One lousy season one too much for Spurrier

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- As disgusted as Steve Spurrier was after Florida ended a decade of dominance with a whimper, he managed to keep his sense of humor.
The Gators lost their last three games last season, the first time in Spurrier's 10 years as coach that the program had lost more than back to back games.
"It might have helped in recruiting," Spurrier said this week at SEC Media Days. "One recruiting analyst said that high school kids looked around and said, 'Hey, I can play for the mighty Gators because they're not so mighty right now.' "
Before the laughter among an auditorium of reporters could fade, Spurrier added, "We don't want to try that theory every year."
Indeed. Florida signed what was widely regarded as the nation's No. 1 recruiting class. But Spurrier's tolerance for the relatively sloppy brand of football that his team played in a 9-4 season wore thin.
It's Spurrier's resolve to return the Gators to the kind of crisp, defense-shredding machine they were in the mid-1990s when they won a national championship, played for another and stacked up four consecutive SEC titles.
To accomplish that, Spurrier probably will have to entrust several key positions to freshmen.
Help is needed mostly on offense, the source of many Spurrier visor manglings last season. Florida fell from 14th nationally in total offense in 1998 to 30th last year. Scoring declined to an average of 30.8 points a game, the lowest since 1992.
"We don't even hardly score 50 anymore in the conference," Spurrier said. "We used to ring up 50 on a lot of conference teams. We've been struggling lately."
From 1993-97, the Gators scored at least 50 points on 13 SEC opponents. But they managed it only once in 1998 and did not do it last season when the high was 39 points in an overtime loss to Alabama.
Where Florida had been so strong for years, soft spots developed.
During Spurrier's tenure, six Florida receivers have left before their eligibility was up to enter the NFL Draft, including Travis Taylor and Darrell Jackson this year. Some of the offensive line recruits haven't panned out recently. Freshmen might win jobs in both areas.
The defense disappointed, allowing almost 50 yards a game more than the previous season.
Carrying the banner for inconsistency was the quarterback position, which hasn't operated at maximum efficiency for an extended period of time since Danny Wuerffel hauled off the Heisman Trophy in 1996.
"But I certainly think we have the talent there to get back where we were in '95 and '96 real soon," Spurrier said. "I don't know if it's going to be this year, but real soon."
Freshman Brock Berlin of Shreveport could take over at quarterback early if senior Jesse Palmer stumbles. Berlin, the consensus 1999 national high school player of the year, is the most highly acclaimed recruit Spurrier has ever signed. Spurrier compares him to Wuerffel.
Like Wuerffel, Berlin understands the value of absorbing knowledge through tape study, practice and being inquisitive, Spurrier said.
Berlin completed high school a semester early and enrolled at Florida in January. Before spring drills ever started Spurrier made him the No. 2 quarterback ahead of Rex Grossman, a former Parade All-American like Berlin.
Even if this isn't the Fun 'n Gun teams of the mid-1990s -- yet -- it at least has adopted some of the swagger.
After watching Georgia receive most of the preseason magazine nods to win the SEC East, Gators junior defensive end Alex Brown acknowledged the Bulldogs' experience with 19 returning starters but said: "Time doesn't make talent. They haven't won an SEC championship in 18 years. Why should they be picked to win this one?"
Why not Florida, Brown said.
The media who cover the SEC agreed and picked Florida by a narrow margin over Georgia. Maybe they see the same thing Spurrier does, emerging talent that can return the Gators to their perch.
"We need to be a little smarter and a little tougher than we have in years past," Spurrier said. "I feel like we're going to have a very good offense this year. I don't know who the star players are yet, but I like everything about the situation we're in."

This article was published on Sunday, July 30, 2000

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