I am reaching… I know it.
Is there anything positive to take away from South Carolina’s dismal season? Maybe. And it could come from the unlikeliest of places… Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer.
Follow me on this one.
Steve Spurrier made Florida. He put them on the map. He took an average, mid level program and made it in to a national powerhouse. He did it as a player and a coach. During his tenure at Florida he was lauded as a god among men on the field. Nary could a negative word be said about the ball coach. If a Florida fan even thought of uttering an ugly phrase in relation to Spurrier, his Florida fan friends would eat him alive.
Coach Spurrier earned a reputation at Florida of being the coach that will run it up on you to prove a point. He routinely embarrassed opponents and earned himself a mention as the top coach of all time.
A few years back, Coach Spurrier decided he would try his hand at the NFL. Like many college coaches, he found the lack of control to be a little too much for him and he left the pro game. Though there is much debate on the exact particulars as to how it went down, but the long story short is that the AD at Florida told Spurrier he would have to interview to get his old job back. This was much discussed as Florida fans were beside themselves that their AD would do that to them. Prideful and wanting to coach, Spurrier took on the task of turning a mid level and average South Carolina program in to a power. Three years in, he is well on his way to doing that despite the stumbling this year.
During his tenure at the University of South Carolina, Spurrier has said that he is a gator at heart and always will be except on the days that South Carolina plays against them. As Carolina fans, we accept that. It’s ok. He can pull for them the rest of the year.
Meanwhile, the University of Florida ran off a great coach in Ron Zook and hired a brash and cocky guy named Urban Meyer. Urban gained notoriety by running a weird offense that tends to rack up points. He has done a fabulous job of winning with Zook’s players.
The first time Spurrier coached against his old team, he beat them. The second time, they needed three blocked field goals to beat us.
This past weekend, Urban Meyer won a decisive victory over a South Carolina team that has been a skid. It was obvious early on that South Carolina did not have the defensive answer for Urban’s trickery this year. Then near the end of the game, unsatisfied with just winning, Urban Meyer may have done something to help the South Carolina team.
With a minute and a half remaining, a 13 point lead and the ability to run out the clock, Urban sent his star heisman caliber quarter back out on to the field and took a shot at the end zone. The pass connected and the Florida Gators notched their score up to 51 points.
There is not doubt in my mind and I am sure there is no doubt in Spurrier’s that Meyer was not taking a shot at South Carolina. That last touchdown was meant for Spurrier.
In it Urban was saying many things; you can take your pick. But the one that I think resonates loudest is this one: “This is my team. I am the coach of the Florida Gators.”
In my opinion, this is true. He is the gator’s coach. The gator fans apparently think so. They applauded Urban’s effort with articles on blogs and in the local newspapers talking about how good it felt to hang 51 on the old ball coach.
The fact is that Spurrier would never set out to embarrass Florida. If he were given the same chance, he would take a knee and the victory.
Hopefully, this is the slap in the face that Spurrier needed. This is an insult but the Florida fans and Urban Meyer. They apparently have very little respect for all that Spurrier did for them. Hopefully, the humility will fade and Spurrier will come out with that fire and look to cut a few heads off.
Hopefully, Coach will wake up and realize that he is a gamecock now… in every sense of the word.
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