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.
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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.