches on the short list...who knows? Stoops would be a good fit considering he coached here under Spurrier. I've always liked tough defense better than flashy offense but it's awful hard to argue against Spurrier's wide open offensive schemes. It was really exciting to watch.

Latest rumours have Spurrier going to Carolina. Maybe Dungy goes to Minnesota and Spurrier coaches the Bucks...who knows. We're not getting any inside info here. Everyone is being very tight-lipped.”

“Arc, are you waiting for me to post your Thread About Football Divinity?
It is now Officially Basketball Season!!!!
Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, KU!!!!
Although, it looks like Miss. St. should be taken seriously. I said it before, no one goes undefeated these days, because the talent is spread around.

Did I mention the JAYHAWKS???”

“No, Dun, I will let my presence be known in good time. I was going to wait until we have a head of the Church of the Florida GATORS until I started handing down palpal decrees.”

“Goodness, Arc, you are so infallible!”

“I found a link to this on a Bama board. The link was to an article on gatorsports.com by a Bama fan. I thought you'd enjoy it.

Gator Guys 'n Gals,
My goodness, what a difference a week makes! I've been in shock all weekend long. So I can only imagine how difficult the past few days have been for everyone who is a loyal Gator fan. I certainly hope you folks don't mind if I pay a few respects to the newly departed Coach Spurrier. I almost NEVER post on, or even read, the sports forums of any other school except those concerned with the University of Alabama. But this particular incident is so very historical, and thus it certainly warrants special notice.

In short, I've been a rabid Crimson Tide fan for over 41 years. And, this afternoon, I was glued to my T.V. set as I recorded Coach Spurrier's last official press conference as UF's head coach. I was actually holding the phone for a fellow Bama fan so that he could hear Coach Spurrier's press conference as it occurred. And I must say that I'm going to miss Coach Steve very, very much. He was a real "fireball", a great deal of fun, and simply an outstanding football coach who possesses an unusual understanding of the passing game. He was great for the SEC, a real tribute to the University of Florida, and just a whole lot of fun to watch. Whenever the Mighty Gators were on the tube, I almost always tuned in to see what was going on.

There are many of you who can't remember when Florida was not the SEC powerhouse that it has now become. And those of you who are much older know very well what a special experience it has been to have such an unusual coach to lead your team. Brash, cocky, confident, a great teacher, and a hard-to-please perfectionist, Coach Spurrier has been all of these and more. He believes in and teaches a high pressure, high speed passing game that is designed to destroy an opponent's confidence as quickly as possible. And woe be to the Florida QB who could not understand and/or execute the sophisticated system he absolutely demanded of his starting offensive teams.

And whenever that ball was snapped, Coach Spurrier was thinking : "Take it to the house - RIGHT NOW !!!". How very much we're all going to miss his high energy and downright obsession to light up the scoreboard. When things didn't go EXACTLY like he knew they should, when the Florida QB didn't make the PERFECT read Coach Steve thought he should, you could just feel his sheer frustration as the offense came off the field. What he *really* wanted to do was, first of all, throw his visor in utter disgust (of course), then grab a helmet and hit the field to take over the QB position. Next, he would surely throw a 50 or 60 yard TD pass against a max blitz, return to the sidelines, gather his wide-eyed QB's and WR's in a huddle and say : "There. THAT'S what I was talking about !!!". Ah me, Saturday afternoons just aren't going to be the same without that marvelous, volatile, one-of-a-kind football coach leading the Gators to another lopsided victory.

And now that the very surprising, yet inevitable, has happened, many of you will finally begin to understand why we Bama fans respect, and even revere, the great collegiate football exploits of the past. While our many jealous enemies (and yours) claim that we "Live in the Past", you'll now understand how very special it is to remember all the many wonderful memories Coach Spurrier and his troops have given you during the past 12 years. As the years go on, you'll have a much deeper appreciation of how much fun it was to watch something very special take place before your very eyes. You'll remember where you were, what you were doing, and what you were feeling when the Gators hit the field and exploded in an offensive frenzy that would leave many a defensive coordinator scratching himself bald. All those countless TD's will seem more exciting, the SEC Championships will grow sweeter, and your first National Championship will represent a level of achievement that you really didn't appreciate prior to this past weekend. That's what it means to experience and enjoy a real winning tradition that captures your very heart and soul like very few things in our day-to-day lives.

I don't think that I am exaggerating when I say that Coach Spurrier's Florida teams never failed to hold the respect of most Bama fans. Why? Quite obvious : Steve Spurrier was simply something special. A real innovator, a real leader, and a fierce opponent who never wanted anything less than total victory. If you let him, Coach Steve would flatten you like a pancake before the 1st quarter was over. Quite an experience for fans on both sides of the stadium.

It was our own icon, Coach Bear Bryant, who always said that whenever the University of Florida got themselves a good football coach, he would discover that the state of Florida was a real gold mine. He knew what the right coach and leader could do with all those outstanding high school athletes throughout your state. And now that Florida has become the leading hotbed of outstanding football recruits, Bryant's words seem all the more prophetic. While Charley Pell and Galen Hall certainly warrant their own proper recognition in leading Florida to the "Big Time", it took Coach Steve Spurrier to bring the special touch, the rare panache, the unique STYLE that defined the first glorious decade of Florida Gator football.

So, I hope you'll understand that many of us have great empathy for you as you face the end of your first great reign of a legendary coach. Will there be other great eras? Of course. Will there be many other SEC Championships? No question. Will there be other National Championships that will unite and electrify the Gator Nation? Count on it. It's just a matter of time . . . and PATIENCE (yeah, I know, don't we ALL hate that one!).

But, as those future great battles take place, many of you will feel that strange, sad longing that so many of us Bama fans feel when we wish we could see our great Bear Bryant leaning against a goal post prior to the start of each football game. Even as the next great Gator victories come your way, you'll surely remember how very special it was to watch that wild 'n crazy guy pitch his fits and call his signals in his never ending quest for offensive perfection. Like all the true greats in his profession, no one else will ever quite take the place of Florida's First Son of Gator Football : Coach Steve Spurrier. Let there be no doubt - everyone who loves and respects College Football is really going to miss him.

Well, I guess that's it, Gator Nation. Wish I could make your current transition a little bit easier, but, obviously, I simply can't. But I can certainly join with all of you in a very sincere salute to a very special Coach who has brought a level of excellence to the University of Florida that all of you should enjoy and treasure for the rest of your lives. Don't forget him, Gator fans, don't ever forget him. He was special, no doubt. And he'll be a loyal Gator until the day he leaves this earth.

And when other foolish, jealous fans accuse you of "Living in the Past", well, I think you'll know what to do. Just remember what it was like to be at "The Swamp" on a glorious Saturday afternoon, all decked out in Florida Blue and Orange, when nothing seemed impossible, and, there before your very eyes, was a man possessed, absolutely demanding the very best from his pupils, determined to lead his beloved Gators to another exciting, memorable victory.

Coach Steve Spurrier, this one's for you :

***** THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES !!! *****

We're ALL going to miss you.

With sincere respect and best wishes, I remain a life-long University of Alabama Crimson Tide fan.

TomTide
Madison, Alabama
1/7/2001”

“That is one truly Terrific piece of work, Dayhiker. Mr. Tide really speaks to me with those words. Class act is all I can say, dayhiker, class act. That post is an absolute tribute to the classy sports fan.

Although trash-talking for fun is amusing to me, it's so much more fun to really respect your opponents. I met a couple of Jawja fans in the Atlanta airport on the way back home from the holidays. What a couple of obnoxious, no class jerks who... I'll have to work harder on my Jawja affliction.”

“"You'll remember where you were, what you were doing, and what you were feeling when the Gators hit the field and exploded in an offensive frenzy..."

i hate to say it, but it actually made me a bit teary eyed at that point.”

“Bob Stoops...Nope
Mike Shanahan...Nope
Who's next on the list, George O'Leary?”

“Ron Zook- Head Coach
Ed Zaubrecher- Offensive Coordinator
Larry Fedora- Running Backs Coach
Dwayne Dixon- Receivers Coach
Jerry Odom- Linebackers Coach

Those are only the ones I know about now.


Too bad Zook is only going to make 1mil a year, Chucky. Now you'll have to rib the other schools that pay a lot more than that.... bwaaaahahaha, yeah right, in a pigs eye. I'm sure that's going to happen.”