Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel details the first time he met Steve Spurrier
Former Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier has a long, complicated history with the Tennessee Vols. Spurrier grew up in East Tennessee and likely would've played college football for the Volunteers had Tennessee not been a run-first program at the time. The Head Ball Coach rooted for Tennessee as a kid, but he wanted to […]
Former Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier has a long, complicated history with the Tennessee Vols.
Spurrier grew up in East Tennessee and likely would've played college football for the Volunteers had Tennessee not been a run-first program at the time.
The Head Ball Coach rooted for Tennessee as a kid, but he wanted to play college football at a program that passed the ball. UT was running the single-wing offense at the time, so Spurrier ended up at Florida.
During his coaching career, Spurrier never passed up an opportunity to take a shot at the Vols. His most famous Tennessee-related quip was likely "You can't spell Citrus without UT", which was of course a reference to Tennessee falling short of a national championship in the early to mid-90s.
It always felt like Spurrier's constant jabs toward the Volunteers came from a place of love (as we mentioned, he grew up a Tennessee fan in Johnson City).
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel details the first time he met Steve Spurrier
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel was honored this week with the FWAA's Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach Award. He shared the honor with South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer.
Spurrier personally gave the award to Heupel and Beamer.
This wasn't Heupel's first time meeting Spurrier.
Heupel actually met Spurrier years ago at Oklahoma.
“The first time I actually met him, he was doing a treadmill workout in Oklahoma,” Heupel said. “I was a player and he was there seeing his son, and I don’t know how long of a run he was on, he had a good sweat going. But I was just able to sit down and pick his brain a little bit about football and offensive play and his development of quarterbacks at that time.”
That sounds about right. Spurrier running on a treadmill, probably shirtless. It was likely followed by a cold Michelob Ultra and a trip to the golf course.
Classic Spurrier.
Like him or not — and I know plenty of Tennessee fans fall in the "not" category — there's no doubt that Spurrier is one of the best coaches in the history of the sport. And certainly the most entertaining.
Featured image via Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports
