You guys will eventually get used to this...

[PediGator]

... and you will come to love it.

Don't get me wrong, at times you'll be infuriated at the man for sticking to his guns. You'll wonder how he could possibly be so stubborn. But that's when he'll come back and do something so completely and utterly beautiful - that you'll wonder what you were thinking when you doubted him.

If you haven't figured it out yet, Steven Orr Spurrier is a tad different.

He's the guy who'll call the same play on First and goal...second and goal.... third and goal... and finally fourth and goal... because he's convinced the play should have worked the first time and will work next time if you just execute the darn thing. And you know what? It does. It will.

Did you listen to Jimmy Johnson when asked to compare himself to Spurrier? "I was more of an admisistrator; He's more of an on the field coach." Perhaps you weren't listening when SOS said that himself the day he was hired. Perhaps you haven't yet realized that everything the man says, he means. Down to the last dotted "i." Spurrier could care less who he's coaching for the most part. The only thing he does like is when a player shows and tells him that he wants to play for him. But don't expect him to be the head recruiter.

I believe it was Keith Jackson who once said of him, "He'll beat your'n with his'n, and he'd beat his'n if you gave him your'n."

Don't know what all those "n's" mean, but I think you get his point.

Steve Spurrier didn't come to the NFL to partake in the draft. He didn't come for May, June and July. Don't think for a minute that he had a bit of fun on Saturday and Sunday. It probably boggled his mind. He probably went home and asked himself how so many reporters could all of a sudden care about some receiver from Utah.

Wish he'd say something that came across better to the press? Wish he'd atleast try to sound like he knew who half the players drafted for him were? Don't count on it. He says what's on his mind. And to think, he's mellowed. You should have seen him 7 or 8 years ago.

[indyskinsfan]

Country slang I guess on the 'rns. Reminds me of the "youn's"

[RF4L]

I thought that "beat your'n with his'n and beat his'n with your'n" was Bum Phillips describing Don Shula.

I've been wrong before, though.

[TennesseeCarl]

I thought we were getting conditioned to 'stubborn' with Marty Schottenheimer.

He too would call the play on first and goal...on second and goal...on third and goal and then attempt the field goal.

I'm hoping the results will be a bit better. (Actually, I'm pretty sure they will be...I like Spurrier a lot.)

[bulldog]

unfortunately in the NFL the talent is rather evenly spread. What happens on draft day and in free agency makes or breaks your team year to year.

if Steve is not that deeply involved in the personnel side he may wake up one day in the last minicamp or at the opening of training camp to discover he doesn't have the horses to make the thing go.

Or he has good horses, they just don't fit what he wants to do.

Or they might not have the attitude or work ethic he is looking for.

this is why I think it is important for the coach to have a major role in at least SOME picks, such as a #1 that affects a position as important as quarterback or running back.

These guys are going to handle the ball on almost every offensive play and when you take these players at #1 and #2 you need to have the coach really in their corner from the start so they develop as quickly as possible.

At Florida, Spurrier had enough of a talent advantage and enough of a coaching advantage personally that he could develop his own empire in the SEC, that is going to be harder to do in the NFL.

The worst teams in the NFL ARE capable of beating the best teams on a given weekend and that is something very different from his experience at Florida, where even on a bad day the Gators beat lesser teams by 20 points.

To win by 20 in the NFL against ANYONE you have to play close to 100% on your side.

That is what is different.

[jkam]

You're right Bulldog, but don't you think SS knows this? He's a smart guy and I'm sure he's given all of this a lot of thought. And he did play in the NFL for 9 years and coached in the USFL so he certainly has some idea of what to expect. Whatever, I think it's gonna be fun.

[gatorconman]

I've been a Redskin's fan since 1980 when I suffered through the mundane and pathetic coaching of Jack Pardee. Jack didn't leave the cupboard bare for Joe Gibbs though, and I think Steve Spurrier is going to be a benefactor in a very similar way.

I have also been a Gator fan since 1979. I watched Spurrier come to Gainesville in 1990 and turn a team that had one of the nation's poorest pass offenses into a juggernaut offensively in less than a full season. I expect that with the stout defense the Redskins will field this fall, the offense will have time to gell and find out who aside from Stephen Davis are its most dependable components.

So much of Spurrier's passing scheme is predicated on protection by the line. Spurrier teaches the passing game by first team scheme to protect the QB. Ask any coach who has sat through one of his marathon diatribes, and they will tell you the same thing. With both Jansen and Samuels at tackle, the Redskins will be more than ok, they will be dominant. The guards and center are never superstars in his protection scheme, rather they are contributors. I expect much of the same this season.

I'm thrilled with the draft and very excited about the season. SOS will win over the fans as quickly as he wins games. He will aggrivate and irritate his opponents and their fans, but that is simply Spurrier.

[Om]

Just food for thought:

I can recall both Joe Gibbs and Norv Turner, as well as other NFL coaches around the league, making comments along way about how going into any given season they had installed some ‘percentage' of their offense ... and needed time to teach their complete ‘systems' to new personnel. The implication being "hey, what you see today ain't all I've got to offer, and just wait until we've had a couple of years to get this thing REALLY cranked up."

Steve Spurrier managed to put together record-breaking offensive machines, and maintain them year after year, w/o the benefit of any reasonable kind of continuity in personnel. At least not as compared to NFL standards. Yes, it's true the pro game has changed, and you don't necessarily get to keep players as long as you used to, but in the NFL you are not faced with the guaranteed loss of every one of your very best players after 4 years. You can't ‘rework' the contracts of your senior class.

A whole new recruiting class every 3-4 years, with never the real expectation of having a QB (in my book THE key position on a football team) available to start more than 3 ... and still he managed to keep the thing rolling downhill. That says a hell of a lot to me.

The thought of Spurrier now having a chance to build an offense around personnel – QB especially – who could be around awhile really intrigues me.

We always hear about how NFL offensive coordinators install a new offense, and/or present them to new quarterbacks, by degrees. I'm willing to bet SS is no different. I'm thinking he may not have ever had the chance to FULLY explore all the things he'd like to do at the college level, and that w/o the constraints of starting over w/ a new field general every couple of years, there are cards up his sleeve nobody has seen yet. And that if they aren't there today, they WILL be within a year or two when once he gets his NFL legs under him and realizes a guy like Ramsey could conceivably be with him for 5, 6, 7 or more years.

Okay, so maybe I'm wearing suspiciously-hued glasses this morning, but hey, the sun's shining outside.

It's Spring.

[Awesome]

Om- great insight into the nature of the college football beast. You really make a legit point about how spurrier could have some cards up his sleeves that we have never seen simply b/c he has never had the time to implement them at Florida. Just thinking about what those two, Spurrier and Ramsey, could do after having been together for a few years makes me drool. Just think, Ramsey is super smart and a quick study. He's got 5 months to absorb Spurrier system, not to mention will be practicing against a studly, well coached, NFL defense all summer. I see no reason why he will not be the best prepared qb come September to lead this team. Sage and Danny only have about a 3 week head start on him. I'm getting giddy:D

[One Dollar]

Originally posted by PediGator

... .He's the guy who'll call the same play on First and goal...second and goal.... third and goal... and finally fourth and goal... because he's convinced the play should have worked the first time and will work next time if you just execute the darn thing....

I read that and it sounded just like ....Dungy :eek:

Just hope that Spurrier doesn't give the same canned response every week "..well if we just execute better...."

It'll drive you nuts.

That said, I think SOS will be a tad more imaginative than any Dungy run offense.

[SonnyJ]

Excellent points, Om.

I would amplify your argument by pointing out that not only will Spurrier have continuity with a QB/players, in the pros, unlike in college, the players JOB is to play football and learn what he's teaching.

I'm sure some wiseacre will make comments about football players and education, but the fact is that these guys could not devote themselves entirely to football.

Now, his players can. If he has something to work with, I'm betting that he will produce some prolific offenses.

[redman]

I'm less worried about Spurrier adapting to the game than I am about him adapting to the players. He runs good, creative schemes. Those work darn near anywhere if they're executed properly and you have at least decent talent.

His issue will be making the hands-on "ball coach" routine work in the NFL. He's used to working with wide-eyed 18-23 year-olds who are more malleable, and who's developing egos still have time for instruction. Face it, those young men in college need him in order to make it to the NFL, and he was like a god in Gainsville.

Now, he's generally dealing with 22-35 year old millionaires who've been told for a significant amount of their careers that they're the best. Many of them make more money than he does and simply aren't going to be receptive to a hands-on coach telling them how to operate. For example, there were no Jeff George's in college for Spurrier to deal with, particularly when simply cutting them has personnel ramifications felt throughout the roster.

I've often wondered if that's why Spurrier wants former Gators as QB's in particular, in addition to their already knowing the system. They're used to taking orders from him and paying him respect.

[Barney B]

Originally posted by PediGator

[b.

I believe it was Keith Jackson who once said of him, "He'll beat your'n with his'n, and he'd beat his'n if you gave him your'n."

[/b]

PediGator,

Keith (I'm a what? A Playjariser? What's that?) Jackson may have said it, but it was originally said by Bum Phillips in praise of Don Shula.

No need to thank me. Just doing my job. :halo: