 |
 |
|
| | Monday, September 4 Spurrier plans to 'coach 'em up better' this season | |||||
| By Pat Forde Special to ESPN.com Florida Gators 1999 record: 9-4 (7-2) Coach: Steve Spurrier Returning starters: 13 (4 offense, 9 defense) Outlook Is it possible that Steve Superior wobbles into this season on a three-game losing streak? It's especially hard to believe when you consider that prior to 1999, Stevie Boy hadn't lost three games in a year since '92. Air Florida hit bottom in the SEC title game, when it scored seven points -- lowest output for the Gators in the the last 99 games -- in a blowout loss to Alabama. "The mighty Gators weren't so mighty," was Spurrier's frank assessment of '99 at SEC Media Days in July. "I'm gonna coach 'em up better." The critical coaching area for Spurrier is at quarterback, where he tried everything but witchcraft with Doug Johnson and Jesse Palmer last year. This year Palmer is the leader, but freshman wunderkind Brock Berlin arrived on campus last winter and went through spring ball, giving him a shot to unseat Palmer. It could be a fascinating situation to watch, since Spurrier's teams tend to rise and fall on the arm of the QB. Last fall the Gators threw it 53 times more than they ran it, but that could conceivably be reversed this year. Spurrier returns three backs who ran for at least 470 yards a year ago -- and his defense should be dynamite as well, with nine returning starters. A team built on the running game and defense -- is this Pat Dye's school or Steve Spurrier's? Keep an eye on ... Defensive end Alex Brown became an overnight sensation last year by draping himself all over Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin, sacking him five times on national television. Brown had a tendency to fade in and out from there on, which makes his school-record 13 sacks all the more impressive -- imagine what he could do at full motor all the time. It's a good season if ... Spurrier is not rotating quarterbacks every play, keeps his visor on his head and has his team back in national title contention. |
ALSO SEE Coaching carousel slowing down in SEC | |||||