Buddy Martin Blog: Steve Spurrier's Name, Image, Likeness is Everywhere. And Justifiably So.
Updated: Jul 31, 2021
As I sat watching Steve Spurrier holding forth in the new Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille—the handsome $11 million restaurant opening on Aug. 11 in Celebration Pointe—it looked like royalty in motion.
We fossils who were around in the early 1960s instinctively knew he was different when the Tennessee teenager first arrived in Gainesville, confident, poised, congenial and competitive. As a player he engendered new faith and hope at Florida with his patented comebacks, looking like Atlas with the whole Gator Nation on his shoulders. Maybe not able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, but it sure seemed that way when he started mounting those patented late comebacks. That’s when some writers began tagging him SuperSteve for his perceived super powers.
Hope had been in short supply around the UF football program, but Spurrier brought a new vision and then kicked his way into Heisman Trophy fame. That’s The Day The Music Arrived in Gainesville.
He was so laid back that he could have been labeled him “Easy Rider” six years before Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda made the movie. Because of his Cool Cat demeanor, people underestimated the ferocity of Spurrier’s competitive spirit inside that Beach Boy image he often portrayed. That was just the first chapter of a remarkable athlete, coach and ambassador. And even he admits, it took a while to jumpstart his attitude. Until as a head coach he would open up a giant can of WhoopAss. They underestimated him. His own coach did, in fact.
Standing before the Tampa Gator Club just before Spurrier’s first game as Florida coach, Ray Graves attempted to take some pressure off the shoulders of his former quarterback by warning the fans not to burden him with expectations. “He may not win the SEC, but at least he’s going to make Florida football fun,” Graves said. Spurrier took the mic and took exception.
“I told him I begged to differ, but we expected to compete for the SEC right away,” Spurrier said, not meaning to disrespect his former coach. Of course he proved to be right as the 1990 Gators went on to post the best record in the SEC that year and set the table for one of the greatest runs in the history of the conference.
After nearly 60 years, I pretty much know every inch of the Steve Spurrier story, having written several books with him or about him, doing probably 60-70 interviews with him and watching him chisel his legacy in Mount Rushmore. (BTW, if there was a Mount PASSmore, he would own it.) I could only think one more question to ask him. When I tuned into the Zoom presser held from his restaurant Wednesday night, it finally hit me, just a few days after he’d been inducted into another Hall of Fame (South Carolina).
Danny Wuerffel, Chris Doering and Connor Shaw had been dancing all around the word. I really couldn’t come up with it until I heard Aaron Rodgers invoke an old quote from Packers safeties coach Darren Perry, commenting that this was “a quote one time that has always stuck with me and he said, ‘You can’t motivate people, but you can inspire people.’”
“Inspire.” That’s the proper term to describe his trait that fueled the Spurrier aura and era. The specter of his influence spread wide and far, from Gainesville, to Durham, to Tampa, to Columbia, to Orlando and then some. His ability to convince players they had more in the tank and could reach higher plateaus by believing in a vision helped forge the formula for championships.
He found out right before a big game against Clemson that his Duke quarterback was taking a curriculum in acting and asked him to act like he was the best quarterback on the planet. He did, throwing for over 400 yards as the Blue Devils upset Clemson. Inspiration.
That’s how in his first season at Florida he was able to pluck Shane Matthews from the bottom of depth chart anonymity -- predicting that he would lead the SEC in passing when he’d never started a game at Florida -- and turn him into the two-time SEC Player of the Year in a six-time league championship run which also would later include the 1996 national title with Danny Wuerffel.
Before he got to Florida, Wuerffel was being courted big-time by Gene Stallings at Alabama and the Tide coach tried to lure him by saying they would open up the offense. He said he hoped Wuerffel might have some 200-yard games passing. Spurrier snickered and showed up with his stat sheets. “He said that would be a half,” Wuerffel recalled. Spurrier saw 400-yard days in Danny’s future. And it happened quite a few times.
“We were just fortunate that the defenses in the SEC hadn’t caught up with the passing offenses yet,” Spurrier told me.
It was a simple, yet sophisticated attack based on how to find the holes in their zone defenses and access his best receivers on man-to-man matchups. And boy did it work!
“Coach Spurrier explained it to me like this: ‘They’re over here (left) and you’re and going to throw it over there (right.) Then they’re and going to move to the other side and you throw it over there.”
Spurrier even taught the strait-laced Wuerffel how to “trash” talk. Before a game against FSU, back when Wuerffel was splitting time with Terry Dean, when FSU linebacker Derrick Brooks bragged although that Wuerffel was starting, he wouldn’t be around at the end. “Coach Spurrier told me at Thanksgiving dinner at his house, ‘did you see what he said? I want you to tell him, he’s going to see you – and he’s going to see you there for the whole game,’” Danny said. The confidence he had in his quarterbacks “meant a lot to me and made me believe in myself.” It caused Wuerffel to recall the theme of the ESPN Special produced by Kenny Chesney called The Believer. “There couldn’t be a better title,” Wuerffel said.
As I sat watching Steve Spurrier holding forth in the new Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille, the handsome $11 million restaurant opening on Aug. 11 in Celebration Pointe, it looked like royalty in motion. There behind him in this spectacular setting was a museum of his artifacts. Like a king in his court, with all the spoils of victory.
“We’ve got two Heisman’s – mine and Danny’s,” said Spurrier. “Do you know any other restaurant that has TWO Heismans, Buddy?” he said proudly.
Don’t get this confused with some Joe Schmo’s Sports Bar in the suburbs because in addition to all the historical elegance of the trophies – even the actual football he kicked for the winning field goal against Auburn – the ninth largest restaurant in the state (18,000 square feet) has its own personality. That includes the intimacy of the glass-enclosed “HBC Room,” which seats, of course, 11. And the rooftop bar “Visors” with a retractable roof which displays 200 of his own personal golf hats. And the bathroom wallpaper is festooned with drawings of actual ball plays from the Fun’N’Gun playbook.
Spurrier’s website says the restaurant “will incorporate some of Coach’s favorite foods: avocado-topped burgers, grilled chicken, seafood, pasta, salads and desserts inspired by his wife Jerri’s recipes, like pecan pie a la mode and homemade chocolate chip cookies, which have been longtime favorites of former Florida players like Danny Wuerffel and James Bates.”
I’ve taken two groups for a personal tour courtesy of Managing Partner Freddie Wehbe and sampled a few bites of the food. Quick summary: Love the lambchops and the Mediterranean Salad, plus Jerri’s Cookies. Can’t wait to try the Tomato Sandwiches with cheese on white bread. And take sip of The Kick cocktail from the special glass bearing Spurrier’s likeness kicking the Auburn Field Goal.
With Spurrier, I’ve learned never to underestimate him as a coach and player. And I’m not going to do that with his restaurant, which could turn out spectacular.
At the end of our long interview, when I asked him who inspired him the most, he said the same thing he always said: “My dad. He taught me the importance of winning.” Which is always his answer.
What surprised me was his comment about his lack of development following college. Transitioning to coaching almost by accident after the NFL, he began to commit himself to the very thing that he would eventually ask of his players: Go all in, be passionate about winning, believe in yourself and make goals for your dreams.
“As a coach, I had to get better at my ‘Give A Damn,’” Spurrier said. Following that, he began avoiding excuses, meeting all the challenges of an underdog until his team became upperdogs. And to compete right away.
“You got 11, they got 11, let’s go play,” said Spurrier.
So there’s the reason that Mike Griffith of Dawg Nation got together with Football Writers of America to inaugurate this new award for the national coach in his first year of a new job. Oddly enough, two of those on the immediate watch list will be Gus Malzahn of UCF and Shane Beamer of South Carolina. They already know Spurrier’s secret: Work on your “Give A Damn.”
Great story on Steve!