On an autumn Saturday in 1966, Steve Spurrier, the heralded senior quarterback at the University of Florida, rallied his Gators to within field goal range against heated rival Auburn. With time rapidly ticking down, then-Florida Coach Ray Graves, went for the field goal. Only this time, the kicker was not Florida’s normal booter. It was the ever-confident Spurrier. The kick was 40 yards; long and true. The Gators pulled off a 30-27 miracle win that caused legendary Auburn Coach, Ralph “Shug” Jordan, to refer to him as “Steve Superior.” Less than two weeks later, Spurrier, the product of Johnson City, Tennessee, captured the Heisman Trophy. As a player rallying from behind or as a coach calling one of his wide-open pass plays, Steve Spurrier has always displayed what journalists described as “the nerve of a riverboat gambler.” The five-time SEC Coach of the Year from The University of Florida began his athletic career at Science High School in Johnson City, where he was All-State in football, basketball and baseball and prep All-American in football in 1962. His baseball team won two straight state titles, and in three seasons of pitching, he never lost a game. As the Florida Gator quarterback, Spurrier guided his team to two major bowls in three seasons. In the Sugar Bowl game following the 1965 season, he set six passing and total offense records and became the only player from the losing team to be voted the game’s MVP. He was the Heisman Trophy winner in 1966, and the first-round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers in ‘67. Following ten years in the NFL, Spurrier coached Tampa Bay in the USFL for three seasons, Duke University for three, then returned to his Alma Mater as the head coach. Steve retired from coaching in 2015 and now serves as the ambassador and consultant for the University of Florida athletic department. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017 as both a player and a coach. He is only one of four to be inducted as both.
