Milestones in the football career of Steve Spurrier

Milestones in the football career of Steve Spurrier

Published Oct. 13, 2015 3:47 p.m. ET

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Milestones in the life and career of Steve Spurrier, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback and national championship winning coach:

PLAYING CAREER

Oct. 24, 1964: Spurrier is quarterback as Florida loses to Alabama 17-14 in Tuscaloosa. It was the only time Spurrier and Crimson Tide coach Paul ''Bear'' Bryant - two massive Southeastern Conference giants - met on a football field. ''I got my teeth knocked out in that game. That's what I remember,'' Spurrier said, recounting how a Crimson Tide defender caught him right under the chin back when players didn't wear mouthpieces. ''Spit it out and kept on playing.''

Nov. 22, 1966: Spurrier wins the Heisman trophy after going 179 of 291 for 2,012 yards, throwing for 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He won overwhelmingly, getting more than twice as many points as second place finisher Bob Griese of Purdue.

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Dec. 12, 1976: Spurrier plays his final game of a 10-year NFL season a 31-14 loss to the New England Patriots for his 0-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He completed 52 percent of his passes for 6,878 yards, 40 touchdowns and 60 interceptions in his NFL career.

FLORIDA COACH

Dec. 31, 1989: Spurrier's alma mater Florida hires him as head coach. Spurrier started his coaching career as quarterbacks coach for the Gators. He spent time as an assistant at Georgia Tech and Duke. His first head coaching job was with the USFL Tampa Bay Bandits. He was Duke's head coach for three years and his 20 wins with the Blue Devils remains seventh on the school's all-time victory list.

Nov. 17, 1990: Florida beats Kentucky 47-15 to finish off a 6-1 SEC record in his first season with the Gators. Florida was on probation, so the SEC didn't recognize the Gators as champions. But Spurrier claimed the crown and would say he had seven SEC titles, trailing only Bryant.

Jan. 2, 1997: Florida wins Spurrier's only national title, avenging a Florida State loss on the final game of the regular season with a 52-20 win over the Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl. Spurrier played for the national title in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, but Florida lost to Nebraska 62-24.

Jan. 7, 2002: Spurrier leaves Florida with a 122-27-1 record. The Washington Redskins hired him 10 days later. In two years in the NFL, Spurrier went 12-20.

SOUTH CAROLINA COACH

Nov. 23, 2004: After taking a year off from football, Spurrier returns to the SEC to coach South Carolina. At the time, the Gamecocks had three bowl wins in 113 years of football. Spurrier won five bowl games in 10 years. Before Spurrier, the Gamecocks' best season was 10 wins in 1984. Spurrier's teams won 11 games from three straight seasons from 2011 to 2013.

Nov. 24, 2012: South Carolina beats Clemson 27-17, allowing Spurrier to set a record with 65 wins. Spurrier also remains the winningest coach at Florida with 122 victories, joining Bryant at Alabama (232) and at Kentucky (60) as the only coaches to hold win records at two SEC schools. Spurrier's 134 SEC wins are second only to Bryant's 159 league victories.

Oct. 13, 2015: Spurrier resigns (not retires, he emphasizes) as South Carolina's coach. He finishes with a 86-49 record with the Gamecocks, a 228-89-2 record in college football and a 275-130-2 record in the NFL, USFL and college.

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