Better Gator coach, Meyer or Spurrier

[fsu939913]

I know Spurrier "put UF on the map" but i was talkin with my Gator friend and he claims Spurrier was better than Meyer. Granted Spurrier is a hall of fame type coach and tbh i loved his one liners, dude cracked me up beyond belief. However, i believe Urban had the better run, 2 championships in a shorter time, only 2 "down yrs" which was his first yr and his last yr. To me, he accomplished more but pissed off the fan base more by how he left, similar to Fisher for Fsu.

Was Urban or Spurrier better?

 

[instaGATOR]

SOS, and it's not even much of a contest imo.

As far as 'on the map' goes:
Florida hadn't had a losing season for 10 years prior to SOS becoming the HBC.
IF not for the resulting NCAA probation's, Pell would get a lot of credit for building up the Gator football program. He got a sweet sponsorship resulting in major facility improvements from Dave of Wendy's for example. And he went from 0-10-1 to an SEC-C and a NC in 5 years.

Pell did that by doing less NCAA rule breaking than what Red-Tide phootball and Kensucky B-Ball had been doing for decades, (and still does imo). Also, Pell was never as bad as the criminoles of FSUcks, or the scUM thugs of Mi-Am-I....

Now, who was the better coach, Blobby Bowdown or the Zookster.
Keeping in mind that it's Ron Zook Field at Joke Shambles Stadium...

 

[PlutoDroid]

Both were great coaches, had Spurrier not left for the NFL I think he coaches us to another couple National Titles. We would have never gotten Urban and Spurrier would have retired a couple years ago. No Mac and Cheese, no Zooker and no coach Boom.

Meyer is slightly better at changing his offense to fit around how mobile or immobile his QB is. I won't say either is overall better ,because they are even in my mind. Both innovators of the way offense was played in the SEC. I would have loved to see Spurrier at his height go up against Saban.

 

[TennesseeGator]

I'll go with Meyer.

The Dude DOMINATED the UF rivals. What was it like one loss to FSU and one to UGA? Never lost to UT or Miami.

But hell Spurrier had the fans and teams playing with some swagger. I'd walk into (or tune into) many games just waiting to see stats piled up and knowing we would get a sneak peek at the underclassmen playing third team.

Thing is though... Spurrier was guaranteed to choke at least one game a year while a heavy favorite.

 

[PacoGator19]

I like Spurrier better/more but Meyer was the better coach.

 

[Dannygator1989]

I like Spurrier better/more but Meyer was the better coach.

He just invited you to more barbecues.

Spurrier would run circles around the chinless wonder in his prime.

 

[Gator Fever]

Spurrier imo. Meyer benefited from a down FSU and Tenn when he was here. FSU and Tenn both weren't that good at all while Meyer was here. Spurrier except for a couple of years always had a talent disadvantage to FSU unlike Meyer.

FSU finished in the top 5 every year Spurrier coached here except the last year I think and Tenn was a top 10 team many years Spurrier was here.

 

[ocalaman]

SOS. Spurrier won a conference championship at DUKE!!!!! And he did better at South Carolina than any coach they've ever had. Master innovator and he did adjust his offense at South Carolina from the Fun & Gun he ran at Florida. Meyer is great and is a better recruiter. But as for pure coaching, I'll take Steve Spurrier any day.

 

[rdgtr]

Spurrier was the best ever Florida Gator Coach but it was close with Meyer.

While coaches like Meyer, Saban, and Bowden are/were great recruiters who built championship teams, Spurrier was a better x's & o's coach. During a game if things didn't always go right, Spurrier was the best at changing/adapting his game plan in mid-game to pull out the wins. Against unranked teams, those UF teams were something like 75-1 to unranked teams. In other words, those Gator teams rarely lost to bad teams & only lost to ranked teams.
----------------------------------------------------------------

From 1990-2001, Spurrier's Florida teams have won the SEC Championship ('90, '91, '93-'96, '00) seven times, came in second in the SECCG ('92, '99) twice, and finished 2nd in the SEC-E ('98, '01) three times. During his twelve years at Florida, these were Spurrier's SEC records :

1990: 6-1 (1st in SEC)
1991: 7-0 (1st)
1992: 6-3 (2nd to Alabama)
1993: 8-1 (1st)
1994: 8-1 (1st)
1995: 9-0 (1st)
1996: 9-0 (1st)
1997: 6-2 (2nd in SEC-E to Tenn)
1998: 7-1 (2nd in SEC-E to Tenn)
1999: 7-2 (2nd to Alabama)
2000: 8-1 (1st)
2001: 6-2 (2nd in SEC-E)

Spurrier's Florida teams finished no worse than second in the SEC-E. Meanwhile in Meyer's down years at Florida ('05, '07,'10), UF's SEC records were the following:
2005: 5-3 (tied for 2nd in SEC-E w/ Spurrier's Gamecocks)
2006: 8-1 (1st)
2007: 5-3 (3rd in SEC-E to Georgia/Tenn)
2008: 8-1 (1st)
2009: 8-1 (2nd to Alabama)
2010: 4-4 (2nd in SEC-E to Spurrier's USC).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Florida_Gators_football_seasons

When Meyer was at Florida, his teams managed to lose to Spurrier's South Carolina teams (which had inferior talent compared to Florida's) on two separate occasions which cost Florida more shots at the SEC title in 2005 & 2010. In 2006, it also took a miracle blocked kick to preserve a win over South Carolina and eventually an SECC and NC. Meyer could have easily been 3-3 against Spurrier with only one SEC/NC rather than the two of them at Florida.

Spurrier's Florida teams finished with undefeated conference records three times ('91, '95, '96). On five other occasions, Spurrier's UF teams finished with only one conference loss ('90, '93, '94, '98, '00). Meyer's UF teams never had an undefeated SEC conference record. On three other times, Meyer's teams finished with one conference loss: winning two SEC titles and losing one SECCG to Alabama.

Spurrier's SEC record (at UF) vs Meyer's SEC record:
81-14 vs 38-13.

Meyer's down years at Florida were worse than Spurrier's. Give credit to Meyer with superior recruiting and the three 13-1 records at Florida. Spurrier's very best years were a couple of 12-1 records in 1995 & 1996. During Meyer's era, the regular season expanded from 11-games to 12-games so that was one of the minor differences.

So, while coaches like Meyer & Saban are great program builders and championship coaches, Steve Spurrier was the best of them if the ole ball coach had equal talent compared to his competitors. While at South Carolina, Spurrier's teams also managed to beat Saban's Alabama teams and Dabo Fischer's Clemson teams that would later win NC's. That is a sign of a capable coach that can do the impossible.

Imagine what would have been had Spurrier stayed at Florida and was able to coach up superior talent than what he had at S.Carolina.

 

[rdgtr]

I'll go with Meyer.

The Dude DOMINATED the UF rivals. What was it like one loss to FSU and one to UGA? Never lost to UT or Miami.

But hell Spurrier had the fans and teams playing with some swagger. I'd walk into (or tune into) many games just waiting to see stats piled up and knowing we would get a sneak peek at the underclassmen playing third team.

Thing is though... Spurrier was guaranteed to choke at least one game a year while a heavy favorite.

While Meyer dominated FSU and the SEC-East rivals, his Florida teams had more trouble against the following SEC teams than what Spurrier had done (see below for comparison):

2005-2010:
Auburn: 0-2 (losses in '06, '07)
Alabama: 2-3 (losses in '05, '09, '10; wins in '06 & 2008 SECCG)
LSU: 3-3 (losses in '05, '07, '10)
South Carolina: 4-2 (losses in '05, '10 cost UF the SEC-E in those years)

Ole Miss: 1-1 ('08 loss resulted in Tim Tebow's "I Promise" Speech)
Miss St: 2-1 ('10 loss to Dan Mullen's Bulldogs)
Arkansas: 3-0 ('06 SECC win)

Georgia: 5-1 (loss in '07)
Tennessee: 6-0
Kentucky: 6-0
Vandy: 6-0

FSU: 5-1 (1st loss in '10 resulted in the rise of the seminoles: UF only 1-7 since 2010)
============================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Against the SEC, Spurrier's Florida teams had the following incredible results:

LSU: 11-1 (loss in '97 when UF was #1; snapped UF's 25-game SEC winning streak from '94-97!)
UGA: 11-1 (2nd loss in '97 cost UF a chance to go for 5-straight SEC titles)
Auburn: 9-3 (losses in '93,'94 &'01 when UF was #1 or #2; Tigers did it again in 2006 when UF was #2)
Tennessee: 8-4 (losses in '90,'92,'98,'01; '01 loss cost #2 UF a shot at SEC/NC)
Alabama: 6-3 (losses occurred in '92 to #1 Tide, '99 twice;
wins in '90, '91,(SECCG's: '93, '95, '96), & '98). The '99 loss in Gvlle snapped UF's home SEC (?16-game) winning streak from '94-99.

Arkansas: 3-0 (including '95 SECCG win)
Mississippi St: 4-2 (losses in '92 & '00)
Ole Miss: 2-0

South Carolina: 10-0
Vandy: 12-0
Kentucky: 12-0

FSU: 5-8-1 (wins in '91, '95, '96, '97, & '01)

By the time Florida made it to the Bowl Coalition Title game in 1995, Spurrier rebuilt the Florida program where it went 4-4 against Bowden's seminoles.
==============================================================

 

[oozie7]

Depends what you mean by better 'coach.' Are you talking about X's and O's or are you talking about results? There are coaches who revolutionized the game and don't have any championships while guys who aren't better on game day have more titles. Meyer has more titles than Spurrier but give them both equal rosters in a must win game and I'm picking Spurrier every time . So to me he's the better coach even though Meyer is more accomplished. The two can be mutually exclusive.

 

[GatorTheo]

Spurrier was one of us. To me, that was the greatest period in Gator football history.

 

[TennesseeGator]

SOS. Spurrier won a conference championship at DUKE!!!!! And he did better at South Carolina than any coach they've ever had. Master innovator and he did adjust his offense at South Carolina from the Fun & Gun he ran at Florida. Meyer is great and is a better recruiter. But as for pure coaching, I'll take Steve Spurrier any day.

Spurrier did do wonders at Duke and SCar. However I'd honestly really never heard any noise about Utah until Meyer arrived. Sure I knew about what they call the religious war vs BYU but winning at Utah was nearly impressive as winning at Duke.

 

[TennesseeGator]

Spurrier imo. Meyer benefited from a down FSU and Tenn when he was here. FSU and Tenn both weren't that good at all while Meyer was here. Spurrier except for a couple of years always had a talent disadvantage to FSU unlike Meyer.

FSU finished in the top 5 every year Spurrier coached here except the last year I think and Tenn was a top 10 team many years Spurrier was here.

All true facts that you pointed out. Both FSU and UT were loaded with top notch talent while Spurrier was at UF. However Spurrier did go against some lowly UGA teams. LSU was nothing much during the majority of the Spurrier era. South Carolina was horrible for years. Bama and Auburn both had periods of probation during the Spurrier tenure. As did Miami which helps to a lesser extent.

What was weird though with the three mentioned above of experiencing some probation periods Spurs never got much if any from the state of Alabama or south Fla. He did hit the Belle Glade area pretty good though.

Both were great so it's never a debate to be won.

 

[Proud Gator]

Better coach, I have to say Meyer, and I can’t accept the bs surrounding how he left and quickly resurfaced, tough to say when you don’t like his bs

 

[sadgator]

If sadgator had one big game to play and needed a coach...Meyer.

 

[TennesseeGator]

Depends what you mean by better 'coach.' Are you talking about X's and O's or are you talking about results? There are coaches who revolutionized the game and don't have any championships while guys who aren't better on game day have more titles. Meyer has more titles than Spurrier but give them both equal rosters in a must win game and I'm picking Spurrier every time . So to me he's the better coach even though Meyer is more accomplished. The two can be mutually exclusive.

Spurrier is the better X's/O's type while I'll say Meyer was the better CEO type.

 

[GatorTheo]

Better coach, I have to say Meyer, and I can’t accept the bs surrounding how he left and quickly resurfaced, tough to say when you don’t like his bs

He just needed to get out of town.

 

[fsu939913]

Spurrier imo. Meyer benefited from a down FSU and Tenn when he was here. FSU and Tenn both weren't that good at all while Meyer was here. Spurrier except for a couple of years always had a talent disadvantage to FSU unlike Meyer.

FSU finished in the top 5 every year Spurrier coached here except the last year I think and Tenn was a top 10 team many years Spurrier was here.

That is a good point but could be used the other way. Spurrier nvr beat the noles at doak and we out recruited him a lot with Bowden which gave us the talent advantage. I feel that is the tie breaker between Meyer and Spurrier. As gaood as Spurrier was at recruiting, meyer was the elite of the elite at recruiting

 

[Gator Fever]

All true facts that you pointed out. Both FSU and UT were loaded with top notch talent while Spurrier was at UF. However Spurrier did go against some lowly UGA teams. LSU was nothing much during the majority of the Spurrier era. South Carolina was horrible for years. Bama and Auburn both had periods of probation during the Spurrier tenure. As did Miami which helps to a lesser extent.

What was weird though with the three mentioned above of experiencing some probation periods Spurs never got much if any from the state of Alabama or south Fla. He did hit the Belle Glade area pretty good though.

Both were great so it's never a debate to be won.

Yep the West wasn't as good but dealing with powerhouses FSU and Tenn most years I would say was more of a challenge than Meyer had with Bama in 08 and 09. Spurrier was usually playing with lesser talent against FSU except maybe in 95 and 96. Meyer had more talent on those 08 and 09 teams than Bama did I think.

I think if you gave both coaches equal talent Spurrier would outperform Meyer imo. Spurrier just missed a couple more Championship games due to late losses to FSU and Tenn in 98 and 01.

 

[Gator Fever]

That is a good point but could be used the other way. Spurrier nvr beat the noles at doak and we out recruited him a lot with Bowden which gave us the talent advantage. I feel that is the tie breaker between Meyer and Spurrier. As gaood as Spurrier was at recruiting, meyer was the elite of the elite at recruiting

Except for maybe Bama now I doubt anyone recruited as good as Bowden did those years at FSU. Spurrier was cursed when it came to playing at FSU - especially that game that ended up in a tie.

 

[fsu939913]

Except for maybe Bama now I doubt anyone recruited as good as Bowden did those years at FSU. Spurrier was cursed when it came to playing at FSU - especially that game that ended up in a tie.

"That game" lol i have watched that game about 20 times. Bowden says one if his greatest regrets as a head coach is not going for 2 there or maybe that he couldnt go for 2. I dont remember

 

[fsu939913]

Except for maybe Bama now I doubt anyone recruited as good as Bowden did those years at FSU. Spurrier was cursed when it came to playing at FSU - especially that game that ended up in a tie.

I also agree bowden recruited well but its different now, recruiting now is much more difficult than it was back then.

 

[Uniformed_ReRe]

Spurs built three separate programs from mediocrity into major contenders.

Meyers is a mercenary.

 

[Dannygator1989]

Spurrier spent 12 years at Florida.

7 SEC Titles (yes I’m counting 1990)
4 straight titles
1 National Title (went to back-to-back games)
7 SEC-East Titles

Meyer spent 6 years at Florida.

2 SEC Titles
2 National Titles
3 SEC-East Titles


Not even close. Especially considering what they both did at their next college gigs. Spurrier took a team that didn’t know what winning was, had only like 3 9 win seasons in its history, and ended up giving them 9, 10, and 11 win seasons, as well as division title. Meyer hopped over to a weak Big10 wih a powerhouse program and in 6 years has provided just one title and 2 conference titles with 3 title appearances.

So in the 12 years that Spurrier spent with Florida and the 12 years Meyer spent with Florida AND Ohio State, Spurrier only “loses” in the national championship total.

And everyone knows he’s a better strategist and football mind.

 

[TennesseeGator]

Yep the West wasn't as good but dealing with powerhouses FSU and Tenn most years I would say was more of a challenge than Meyer had with Bama in 08 and 09. Spurrier was usually playing with lesser talent against FSU except maybe in 95 and 96. Meyer had more talent on those 08 and 09 teams than Bama did I think.

I think if you gave both coaches equal talent Spurrier would outperform Meyer imo. Spurrier just missed a couple more Championship games due to late losses to FSU and Tenn in 98 and 01.

There were times we were playing with lesser talent vs UGA and annual opponent LSU.

Now granted the two teams you mentioned combined for 3 titles while the two I mentioned only had one...but in a much shorter tenure.

 

[TennesseeGator]

Spurs built three separate programs from mediocrity into major contenders.

Meyers is a mercenary.

Meyer didn't build Utah, Florida, and Ohio State into major contenders?

Throw in Bowling Green for shitz and giggles.

Why is the Duke job so much more difficult vs Utah? Utah pre P5 conference days? Because of academics? Because it's a basketball power?

 

[Dannygator1989]

Meyer didn't build Utah, Florida, and Ohio State into major contenders?

Throw in Bowling Green for shitz and giggles.

Why is the Duke job so much more difficult vs Utah? Utah pre P5 conference days? Because of academics? Because it's a basketball power?

I think it’s a pretty big stretch to say Meyer “built” Florida and Ohio State in major contenders. Florida was just a few years removed from major contention and minus the 6-6 debacle in the wake of Tressel being fired, Ohio State was a contender for the entire 2000s.

 

[PacoGator19]

Meyer didn't build Utah, Florida, and Ohio State into major contenders?

Throw in Bowling Green for shitz and giggles.

Why is the Duke job so much more difficult vs Utah? Utah pre P5 conference days? Because of academics? Because it's a basketball power?

Agreed.

Spurrier is a better X’s and O’s coach, whereas Meyer holds advantages in other aspects of coaching such as “recruiting” & placed more emphasis on Defense and STs.

Both great coaches.

 

[oozie7]

Yep the West wasn't as good but dealing with powerhouses FSU and Tenn most years I would say was more of a challenge than Meyer had with Bama in 08 and 09. Spurrier was usually playing with lesser talent against FSU except maybe in 95 and 96. Meyer had more talent on those 08 and 09 teams than Bama did I think.

I think if you gave both coaches equal talent Spurrier would outperform Meyer imo. Spurrier just missed a couple more Championship games due to late losses to FSU and Tenn in 98 and 01.

You don't really have to guess on the 'what if' of them having equal talent IMO.

05- SC win
06- UF win with cockblock with a vastly superior team
07- UF blowout win
08- UF blowout win
09- UF win
10- SC dominating win in Swamp

So Meyer went 4-2 against SC and if not for the cock block would have been 3-3. And we can all agree we had way more talented teams. To put that into perspective, how many coaches beat UF twice at UF? Pretty sure Saban and Miles are the only two besides Spurrier. And SC didn't have the talent those programs had.

 

[oozie7]

Meyer didn't build Utah, Florida, and Ohio State into major contenders?

Throw in Bowling Green for shitz and giggles.

Why is the Duke job so much more difficult vs Utah? Utah pre P5 conference days? Because of academics? Because it's a basketball power?

He built BG for sure, that was a crazy good coaching job. Not so much with Utah and Ohio St. Utah IMO. Utah had talent and just needed decent coaching, he also inherited a #1 pick at QB in Smith. The two seasons before Meyer they went:

01: 8-4
02: 5-6

Ohio St. was a championship program. They went 6-6 the year before him BUT that only happened because they had the tattoo scandal and had a bunch of starters suspended. Prior to that they had gone:

10: 12-1
09: 11-2
08: 10-3
07: 11-2
06: 12-1
05: 10-2

They had finished in the top 10 six straight years and had two national championship appearances before the scandal where they had a bunch of people suspended and went 6-6. That team was preseason top 5 too IIRC so they'd have likely been in the title picture again. He also inherited the top dual threat QB recruit in the nation in Braxton Miller which is one of the reasons he chose to go there. Ohio St. was anything but a rebuild.

 

[The_Spirit_Of_Numbers2]

Come on now.. This one isn't even close boys

 

[The_Spirit_Of_Numbers2]

If you actually go back and look at the long string of success that Spurrier had from, really 93 on.. and at home especially, it's really unmatched.. On down years with a team like 98 they had the yips inside the 10 or 5 yard line in an unreal blunder way that only UF can do for games on end.. They kept fumbling or turning the ball over all year inside the scoring zone and almost lost to Bama late in 98 in Tuscaloosa because of it, continued to do it again the next week at home against LSU but won the game because of Steves play calling overall pounding the ball with Terry Jackson and an ingenius trick play ball play from a screen out to Mcgriff after a quick turnaround from defensive stop and bad punt that put Gators around midfield or their own 48.. Lined up 3 wide out there to the field side.. Johnson threw a quck screen to Travis Mcgriff then the entire LSU secondary froze and he threw a perfect deep ball strike to Travis Taylor I believe for a TD that put the Bengal Tigers away that night and avenged the 97 loss..

That team was like tops in scoring offense as usual with all Steves teams in the 90's but were like #119 in redzone turnovers and fumbles down in that territory.. Lost to UT by beating ourselves that year, that same year that Vols team went on to win their only National Title ring in our lifetimes the year after Manning left 0-4 against Spurrier and the Florida Gators with Tee Martin.. That OT collapse from our kicker cost us another shot to go back to Atlanta and the SEC Championship which would have been at that point, 8 of 9 years.. Even that team went on to the Orange Bowl that year to beat down Donovan Mcnabb and his Syracuse team and went like 11-2 I believe.. Spurriers average seasons for our standard still resulted in At Large bids for BCS Bowl games like that Orange Bowl and the longest home winning streak in the Swamp and best in the NCAA for many years up until 1999 the following season.. He won 10 games every year and either went to Atlanta to play for and most times usually winning the SEC Conference each year, or taking his teams with new turnover from the NC teams in 95' and 96'.. Spurrier built Florida into what it was and what it still is really LONG before Meyer ever stepped foot on a University of Florida campus and just continued it with the Zook elite level of players recruited in place there..

They are just two entirely different coaches, Spurrier is the best play caller in the history of College Football in my humble opinion and if not he's arguably for sure up there as one of them in the top 3-4 and he did it for over a DECADE.. Even Nole, Vol, and Dawg fans can and should be able and willing to admit that.. He killed everyone with his great timed ball plays and balance with the running attack with big, fast, physical backs that he had aplenty...

 

[GADAWGinIraq]

Spurrier and it's not close. Meyer won but then tore down Gator football and snuck out of town.

 

[fsu939913]

Spurs built three separate programs from mediocrity into major contenders.

Meyers is a mercenary.

Meyers is a mercenary but everywhere he has been he won big. Utah, UF, and ohio st....hell even bowling green

 

[fsu939913]

Agreed.

Spurrier is a better X’s and O’s coach, whereas Meyer holds advantages in other aspects of coaching such as “recruiting” & placed more emphasis on Defense and STs.

Both great coaches.

Im friends with someone who played for meyer on the championship team when Leak was QB. He told me meyers single greatest strength was motivation. He made everyone on the team feel like the most important player and he was so detail oriented that the players always felt they had the advantage. They hardcore believedd in his system and that it was the best

 

[fsu939913]

Spurs built three separate programs from mediocrity into major contenders.

Meyers is a mercenary.

Im not sure whst 3 programs spurrier built into major co tention. Uf i agree with but he didnt build any others into "major" contention....he made them better sure...but they were never even close to being contenders

 

[Uniformed_ReRe]

Maybe not Duke, but USCe was certainly an upper-tier SEC East program for a while. And this was when the SEC was near its peak.

 

[TennesseeGator]

Maybe not Duke, but USCe was certainly an upper-tier SEC East program for a while. And this was when the SEC was near its peak.

Not downing the Ol Ball Coach but everyone uses his SCar success.

He was still in charge and was as responsible as much as Muschamp, Richt, and Butch/Dooley for letting Mizzou be top's in the east.

Heck he was even around when butter tooth won the east his first year.

No doubt he did a tremendous job at SCar but he never was "upper tier" for long when the east was a big pile of hot shiz.

 

[Uniformed_ReRe]

He had three 11 win seasons at USCe. Those were literally the only 11 win seasons in the program's entire 100+ year history.