Steve Spurrier
Steve Spurrier
Stephen Orr Spurrieris a former American football player and coach, having served as the head coach of three college and two professional teams. Spurrier was also noteworthy as a standout college football player, and he spent a decade playing professionally in the National Football League. Spurrier retired from coaching in 2015 and now serves as an ambassador and consultant for the University of Florida's athletic department...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth20 April 1945
CountryUnited States of America
We're not a great passing team because our quarterback is not a scrambler and our protection is pretty good, not super, so we have to pick our spots, we just can't fire it 35, 40 times or something bad is going to happen,
If we didn't have a passing game, we didn't have a chance last night, ... If we didn't throw the ball successfully, we'd still be out there trying to score probably.
He's just going to play through it. We're going to stick with him. He's OK. Hopefully he can learn from it. That's what you almost have to do -- let a young guy go play and learn from this. He's got a lot of potential. But we can't ask him to throw 50 passes every game. That's for sure.
The way our pass protection is right now, I don't know if Blake could last anyway.
Sometimes, I think they think it's really a difficult thing to throw and catch and complete long passes down the field, ... But the talent level is here to do that.
They've got pass rushers all over the place. They've got cover guys, just a very talented group of guys, ... But no different than Georgia and some of the other top teams we're going to play. ... We've got execute, move the ball and try to score some points.
The first key is pass protection -- giving the quarterback enough time. After that, it's getting guys open. The QB has to know where the receivers are going, how the defenses cover them. You need a smart guy who will make smart decisions 95 percent of the time.
But as coaches, we need to get a little more fire and passion and be more demanding that our guys get the job done. I think players will respond to that, and we'll see.
I thought we could make a field goal there.
It got sticky there in the fourth quarter,
I think today gave him a little more confidence. He threw the ball with authority most of the day.
I said, 'If it happens in the normal course of the game, then that's the way it's going to happen,' ... We had our backups in there.
I said, 'Dang, we've got big, strong, good-looking offensive linemen. How come they're not blocking as well as I hope? I'm trying to figure that out.
I salute and praise the people in Shreveport for having this bowl for 30 years. I know it's not always easy keeping these things alive, but I think the Independence Bowl is the 11th-oldest bowl in the country, so they have done a super job here.