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re: What kept Steve Spurrier from winning more than 1 national title at Florida?
Posted on 7/28/26 at 8:17 am to Tigerpride18
Posted on 7/28/26 at 8:17 am to Tigerpride18
quote:
just because a player doesn't play well in pro football doesn't mean they werent talented in college football.
It's not not playing well, it's not even seeing the field... which is extremely lack of talent based.
Posted on 7/28/26 at 8:55 am to Paul Allen
The sec then was still tough just not at its peak in the mid 00’s plus having prime FSU on the schedule in an era where 1 loss most times ended your championship dreams.
Not to hijack this thread but the bcs/cfp has made it easier for teams with a loss or even 2 to still win it all.
Saban won 7 titles and only 09 and 20 are his sure fire titles in a pre bcs era based on being number 1 going into the bowls. Granted in the old era he probably wins 14,16, and 18.
Point is, it is very hard to win a title and usually involves some luck or fortunate breaks.
Not to hijack this thread but the bcs/cfp has made it easier for teams with a loss or even 2 to still win it all.
Saban won 7 titles and only 09 and 20 are his sure fire titles in a pre bcs era based on being number 1 going into the bowls. Granted in the old era he probably wins 14,16, and 18.
Point is, it is very hard to win a title and usually involves some luck or fortunate breaks.
Posted on 7/28/26 at 8:59 am to Madking
quote:
Florida played in the SEC, beat more ranked teams than Nebraska and blew FSU out in a national title game.
Nothing trumps these numbers:
1. FSU had a 7-4-1 advantage over Florida, and they played at least once every year. Apples to apples, FSU had the upper hand.
2. FSU won two natties and played for two more. UF won one natty and played for one more. FSU had the only undefeated season, and UF needed two forms of postseason help beyond their control to win their lone title.
3. FSU’s final average AP ranking was 2.9 to UF’s 6.6.
Florida over FSU in the ‘90s is stupid from both a success perspective and “fear” perspective.
Being a “feared team” isn’t just about beating Vandy or Wake Forest 50-0. It’s also about being competitive in every game you play. Florida had 12 losses of 10+ pts. in the ‘90s. FSU had 4. Florida had 6 losses of 20+ pts. FSU just had one.
FSU was also never physically embarrassed the way the Gators were against Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl and Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.
Spurrier was a great coach with a great program at Florida, but there was an underlying softness to his style (especially when he didn’t have Stoops) that probably prevented him from winning multiple national titles.
This post was edited on 7/28/26 at 9:01 am
Posted on 7/28/26 at 10:05 am to MoarKilometers
quote:
QB talent. If we're picking between danny wuerfel and rex grossman as your best QBs, you've left something to desire.
Alabama won a title w/Jay fricking Barker and you're shitting on Wuerfful and Grossman?
This post was edited on 7/28/26 at 10:09 am
Posted on 7/28/26 at 10:22 am to MoarKilometers
quote:
It's not not playing well, it's not even seeing the field... which is extremely lack of talent based.
not really. There have been hundreds upon hundreds of examples of guys that are great or even absolutely stellar in college that don't do jack squat in the pros. Some guys just aren't able to make that jump from one level to the next but it certainly doesn't mean they lack talent.
Posted on 7/28/26 at 10:47 am to tigerfan84
quote:
I don’t thank they would’ve beaten that 2001 Miami team.
Maybe not, but that would've been a hell of a game. Far better than what we got with Nebraska. Miami and UF genuinely hate each other
Posted on 7/28/26 at 11:00 am to Paul Allen
A better question is why Bobby Bowden didn’t have at least two more titles? Field goal kickers?
Posted on 7/28/26 at 12:07 pm to JLivermore
quote:
Recruiting. He coached em up way better than Bowden, but Steve was a shite recruiter. He couldn’t do the religious, fill in father sales pitch to the single mommas.
Spurrier would constantly cry about cheating, but the reality was he just wasn’t built to recruit at an elite level.
Rarely do you see guys who are both incredible at the x's and o's and incredible at recruiting. I can't even think of anyone offhand who that would apply to.
I think its a personality type thing. You have to be pretty analytical, matter of fact when thinking about schemes, but recruiting is basically just understanding people which is more emotionally driven and far less logical in most cases.
For example, Saban and Kirby aren't/weren't really scheme gurus. They were motivators and recruiters because they are people people. That's why they do so well on TV. And that's not to say either of those guys is bad on the scheme side, all of the elite coaches are good at every aspect of coaching for the most part, their people aspect is just top tier.
Posted on 7/28/26 at 1:30 pm to Jim Hopper
quote:
A better question is why Bobby Bowden didn’t have at least two more titles? Field goal kickers?
I think if you reshuffled the deck and played the 1987-2000 seasons all over again, I think the odds are better that FSU wins 3-4 rather than 0-1.
For starters, 1999 is about as undisputed as it gets. They were wire-to-wire #1 and clearly the best team, so that one is on very solid ground.
But going back to…
1987: I don’t think they were better than Miami (and maybe not OU) but with a turnover or big play at the right time they easily could have beaten both teams.
Best team? No. Variable title? Decent chance.
1988: Not quite there.
Best team? No. Variable title? Pretty low.
1989: Very well might have been the best team at the end of season. Beat the hell out of Miami and Nebraska after a slow start.
Best team? Maybe. Variable title? Possibly.
1990: Crazy season. Probably more teams than usual that could have won it that year.
Best team? Probably not. Variable title? Low possibility.
1991: I think if they make a FG and beat Miami that the momentum would have carried them through UF and they go on to beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. I think Washington was the best team that year, though, but it wouldn’t have mattered because of bowl ties. Bobby gets at least a split with UW if they go undefeated.
Best team? No. Variable title? Good chance.
1992: If FSU had made a FG and tied Miami and gotten the nod in the Sugar Bowl against Bama, I think they would have played better than Miami did that night. FSU was playing some good ball at the end of the regular season. Probably better than Bama.
Ten split home and home games against Bama starting in December, I might lean FSU because they were better offensively and still pretty damn good on D with Marvin Jones and Derrick Brooks. One game in the Sugar Bowl (specifically) with a month of prep and build up, I would lean Bama.
Best team? Arguably. Variable title? Maybe.
1993: Won it. Probably the best team overall in spite of the ND loss and not playing particularly well in the Orange Bowl against Nebraska. Very lucky regarding the BC upset.
Best team: Probably. Variable loss: Good chance.
1994: Nah.
Best team? No. Variable title? Unlikely.
1995: Nah.
Best team? No. Variable title? Low.
1996: Some bad luck after the UF regular season win. Had Nebraska not wet the bed against Texas, I think FSU would have matched up better against the Huskers and been in a better frame of mind than having to play UF in a rematch. Hard to beat a good team twice. But I think the right team won it in the end.
Best team? Close but not quite. Variable title? Good chance.
1997: fricked up against UF.
Best team? Arguably. Variable title? Possibly.
1998: Probably would have won it with a healthy Weinke.
Best team? Perhaps with Weinke. Variable title? Good chance.
1999: Won it. Clearly the best team.
Best team? Yes. Variable loss? Low.
2000: One of the best teams for sure but a notch below. Fortunate to get the nod over Miami, who I think was the best team at the end of the year.
Best team? No. Variable title? Maybe.
Posted on 7/28/26 at 1:38 pm to Dr RC
quote:
If we're picking between danny wuerfel and rex grossman as your best QBs, you've left something to desire.
A record-breaking Heisman Trophy winner and a Heisman Trophy runner up leaves "something to be desired." How about that?
Posted on 7/28/26 at 10:21 pm to Globetrotter747
quote:
Did they have guys who made you worry about a hospital trip? No, not really.
Might want to ask Joey Kent about that. Lawrence Wright had some nasty hits as well as Alex Brown. These are just two off the top of my head.
Florida was feared in the 1990's except by FSU, Miami, and Nebraska. They had some all time great teams during the 90's with players who had played with UF players in high school.
That doesn't mean that no one else had good games against them, but they were feared.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 5:40 am to shreveport_gator
quote:
Might want to ask Joey Kent
Never fails that people want to point out exceptions to the rule. “Yeah, I have a second cousin who went to Vegas and won $1,000 playing roulette. The casino ain’t got no advantage.”
These two things are true:
1. Florida was not the most feared program in the country in the ‘90s.
2. The program (while great) had a softness to it that led to some embarrassing and head scratching moments.
In UF’s two most critical games outside the 1996 season (1995 Nebraska and 2001 UT) they gave up legendary performances on the ground to Tommie Frazier, Lawrence Phillips, and Travis Stephens.
Giving up hundreds of yards on the ground is more emasculating than getting torched through the air. All else being equal, teams that add injury to insult by physically kicking your arse tend to be more feared on the field.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 2:27 pm to Dr RC
quote:
Alabama won a title w/Jay fricking Barker and you're shitting on Wuerfful and Grossman?
In fairness, Alabama didn't design its offense around the QB the way Florida did. Gene Stallings was more of a smash mouth, run the ball 30+ times a game, kind of coach. The strength of his team was always the defense and the man didn't care if he won the game by the score of 14-9. A win was a win to him.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 2:33 pm to Globetrotter747
You literally just did the thing you disqualified his take for lol.
Then proceeds to point out 2 exceptions within 124 examples, a rate of 1.6%
quote:
Never fails that people want to point out exceptions to the rule.
Then proceeds to point out 2 exceptions within 124 examples, a rate of 1.6%
This post was edited on 7/29/26 at 2:38 pm
Posted on 7/29/26 at 2:38 pm to Dr RC
quote:
Alabama won a title w/Jay fricking Barker and you're shitting on Wuerfful and Grossman?
If someone asked why stallingds didn't win more natties, guess the #1 answer
Posted on 7/29/26 at 3:16 pm to Globetrotter747
quote:
The program (while great) had a softness to it that led to some embarrassing and head scratching moments.
In UF’s two most critical games outside the 1996 season (1995 Nebraska and 2001 UT) they gave up legendary performances on the ground to Tommie Frazier, Lawrence Phillips, and Travis Stephens.
Just so I understand your point correctly:
Losing to literally the greatest CFB team that's ever been fielded in the history of the sport in one game, and in a second game getting torched by the Doak Walker award runner up on a team that was 15 minutes away from playing for a national title....make UF soft?
quote:
Never fails that people want to point out exceptions to the rule. “Yeah, I have a second cousin who went to Vegas and won $1,000 playing roulette. The casino ain’t got no advantage
How ironic considering you've been carrying that banner by yourself in this entire thread.
People: Florida was scary as hell under spurrier. They were a team to be feared and were liable to kick your arse
You: well I played on a team that beat them twice in 1999 so they really weren't all that scary
People: That's great, but those 2 games don't change the other 11 years of spurrier's tenure. They were still scary
You: nuh uh, they passed too much and you can only be scary if you run
the tone deafness is astounding
This post was edited on 7/29/26 at 3:19 pm
Posted on 7/29/26 at 3:23 pm to WG_Dawg
Yeah, I'm not sure what he's trying to prove other than the fact that he has a spreadsheet. Most people who were alive in the 90s will tell you that the Gators were the scariest program in the Southeastern Conference during that period. They kicked the arse of a lot of good teams in those years.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 3:28 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
Yeah, I'm not sure what he's trying to prove other than the fact that he has a spreadsheet. Most people who were alive in the 90s will tell you that the Gators were the scariest program in the Southeastern Conference during that period. They kicked the arse of a lot of good teams in those years.
right.
One of his multiple talking points is simply semantics. He is arguing they weren't THE MOST feared program in america, which I think many would agree with. His points about being soft because of a two game sample size, or not being scary because they passed more than they ran, or any of the others are just silly
Posted on 7/29/26 at 3:58 pm to WG_Dawg
quote:
Losing to literally the greatest CFB team that's ever been fielded in the history of the sport in one game,
I completely disagree with this.
And they didn’t just lose. They played like shite, which wasn’t uncommon against good backs in the Spurrier era - especially outside the Stoops years.
quote:
and in a second game getting torched by the Doak Walker award runner up on a team that was 15 minutes away from playing for a national title....make UF soft?
When you’re giving up 200+ yards, yes.
quote:
People: Florida was scary as hell under spurrier. They were a team to be feared and were liable to kick your arse
“People who witnessed that era can tell you nobody was more feared in college football.”
Is that true?
“Florida under spurrier had the same aura around them as saban's bama teams.”
And is that true?
Yes or no?
quote:
Most people who were alive in the 90s will tell you that the Gators were the scariest program in the Southeastern Conference during that period.
Are we talking about the SEC or national level because I’m under the impression it’s the latter.
quote:
His points about being soft because of a two game sample size,
Well, we have discussed the Fiesta Bowl and 2001 UT. Have we discussed Jerome Bettis in the Sugar Bowl?
quote:
not being scary because they passed more than they ran, or any of the others are just silly
All else being equal, a team that’s going to line up and shove it down your throat on O and hit you on D is more dreadful to play than one that’s going to outscore you 7–on-7 style.
Am I wrong?
Posted on 7/29/26 at 4:05 pm to Globetrotter747
quote:
Are we talking about the SEC or national level because I’m under the impression it’s the latter.
I'm talking about the SEC. They were without question the most feared program in the conference in those days and among the most feared programs in the country.
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