Spurrier Saves Florida…Again

It’s not often that the opposing coach turns out to be the savior of a program. But that is exactly what happened this afternoon in Gainseville, Florida when South Carolina and head coach, Steve Spurrier(a Gator legend), beat the Gators 23-20 in The Swamp. Spurrier is still renowned for his playing days at Florida, including the 1966 Heisman Trophy, and even more so for his coaching tenure with the Gators. Spurrier was 122-27 as the Head Ball Coach in Gainesville and won the 1996 National Championship. He left Florida following the 2001 season and headed to Washington D.C to coach the Redskins. Spurrier returned to the SEC in 2005 as the head coach of South Carolina. Since Spurrier’s departure, Florida saw Ron Zook go 23-14 at Florida before giving way to Urban Meyer who lead the Gators to 2 National Championships in 2006 and 2008. Meyer left Florida after the 2010 season, retiring for…”family and health reasons.” The Florida turned its football program over to Will Muschamp. Muschamp seemed like the man for the job after his 1st 2 seasons, leading the Gators to an 11-2 record in 2012. But since losing to Louisville in the Sugar Bowl that year, Muschamp’s tenure at Florida has been tumultuous at best. After a 4-8 season in which Florida lost every major starter on their offense as well as their defensive leader to injury, Florida AD Jeremy Foley chose to give Muschamp 1 more year to make amends and prove himself. After struggling on offense for much of the season, the Gators are 5-4 right now and while they look like they will make a bowl game(baring a loss to Eastern Kentucky) simply playing a bowl game is far below the standards that “The Ole Ball Coach” set. Florida came into their game with South Carolina coming off back to back wins over Georgia and Vanderbilt and looks poised to possibly save Muschamp’s job. Enter Steve Spurrier. Spurrier beat the Gators 23-20 in overtime after Florida blew a 7 point lead in the 4th quarter thanks to a pair of blocked kicks, critical penalties, and very conservative play calling. Spurrier’s team took advantage of the Gators’ mistakes and came away with a win that has sent the Florida fan base into a anti-Muschamp frenzy. Muschamp has been on the hot seat all season but the latest performance may be the tipping point. The rumors have been swirling for the past 2 months about who might be the next head football coach at Florida, including names like Dan Mullen, Bob Stoops, Charlie Strong, Rich Rodreguez, Jim Harbaugh, and Doc Holliday, and even CHip Kelly. Nobody knows who Florida’s next coach will be, but if Will Muschamp does get fired, Florida fans may want to give their old hero a “Thank You.”