Buddy Martin: Hello To the Man In the White Coat; Is Steve Spurrier Now the New Head Coach Chef?
He looks good in the uniform. Home whites and all that. No number on the shirt, but clearly it’s the HBC dressed as the HCC – Head Ball Coach becomes Head Coach Chef. He’s already got a field named after him and, as the only Heisman Trophy winner ever to coach a national championship team, Steve Spurrier comes with a lot of hardware. And now he’s even got a museum to house all those trophies which fans can peruse while waiting to be seated at Steve Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille. Grab a burger, take a selfie with a Heisman!
What can a football coach and former player know about the restaurant business you ask? Fair question. Soon, you’ll be able to judge for yourself. Despite the hiccup-delay caused by the Pandemic, SSGG is hoping to open for business in mid-June at Gainesville’s Celebration Pointe location as one of Florida’s largest brick-and-mortar operations.
Knowing that this column is in danger of beginning to sound like pure hype, I will dial it back a bit, but not without confessing that I am rooting for Spurrier, his team and his new establishment. Having watched this plan being hatched and implemented by Managing General Partner Freddie Wehbe from the beginning, I feel as though I’ve had a ringside seat to the building and dreaming of a possible masterpiece.
If teamwork, good teammates, excellent planning, superb research, doing it the right way and smart operators will factor in the success of Steve Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille, I’ll just go ahead and predict that this new concept in celebrity restaurants will be successful -- especially this one. One reason is that the guy with his name on the building is lending more than just his name and has, in fact, helped make choices for the menu items, concept and promotion.
OK, he’s not really a chef and we won’t see him in the kitchen slinging hash while singing “We Are the Boys,” but just play along with me here. The HBC has picked his favorite cocktail, tasted and voted on the best coffee, suggested a few personal items like “Jerri’s Cookies” and now has donned this new chef’s outfit. A little birdie told me something about a signature drink called “The Kick“ with a souvenir glass commemorating his famous field goal and perhaps spiked with a bit more joy juice. He’s not an absentee I’m also told he will be hanging out every week at the new business.
Just for the sake of accuracy, Steve Spurrier is not giving up his day job as ambassador/consultant for the University of Florida. If anything he’s digging a deeper root. Now moved into their newly constructed Gainesville residence, Steve and Jerri recently listed their Crescent Beach residence with a realtor and plan to move their beach home a few miles south to property they own in Flagler County. Home base, though, remains Gainesville.
Feeling blessed to be in good health and celebrating life, he said he’s “getting ready to hit 76 Trombones” on the 20th of April. It’s been a couple of years since his last coaching gig with the Orlando Apollos but he leaves that future up in the air -- never saying he won’t coach again, but not saying he will. Most likely waiting to see what the restaurant gig offers in the way of longevity.
As Bogart said about Paris to Berman in Casablanca, at least he’ll always have The Swamp, which was nothing much more than a drainage ditch last season. But when he coached there he named it and helped develop it into a hot mess of insane, screaming fans who were a big part of the success.
Given that his baptismal of Florida Field in the ‘90s as The Swamp created the explosion of Gator football popularity and led to the championship era -- and that fans played such a huge role in the six SEC championships and national title -- I asked him if he could have imagined the difficulty of coaching in his style during the Pandemic. He didn’t back off.
“Yeah, it would have been different, but you would have to adjust,” Spurrier said at the idea of coaching in 2020. “It would be smaller crowds, just sort of like having a scrimmage.”
Like the rest of us, Steve Spurrier is a fan of Gator football. And like us, he really admired the contributions of Kyle Trask these last two seasons.
“I think all the Gators really appreciate Kyle Trask’s attitude, perseverance, etc.,” said Spurrier. “He came to Florida really happy to have a scholarship. He was a backup to D’Eriq King in high school. He came here, not a big name, and a lot of people think he started as a walk-on, but he actually did have a scholarship. Jim McElwain and those guys saw him at a football camp and really liked him. And that’s the way it works sometimes. He didn’t really have a lot of schools calling him and saying ‘Hey, come transfer, and we're going to let you play.’ He just made up his mind he was going to be the very best he could be when his number was called. And sure enough Feleipe broke his ankle up in Kentucky. And Kyle was the quarterback.”
Ironically, Trask was the second most famous Gator to wear No. 11. And, in fact, Spurrier wonders whether Trask even knew the significance of wearing his old number when he got it. At first, the Texan asked for No. 7 and was told that was taken. Then No. 14 – same thing. “I think the equipment manager said, ‘we’ve got No. 11 available if you want it,’ and Kyle said OK,” Spurrier said with a laugh. After his first start, Spurrier went down and told Trask that he “did No. 11 proud.” Did he ever -- as the ultimate next-man-up. Now he’s awaiting the draft to see where he’ll land in the NFL.
“And now he’s going to be an NFL pick somewhere and he’ll certainly make the team and he’ll be a backup for two or three years. I sort of hope he goes to Tampa Bay and studies under Tom Brady.”
All of which got me to thinking about the “understudy” concept for the Head Coach Chef. Do you think maybe Steve Spurrier should go spend a season holding a clipboard for Emeril Lagasse?
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