Steve Spurrier tops college football villain ranking for all the right reasons
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Steve Spurrier tops college football villain ranking for all the right reasons originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Steve Spurrier has not coached a college football game in more than a decade, but the Head Ball Coach remains unmatched when it comes to irritating opposing fan bases. That staying power helped Spurrier earn the No. 1 spot in ESPN writer Ryan McGee’s ranking of the greatest villains in college football history. The former Florida and South Carolina coach finished ahead of Lane Kiffin, Johnny Manziel, Brian Bosworth and the 1990 Miami Hurricanes.
It is difficult to argue with the choice. Spurrier did more than beat his rivals. He embarrassed them on Saturdays and then made sure they heard about it for the rest of the week. Even now, some of his most famous comments can send Tennessee, Florida State and Clemson fans reaching for a rebuttal.
Spurrier never wasted a winning opportunity
Spurrier was a villain because he had the résumé to support every insult. He won the 1966 Heisman Trophy as Florida’s quarterback and later returned to Gainesville to transform the Gators into a national power. Florida won six SEC championships and the 1996 national title under Spurrier, finishing inside the top 15 in each of his 12 seasons.
The winning made his relentless trash talk much harder for rivals to dismiss. After Florida State players were connected to an improper benefits scandal involving a Foot Locker shopping spree, Spurrier famously labeled the Seminoles “Free Shoes University.” Tennessee received even more attention. Spurrier regularly tormented the Volunteers on the field, going 8-4 against them during his Florida tenure. His observation that “you can’t spell Citrus without UT” became one of the most memorable shots in the sport’s history.
The Citrus Bowl was traditionally associated with an SEC team that had fallen short of winning the conference. Spurrier knew exactly where to aim.
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South Carolina added another chapter
Spurrier’s second act in the SEC only strengthened his case. He inherited a South Carolina program that had rarely threatened the conference’s traditional powers and led the Gamecocks to three consecutive 11-win seasons. South Carolina also defeated Clemson five straight times from 2009 through 2013.
Spurrier celebrated that streak by posing with five fingers raised whenever the opportunity presented itself. Clemson fans certainly did not need the reminder, but that was precisely why he kept providing it.
McGee’s ESPN ranking included plenty of polarizing personalities, including Kiffin, Manziel, Deion Sanders and Caleb Williams. However, most of them created resentment during a relatively short window.
Spurrier maintained his status for decades. He talked, won, celebrated and talked some more.
College football’s best villains force opposing fans to care about every word and every result. No one understood that job better than the Head Ball Coach.
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