There may be no greater troll in college football history than former Florida and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier. Even now, years after his retirement, he loves taking shots at former rivals.
After finishing his college coaching career with the Gamecocks, Spurrier has returned to his Florida roots. He was a Heisman-winning quarterback for the Gators, and then one of the most successful head coaches in program history, leading the team to the consensus national championship in 1996.
Among his most famous barbs came at the expense of one of Florida’s SEC rivals, Tennessee. The Vols were a college football power back during Spurrier’s tenure at Florida, but couldn’t quite get over the top until Peyton Manning enrolled in Knoxville.
Tennessee missed out on the Sugar Bowl, which would feature the best SEC team each year until the BCS changed the college postseason. Instead, the Vols would often find themselves in the less-prominent Citrus Bowl, leading Spurrier to joke that “You can’t spell Citrus without U-T.” Another time, he took a swipe at Peyton Manning, after he made the decision to return to Tennessee for his senior season.
“I know why Peyton came back for his senior year. He wanted to be a three-time star of the Citrus Bowl.” (vintage) Spurrier on Manning
— Paul Pabst (@PaulPabst) October 13, 2015
Tennessee was a regular in the game in the mid-1990s, appearing in the Citrus Bowl in 1994 and in back-to-back years in 1996 and 1997. The following year, Manning and the Vols would break through to the Orange Bowl, where they lost as the No. 3 team in the country to second-ranked Nebraska, while it was Florida that would take the Citrus Bowl spot. UT wouldn’t win a title until the following year, with Tee Martin under center.
Steve Spurrier’s famous Citrus Bowl quote still comes up as a favorite Spurrier-ism. With the opening of his new restaurant, “Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille,” on the street named after him in Gainesville, a reference to the quote found its way onto the drink menu.
So Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille opens today and a friend in Gainesville reports back that the menu has a nod to the Vols and “you can’t spell Citrus without U-T.” pic.twitter.com/CQVxlNwDlM
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 11, 2021
Pretty good.
The rest of the menu doesn’t even feature Florida references all over the place. According to Greg Auman, the only reference to a former Gator is the “Ike Hilliard Catch of the Day,” so Spurrier—or whomever designed the menu—made sure to fit in this dig at the Vols.
The post Look: Steve Spurrier’s New Restaurant Trolls Old Rival appeared first on The Spun.
Leave a Reply