ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[url=http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8735835/college-football-unhealthy-culture-contributed-steve-spurrier-failure-nfl]College football - Unhealthy culture contributed to Steve Spurrier's failure in NFL - ESPN[/url]



Pretty good read and interesting. Can't say that I'm shocked to see some of these things. Hope our owner never gets involved with making draft picks again. **** him.


[QUOTE]But several games into his first season with the Redskins, Spurrier was playing rookie quarterback Patrick Ramsey even though he didn't want to. Owner Daniel Snyder had pushed to draft Ramsey in the first round.[/QUOTE]


[QUOTE]"Because Spurrier was so hands-off on defense, it got to the point where guys on defense were doing whatever the heck they wanted to do," Hasselbeck said. "You had LaVar Arrington freelancing and Jeremiah Trotter doing his own thing. I think they even tried to bench Bruce Smith at one point because he wasn't the same player, but [Smith] went above Spurrier and started the following week.[/QUOTE]

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

So basically he was a typical college coach that could control the lives of 20 year old students but not the lives of 30 year old men. That is usually why college coaches fail in the NFL, cause you can't control a nfl player like a college player.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

I'm not sure any coach would have succeeded with this organization at the time...but I don't think Spurrier was prepared to coach an NFL team either. No discipline..inexperienced coaches etc. A bad situation all around.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

To much ego, to little work ethic.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

More about the Snyder and Vinny's dumbass football decisions than Spurrier coaching...but the mix of the two were lethal. But yet we continue the same coctail of ingnorance and stupidty under Snyder, Vinny and Zorn.

Glad its all in the past. I still pull for Spurrier at South Carolina.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=53Fan;975033]I'm not sure any coach would have succeeded with this organization at the time...but I don't think Spurrier was prepared to coach an NFL team either. No discipline..inexperienced coaches etc. A bad situation all around.[/quote]

I agree. Even with the best GM and personnel guys, Spurrier would have failed because he didn't adapt or game plan all that well.

He didn't want it bad enough and he was woefully underprepared.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/ross-tucker-tells-hilarious-steve-spurrier-stories/2011/07/22/gIQAmjhXTI_blog.html]Ross Tucker tells hilarious Steve Spurrier stories - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post[/url]

Came across this old gem about Spurrier too. LOL Good stuff. So glad we don't deal with this kind of Mickey Mouse crap anymore.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

This is right in my wheelhouse. Believe I've shared many of these stories over the years here

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;975045]This is right in my wheelhouse. Believe I've shared many of these stories over the years here[/quote]

any favorites you like to humorous with?

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

In college the talent mis-matches are so big that a lot of times any scheme will work. Spurrier was so used to having much better talent than his opponent that he took it for granted and assumed it was his schemes that were making the difference. He never realized it wasnt the schemes but the superior talent that made him look so good. As we all know everyone in the NFL is good and its the schemes and attention to detail that matter. Spurrier never figured that out.

I'm not surprised special teams are mentioned as something OBC didnt care about. When you are crushing Cupcake U by 40 missing a field goal in the 4th quarter doesnt matter. In the NFL its the difference between winning and losing.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=NC_Skins;975044][url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/ross-tucker-tells-hilarious-steve-spurrier-stories/2011/07/22/gIQAmjhXTI_blog.html]Ross Tucker tells hilarious Steve Spurrier stories - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post[/url]

Came across this old gem about Spurrier too. LOL Good stuff. So glad we don't deal with this kind of Mickey Mouse crap anymore.[/quote]

Sounds like it would make a great movie. Comedy of course. My God what a joke we use to be.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=donofriose;975031]So basically he was a typical college coach that could control the lives of 20 year old students but not the lives of 30 year old men. That is usually why college coaches fail in the NFL, cause you can't control a nfl player like a college player.[/quote]

I remember Spurrier saying one time something like he was surprised he still had to hold a grown mans hand and tell him what to do like a child. Seems he expected pros to act like pros and not needing their hand held for everything.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

I'll say this, everyone knows I'm a Spurrier fan. I was disappointed with his tenure here, but he clearly had a lot stacked against him in DC. He was putting up more PPG with his absolutely pathetic roster than Gibbs did with a much better roster. I wonder what would have happened if he went to a program with a real front office. He did an okay job scheming up ways to get points with subpar talent. Better suited for an O coordinator position.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

Players lazy in meetings:[url]http://www.thewarpath.net/redskins-locker-room/28140-sometimes-its-who-you-keep-not-2.html#post524128[/url]

[QUOTE]Spurrier didn't give a damn who was playing defense. He couldn't name more than two or three players on defense without a script in front of him.

Under Spurrier, meetings where chaotic and no one was held accountable. Ladell Betts on multiple occassions would doze off and call people on his cell phone. Rod Gardner would do the same. Heck he called me once during a meeting. Players were regularly late to meetings. No one was ever held accountable. Under Gibbs (granted I wasn't actually there for Gibbs, I left right before) there was accountability and an understanding of the consequences of not being responsible. Not in terms of fines but in terms of the respect of your colleagues and the effects on the field.

For all intents and purposes, the true head coach that first year was Marvin Lewis. He was the leader of many meetings, he knew both the offense and defense.

As for player acquisitions and personnel, Snyder just gave Spurrier whatever he wanted, with the occasional minor disagreement. But it was such a joke because Spurrier never attended any personnel evaluation meetings, he would vacation at the start of free agency. You know how most coaches, Gibbs for example, call up a potential free agent, fly out to see him, fly him in to Redskins Park, etc., Spurrier couldn't even be reached by phone during the first days of free agency. The whole Jetskins ordeal of 2003, there was no rhyme or reason to that. That was just Dan and Vinny (mainly Dan) scrambling to do something based on the offense Spurrier said he needed.

That was pretty much the last straw. Snyder wanted Spurrier to succeed, for selfish reasons as well. But changes were ready to happen the next offseason. I believe it would have started with putting Cerrato in charge of the football operations, and responsible for the roster. The same way he is now, but five years earlier. But when Spurrier quit, and Gibbs came aboard, VC took a back seat.

In short, there was no sense of responsibility under Spurrier and he constantly skipped out on important meetings and off-season decisions. It was every man for himself in the locker room. There was no "team"[/QUOTE]

Snyder and Ramsey: [url]http://www.thewarpath.net/redskins-locker-room/40480-sam-bradford-2.html#post824076[/url]

[QUOTE]Not to sidetrack this conversation, but that's not exactly true about #1. Regardless of what Snyder told the WaPo Magazine. Ramsey was not their first choice. Choice #1. Heck 1-3 was Joey Harrington. They tried desperately to move up to get him. When that option failed, they decided they would sit at #18 and wait to see if Donte Stallworth fell to them. When that didn't happen is when they mobilized a trade down with the Patriots to get Ramsey and add picks later in the draft. He can say he "discovered" Ramsey (whatever that means) and that Ramsey was the guy they wanted. But I can tell you first hand it was really Joey Harrington all along. Why do you think they were so close to trading Ramsey to the Bears before he even took a snap with the team?[/QUOTE]

Bruce Smith: [url]http://www.thewarpath.net/redskins-locker-room/32694-should-snyder-listen-to-his-players-3.html#post609354[/url]

[QUOTE]Bruce Smith did worse than go to Dan Snyder, he (and Fred Drasner) used to go to Snyder's father and had Snyder's father berate Dan Snyder for not seeing to it that Smith got more playing time[/QUOTE]


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Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

God Spurrier was a joke and thats pretty bad by Bruce Smith. So glad that crap is over. Thanks SS

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=NC_Skins;975044][URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/ross-tucker-tells-hilarious-steve-spurrier-stories/2011/07/22/gIQAmjhXTI_blog.html"]Ross Tucker tells hilarious Steve Spurrier stories - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post[/URL]

Came across this old gem about Spurrier too. LOL Good stuff. So glad we don't deal with this kind of Mickey Mouse crap anymore.[/quote]

So glad that's all in the past but pretty funny stuff.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

Thanks for posting those Smoot. Man that was a /facepalm series of stories. Spurrier was clueless as hell. He was so used to having vastly superior athletes in college, he figured he could do that in the NFL and it work. Dude is a total clown, and something tells me he does the same thing in college as well. He really is no different than Haynesworth taking money and not doing jack to earn it.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

People forget also how in demand Spurrier was. Several NFL teams threw big money his way

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;975072]People forget also how in demand Spurrier was. Several NFL teams threw big money his way[/quote]

Just like what will happen with Chip Kelly..

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

Your right Smack, and i drank the cool aid for a year or so. But of all the coaching changes he ranks as the worst. The Ol Ball coach can go #$%^& my %^&&in %^&*()lls!

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

Sums up SPurrier as a coach.


[IMG]http://gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs2/1077573_o.gif[/IMG]

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

I remember Joe Theismann ten years ago saying that Spurrier didn't have the luxury of ever being an offensive coordinator in the NFL before he was a head coach. Maybe a better question should be, why did Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer SUCCEED in the NFL?

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

Spurrier just didn't have the work ethic a coach needs for the NFL.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=REDSKINS4ever;975096]I remember Joe Theismann ten years ago saying that Spurrier didn't have the luxury of ever being an offensive coordinator in the NFL before he was a head coach. Maybe a better question should be, why did Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer SUCCEED in the NFL?[/quote]

Switzer just rode in on JJ's coat tails and had a great team that was already set up to win so he just had to keep from messing things up.

JJ was successful because he recognized that the talent levels in the NFL are essentially the same so he paid attention to details on both sides of the ball and knew how to adjust as the game went on. Plus I think he ran a more "pro style" on both sides of the ball in college so he didnt have too much to do by way of adapting to the pro game.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

Yeah Switzer would have been a massive failure on probably just about any other team. The Cowboys team he inherited was loaded and was basically on auto-pilot.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=REDSKINS4ever;975096]I remember Joe Theismann ten years ago saying that Spurrier didn't have the luxury of ever being an offensive coordinator in the NFL before he was a head coach. Maybe a better question should be, why did Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer SUCCEED in the NFL?[/quote]

3 young hall of famers at the skill positions at the start of their prime didnt hurt. A great offensive line also. And back then Jones wasn't as controlling.
Cant really compare these two situations.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=Mattyk;975106]Yeah Switzer would have been a massive failure on probably just about any other team. The Cowboys team he inherited was loaded and was basically on auto-pilot.[/quote]

Exactly! And Jimmy Johnson succeeded because the Cowboys drafted really well not to mention Johnson had established a pretty good coaching crew.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=irish;975102]Switzer just rode in on JJ's coat tails and had a great team that was already set up to win so he just had to keep from messing things up.

JJ was successful because he recognized that the talent levels in the NFL are essentially the same so he paid attention to details on both sides of the ball and knew how to adjust as the game went on. Plus I think he ran a more "pro style" on both sides of the ball in college so he didnt have too much to do by way of adapting to the pro game.[/quote]

Yeah, you're right. When Dallas won their last Super Bowl in 1995 with Switzer as HC, Jimmy Johnson's shadow still loomed greatly because those were his players on that team that he'd put together. Johnson also had a few strengths which like you said with the ability to pay attention to detail where his entire team was concerned.

Spurrier on the other hand was out of his element from day one.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

The "Old Ball Coach" may have not made it in the NFL, but he's a force in college. I'm a gamecock fan, and I love watching the post game interviews with him. Dude is funny.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

This thread makes me inexplicably feel like playing golf.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

And now we have Chip Kellys of the world thinking they can take thier static college offense to the next level. An ego is a hell of a drug.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=Mattyk;975097]Spurrier just didn't have the work ethic a coach needs for the NFL.[/quote]At the time, I thought his USFL record boded well for his NFL coaching career.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=Lotus;975230]This thread makes me inexplicably feel like playing golf.[/quote]

:lol:

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

I'll never understand why Steve Spurrier just quit like he did. There were people who wanted to see him fail and yet he could have remained and given himself time to prove them wrong. But he didn't. He left the pro game like a mongrel with its tail between its legs. Truly shameful.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

His wife also hated living in the DC area. I think it was putting a bit of a strain on their marriage.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=REDSKINS4ever;975265]I'll never understand why Steve Spurrier just quit like he did. There were people who wanted to see him fail and yet he could have remained and given himself time to prove them wrong. But he didn't. He left the pro game like a mongrel with its tail between its legs. Truly shameful.[/quote]

I would think once the owner starts telling you who to draft and play there aren't many options. Personally I would have let the SOB fire me and collect on my contract. People, some, forget Snyder is a real piece of work.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

Spurrier brought the majority of the mess onto himself. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread and previously on this board, in those days Dan Snyder had much less influence than people think. His dad had more say than Dan has ever had. And Fred Drasner was the worst owner no one talks about.

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

It was Gerald Snyder who insisted they sign Bruce Smith Snd start him, even after Smith himself wanted to just retire.

It was Drasner who demanded Turner be fired before the season was over and who demanded Schottenheimer be fired as well

Re: ESPN: Why did Steve Spurrier fail in NFL?
 

[quote=REDSKINS4ever;975096]I remember Joe Theismann ten years ago saying that Spurrier didn't have the luxury of ever being an offensive coordinator in the NFL before he was a head coach. Maybe a better question should be, why did Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer SUCCEED in the NFL?[/quote]

Because head coaching isn't about schemes and Xs and Os, it's about leadership. And Switzer wasnt much of a success.