Armchair Quarterback: Will Steve be superior in the NFL?
For years Steve Spurrier was a thorn in the side of Tennessee fans with his Florida Gators ruining season after season for the Volunteers.
His grimace on the side line and the tossing of his visor were all things which made Volunteer orange turn red, making him Public Enemy No. 1 come college football season.
Well, that’s all gone now since he’s taken his show on the road to Washington to coach the Redskins. The question is, will his presence spark the same animosity in cities like Philadelphia, Dallas and New York as it did on the hill in Knoxville?
With the season not even begun, Spurrier is well on his way to being just as resented in the NFL as he was in the SEC. Some of the franchises his Skins played in the pre-season have accused him of, get this, running up the score. Sound familiar? Heck, the BCS is even thinking about using the Spurrier rule this year in calculating rank by taking margin of victory out of the equation.
During the early pre-season run, Spurrier’s Skins were putting up record points. However, to do this he was leaving in his starters much longer than did his opponents, where his first line saw a lot of action against players who will likely not even see opening day with the other teams. Was this to give the impression the Skins are better than what they really are or was it by design, to get the starters ready for the season?
Their pre-season win streak came to an end this week when they fell to the world champion New England Patriots (man, world champion New England Patriots just doesn’t sound right) by a score of 28-14.
So, the question is, can Spurrier do the same thing he did in Florida and make the Skins a winner, just a couple years removed from their Deon Sanders salary cap fiasco which left the team in ruins? By the way, don’t forget about Duke. Spurrier made Duke a winner too, even though Duke is considered the Vanderbilt of the ACC in football.
In an attempt to achieve his goal, Spurrier has surrounded himself with Florida North, bringing back former Gator quarterbacks Shane Matthews and Danny Wuerffel. At this point, Matthews, at age 32, has the starting nod, although this really means nothing given the way Spurrier has a history of changing quarterbacks as often as most of us change our socks. I wouldn’t be surprised to even see rookie first round pick Patrick Ramsey by year’s end under center.
I don’t think there’s much of a doubt Spurrier will try to conduct a Rams-type offense, spreading things out and putting the ball in the air a lot. However, I’m wondering exactly who is going to be on the receiving end of this high flying offense since Torry Holt and Ike Bruce are still Rams. Looking at their roster, there’s really no big name who stands out. Most notable are Leslie Sheppard, Rod Gardner and Jacquez Green, the later being a Florida product. Sure, they have Stephen Davis in the backfield, but it’s questionable whether this team will be able to execute, on a pro level, like the Gator teams.
Hey, I’m the same guy who said there was no way the Patriots would beat the Rams last year, so take it for what it’s worth, but I suspect the Skins aren’t holding that much this season. Just look at their roster. I think it will take a couple of years for Spurrier to see success in Washington, time to adapt his coaching philosophy to the pro level and perhaps time to get better personnel in Washington.
However, in the meantime I look forward to seeing him throw his visor and make that sour grape face when he rekindles the Tennessee feud when they play the Titans in Nashville this season.