Exclusive: Coach Steve Spurrier opens up on the highs and lows of a legendary career

Steve Spurrier, the “Head Ball Coach” who won just about everything there is to win in college football, is deeply rooted in both Carolinas.

From 1987-89, Spurrier was the head coach at Duke, leading the Blue Devils to an ACC football championship in 1989. That remains the Blue Devils’ only ACC title in football in the past 60 years. From 2005-15, Spurrier served as the head coach at South Carolina, winning 11 games in three straight seasons and at one point beating Clemson five times in a row.

As a player, Spurrier was the Heisman Trophy winner in 1966 at the University of Florida as a quarterback. His spectacular success coaching at Duke then allowed Spurrier to return to Florida in 1990 as the head coach.

Known as an offensive mastermind, Spurrier led the Gators to six SEC titles in his 12 seasons, as well as the national championship in 1997. He then had an ill-fated foray into the NFL with the Washington franchise before returning to college football and the Gamecocks.

Now 78, Spurrier still ranks as the winningest head coach at two SEC schools — Florida and South Carolina. And he looks back very fondly on his days coaching at Duke, because the Blue Devils gave him a chance when no one else would.

Although he now lives in Gainesville, Florida, and serves as an ambassador for the Gators, we interviewed Spurrier in Durham, where he had gone to watch a Duke football game. The interview, which serves as the Season 2 “Sports Legends” finale, is edited for clarity and brevity and was conducted at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club. A longer version is available on the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” podcast, which this week in sponsored by Audi Charlotte.

Scott Fowler: You actually worked at Duke twice — once as an offensive coordinator and later as the head coach. How instrumental was Duke in your coaching career?

Steve Spurrier: Oh, I owe so much to Duke University. After my NFL playing career was over, it was like: “Well, Steve, what are you gonna do?” I said, “You know what? I think I may want to try coaching.”

I’d met coach Red Wilson at Duke when I was the quarterbacks coach at Georgia Tech. He hired me as offensive coordinator in my third year ever as an assistant coach (in 1980). A lot of my buddies said: “Steve you can’t win at Duke. Nobody wins at Duke. Go somewhere where you can win if you want a coaching career.” And I said, “Well, guess what, they’re the only school that’s offered me a chance.”

I later had a chance to come back again after the USFL folded. (Duke athletic director) Tom Butters hired me back in 1987. So I had three wonderful years as head coach here, culminating with the ACC championship team of ‘89.

SF: What was the most significant game you coached at Duke?

SS: Clemson in 1989. We opened up that season 1-3 and we had Clemson coming into town. They were 4-0 (and ranked No. 7 in the country). We were down 14-0 at halftime, and then some miracles happened. We won the game, then the rest of our conference games, and then the ACC championship.

The 41-0 Duke-UNC photo

SF: A famous photo was taken of that 1989 Duke team, in front of the Kenan Stadium scoreboard at UNC, after Duke beat the Tar Heels 41-0. Why did your team take that photo?

SS: We didn’t take that picture because we beat North Carolina. They were a sorry team that year. I think they were 1-10. We took that picture because we were the ACC champs. I remember after we won at Maryland, I came into the locker room and I said: “Now fellas, if we win the rest of them, we’re going to take a picture at Chapel Hill because we’d be the ACC champs.”

So in the locker room after that game at North Carolina, one of our players said: “Coach, how about the picture?” I said, “Dang, let’s go.” So we hustled out there. Hardly anybody was in the stands. But fortunately the clock operator left the score up there. I want to thank him for doing that.

SF: At Florida, they nicknamed your wide-open offense “Fun and Gun.” At Duke, it was called “Air Ball.”

SS: I sort of like “Air Ball” better. “Fun and Gun” just sounds like you’re throwing the ball all over the ballpark. You know, we actually ran the ball as much as we threw it. We called it “Air Ball” at Duke in honor of the basketball team. Our students got a kick out of long passes. We’d complete one and they’d yell “A-i-i-i-r….B-a-a-a-all.” So I always sort of liked that. It had a little better ring to it.

SF: You first called plays at Duke as an offensive coordinator. Why do you think you were so good at it?

SS: I don’t know if I was so good at it, because I look back on about seven or eight games and say, “Why in the heck did you call that stupid play?”

But having the freedom here with Coach Red Wilson was really helpful. Because I remember asking him one time: “How you want me to call plays? You want me to be conservative run throw, what?” He said, “Call whatever you want. I want to throw the ball and I love trick plays.”

So Coach Wilson really gave me the freedom to innovate through the offense. And we had a bunch of good players here. (Quarterback) Ben Bennett came in 1980 right when I came. And the receivers? Chris Castor was the ACC Player of the Year (in 1982). Cedric Jones. Marvin Brown, all those guys.

SF: Tell me a little about your dad, as I know he had a lot of influence on you.

SS: My dad was a Presbyterian minister, for 40 years or something like that…. He loved sports and I credit him for whatever athletic ability or whatever I had. He really promoted athletics.

And he promoted winning. He coached our Little League and Babe Ruth league baseball teams (in Tennessee, where Spurrier mostly grew up). And he asked the kids one day, “How many of you believe in that saying it’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game?”

Well, about half the kids raised their hands. And he said, “Well, I don’t believe that. If you’re keeping score, you’re supposed to try your best to win.”

And I’ve tried to instill that in every team I’ve coached. if they’re keeping score up there, we’re supposed to try our best to win.

The ‘Head Ball Coach’ nickname

SF: When did you start getting called the “Head Ball Coach?”

SS: I think 4-5 years in at Florida. I used to use the term “Ball Coach” when I really admired and respected somebody. Man or woman. Like Pat Summitt at Tennessee, I would say: “Well, she is really one of the best ball coaches there’s ever been, in any sport.”

And a friend of ours said, “Well, you must be the Head Ball Coach.” So he started using it a little bit and I guess it spread.

SF: You had some snappy one-liners throughout your career, including calling Florida State “Free Shoes University.” And the rivalry with FSU was interesting. I know you believed that at least in the 1990s their defensive players tried to hurt people.

SS: Well, they actually talked about, “If you’ve knocked the quarterback out of the game with a clean hit, that’s football.” I don’t think that’s football.

And they talked about hitting to the echo of the whistle. Nobody else hits after the whistle. And they bragged, about knocking a bunch of ACC quarterbacks out of games. And they knocked Danny Wuerffel down, I think it was 34 times after he’d thrown the ball (during a 1996 Florida-FSU) game.

But it’s history. I hate to try to bring all that back up. And they don’t play that way now.

I actually tell some of the FSU people I maybe pull for you guys every now and then, because you guys play like everybody else does. Now you don’t try to hurt people.

SF: You wrote in your autobiography that you should have stayed at Florida longer than you did. Why is that?

SS: History would say you should do that. But for some reason I always thought I’d coach at Florida 10 to 12 years and then maybe go to the NFL.

I went to the wrong NFL team. But that’s OK.

By going to the wrong NFL team, I got a chance to go to South Carolina. And I had 10 wonderful years down there. We set a bunch of school records that we still own, and I don’t know when they’re gonna break them. It may be a long time before they win 11 games (the Gamecocks won 11 games each year under Spurrier from 2011-13).

Leaving the Gamecocks

SF: Why did you leave South Carolina in the middle of the 2015 season?

SS: Well, I made some mistakes. I had a coaching staff a little bit in disarray. And I had a few players where I’d ask them to do something and they’d look at me like: “I don’t have to listen to you anymore.” I guess I’d lost the team…. It was time for me to get out of there. Simple as that.

SF: One of your trademarks was wearing a visor. When did that start?

SS: At Florida. The day we upset Clemson when I was at Duke in 1989, it was a rainy, miserable day. So I wore a hat. We won that game, so I wore that same hat the rest of the season. I said I’m going to wear it until we lose one, and we never lost one.

At Florida, I looked around, and not many coaches were wearing visors. I believe that to be successful in life, there’s two ways to do it. You can do it like everybody else does it and try to outwork them, or you can do it differently. So I said, “I don’t think I’m gonna stay up to midnight trying to outwork everybody.”

So wearing a visor was just a little something different. And the way we coached was a little different. But the visor was just natural. I wore a visor on the golf course all the time. Why would you wear a hat when it’s 90 degrees down there?

SF: How would you have enjoyed coaching in the transfer portal and NIL era of today?

SS: Well, if I had to, I’d be doing it, like all these guys are doing. I think I would try to find me a couple of multi-millionaire guys that could afford, you know, $5-10 million here and there. And that would really help your program, if you got those guys.

Why Spurrier, Washington didn’t work out

SF: Your college coaching success didn’t translate into NFL success in the pros at Washington. Why?

SS: Well, I tell people all the time. I’ve coached three pro teams. Did you know that? The Tampa Bay Bandits (in the USFL). The Orlando Apollos (in the short-lived Alliance of American Football). The only one I didn’t do very well with was the Washington team, and I really wasn’t in charge.

SF: (Team owner) Dan Snyder was also more or less your general manager, right?

SS: Yeah. When the owner and general manager picked the quarterbacks the second year, that’s when I knew: “I gotta get out of here.”

SF: Would you ever coach again?

SS: Not as a head coach. One of those analyst-type things where you can advise here, there and the other: That might be something.

I’m still waiting on my son, Steve Jr. (who is now the offensive coordinator at Tulsa), to get a head coaching job. He’s had several interviews and for some reason it hasn’t worked out. I was hoping he was gonna get the UNC Charlotte job last year. He interviewed there, but they went in another direction (hiring Biff Poggi).

SF: Thanks for doing this, Coach. Lastly, don’t you have some roots in Charlotte?

SS: Yes. My mom and dad are both from Charlotte and went to the old Central High School there. They’re no longer with us, but they would be proud that I’d be considered a legend guy in the Carolinas.

For much more from this interview as well as other “Sports Legends” guests like Roy Williams, Thomas Davis, Dell Curry, Mike Krzyzewski, Bobby Richardson and Dawn Staley, check out the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” podcast.

“Sports Legends” book signing scheduled

The “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” coffee table book, published by The Charlotte Observer and Pediment Publishing and featuring exclusive interviews and more than 100 photographs, is now available. To order or for more information, go to SportsLegendsBook.com.

From noon to 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 2, authors Scott Fowler and Jeff Siner will appear at Park Road Books for a book signing along with two of the 33 sports legends featured in the book — former Charlotte 49ers athletic director Judy Rose and former Davidson basketball coach Bob McKillop.