Spurrier, "Steve" (Stephen O.)
Football
b. April 20, 1945, Miami Beach, FL
A quarterback at Florida University, Spurrier was a consensus All-American and winner of the Heisman Trophy as college football's outstanding player in 1966. During his three seasons as a starter, he completed 392 of 692 passes for 4,848 yards and 36 touchdowns.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Spurrier joined the San Francisco 49ers as a first-round draft in 1967. For his first five seasons, he was primarily a punter, but he took over as the team's starting quarterback when John Brodie was injured in the middle of the 1972 season and led the 49ers to five wins in six games. He became a backup again with Brodie's return in 1973.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Spurrier in the 1976 expansion draft and he was a starter there for one season before retiring as a player. In his 10 NFL seasons, Spurrier completed 597 of 1,151 passes for 6,878 yards and 40 touchdowns. He also rushed for 2 touchdowns.
After serving as an assistant coach on the college level for five years, Spurrier in 1983 became head coach of the Tampa Bay Bandits in the U. S. Football League. He had a 35-19 record in three seasons before the USFL folded.
Spurrier was named head coach at Duke University in 1987 and quickly restored respectability to the program. In his third season, Duke tied for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference and went to its first bowl game since 1960.
Spurrier returned to the University of Florida as head coach in 1987. In 12 seasons there, his team won or shared the Southeastern Conference championships nine times, and the 1996 team was named the national champion in both the Associated Press and the coaches' poll.
After the 2001 season, Spurrier left Florida for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He resigned after recording only 12 wins against 20 losses in two seasons with Washington and became head coach at the University of South Carolina in 2005.
Although his record at South Carolina is only 35-28, his teams have gone to bowl games in four of his five seasons at the school.
