AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August > 04 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USIs Steve Spurrier right or wrong?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I want to take a time out from breaking down the various positions to throw out this question to you:
Is Steve Spurrier right or wrong?
On Friday, the USA Today preseason coaches poll was released. For the past 15 years or so, except for the three years he was out of college football (2002-2004), Spurrier has given his No. 25 vote in the preseason poll to Duke.
Yes, Duke enters this season having lost 20 straight games and has lost 25 of its last 28 games in the ACC.
Spurrier does it so that for one week, long before any games are played, Duke will receive one point and be the last entry on the list of teams at the bottom of the poll that receive votes.
Spurrier sees it as a harmless gesture to a school that gave him his first head coaching job in college football. He rewarded them first in 1989 by winning an ACC championship, which was his springboard to Florida. From his standpoint, he is a very successful (and wealthy) man today because of the opportunity Duke gave him.
USA Today, however, has expressed concerns and will prevail upon the American Football Coaches Association, which picks the 60 coaches who participate in the poll, to get Spurrier to take his No. 25 vote as seriously as his No. 1 vote.
USA Today’s point is that if every coach did this, it would undermine the integrity of the poll. And polls are being watched more carefully now that they play a big part in determining who plays in the BCS championship.
I have long been a big proponent of full disclosure in the coaches poll, so that every vote is public every week. Right now, only the votes in the last regular season poll, the one that goes into the final BCS standings, are public.
Still, I agree with Spurrier.
If he’s voting Duke No. 25 when they are 0-2, that’s a problem. But if he’s voting them No. 25 when they are 0-0, like the other 118 teams in Division I-A, I don’t see a problem. Nobody is negatively impacted by the No. 25 pick in college football poll that is released on Aug. 3.
I think we all need to lighten up just a bit. The start of the season is still 26 days away.
Am I wrong? Is Spurrier wrong?
I’d like to hear your thoughts.
Comments
By SEC is Football
August 4, 2007 8:49 AM | Link to this
Tony…I agree completely. Spurrier is not doing any harm in showing respect to a team that gave him an opportunity to he a head coach. He votes for Duke until they lose their first game and I just don’t see the harm. Some people do need to lighten up.
By steve
August 4, 2007 8:55 AM | Link to this
polls should not be released until @ the 5th or 6th game of the year; at least then you might have a better idea who the top 25 teams are. what superior did in the preseason pole is not hurting anybody
By zGamecocks
August 4, 2007 9:02 AM | Link to this
ditto!
By Ringleader
August 4, 2007 9:19 AM | Link to this
Spurrier voting for Duke is just as wrong as Tressel jerrymandering his vote last year for Ohio State. Or Tubberville making his pleas for votes, or the votes given to Lavell for his Brigham Young phony national championship. There has to be some accountability in your votes fron 1 to 25. But that is the problem with polls anyway, there is always a personal prefrence in there some where regardless if it is the coaches, sportswriters, fans ow whoever.
By greg
August 4, 2007 9:28 AM | Link to this
Steve,
100% correct. Because the polls are so vital to the BCS formula, it is patently unfair to rank teams before October. This allows for a much better evaluation of each team and a more accurate ranking, imo.
By Atlanta Gator
August 4, 2007 9:30 AM | Link to this
Tony——This is harmless fun, and says a lot about Steve Spurrier as a person. Notwithstanding the umbrage that some SEC fans take at his honest and sometimes colorful comments, he’s a great coach, a good guy, a fun quote, and he has demonstrated a lot of loyalty to his alma mater, the other programs for which he used to coach, and his former players and assistants. Anyone that wants to take issue with this, well, they need to lighten up.
By Atlanta Gator
August 4, 2007 9:35 AM | Link to this
P.S. I’m looking forward to the poll when Duke is actually ranked among the top 25 football programs in the country again. If coach K can do it, and SOS could do it, there’s no reason why a future Duke football coach can’t, too. I love it when academic institutions like Duke, Stanford, Northwestern and Vanderbilt have athletic programs that live up to the ideal.
By Appu
August 4, 2007 9:37 AM | Link to this
As Spurrier’s vote has not impact on the final outcome of the polls (remember, this is about bowl games), it is fine with me.
By Roswell Ed
August 4, 2007 9:43 AM | Link to this
Why are the coaches voting for themselves any way?
Do they let divers or gymnests vote for themselves? It’s stupid.
By Safetydawg
August 4, 2007 9:52 AM | Link to this
There are plenty of ways to document Spurrier as a jerk and I would love to see more ink on that subject, but this is not one of them.
USA Today’s position is a joke. “Integrity” and “poll” are mutually exclusive terms when it comes to determining the best teams.
By shane
August 4, 2007 10:08 AM | Link to this
the reason people are upset with the old ball coach is that his pre-season vote shows the flaws in the poll system. i think that is why spurrier does this every year. i will give the man credit,he has little use for bs. he loves to stick pins in the stuffed shirts of the “old boys club” that runs college football. in what other team sport in this great nation are champions elected? i say do away with the bcs completely,either win the nc on the field with playoffs,or go back to the old system and let the sportswrters vote for a champion,then we will all know the “championship”means nothing. uf slipped in under the radar last year,but it will be a cold day in hades before we have another champ from the sec. uf was given no respect before their game with osu,then they stomped the butts of the darlings of the northern media.
By Safetydawg
August 4, 2007 10:14 AM | Link to this
As one who welcomes all stories documenting how big a jerk Spurrier is, his vote for Duke doesn’t qualify as one.
The polls are a joke anyway. USA Today looks foolish talking about the integrity of the polls. The only thing with integrity would be a playoff.
By UFownsUGA
August 4, 2007 10:23 AM | Link to this
I really would like to hear how Spurrier is a jerk?
UGA fans just say that because he owned them so much while at UF. It’s the same reason they make up stereotypes like Jean Shorts. When you cant beat them make up something to make you feel better.
Spurrier runs as clean a program as anyone in the country. He regularly donates $25,000 to the womens athletic departments at UF and USC. He deferred extra money in his contract so his assistants could be paid more. He personally went out of his way to get Lou Holtz’s wife into the Shands Cancer Treatment program in Gainesville and helped save her life.
He may be cocky and say whats on his mind and poke fun at rivals at booster meetings but that hardly makes him a jerk. Maybe if the bulldogs wouldve put up a fight when he was at UF then maybe you wouldnt have so much hate for the man.
Besides if he hadnt beat UF in 2005 UGA would have not been SEC Champs.
By Atlanta Gator
August 4, 2007 10:34 AM | Link to this
UFownsUGA——Sometimes your blog comments are a little strident, but your brief summary of SOS’ anecdotal good deeds gives a great deal of insight into the man, rather than the mythical “Evil Genius” that some SEC fans would rather spend their time belittling. Defaming your rivals’ hero coach doesn’t make one’s own heroes appear any bigger or better by comparison.
SOS may be the Head ‘C** now, but he will always be many Gator fans’ Ol’ Ball Coach.
Go Gators.
By Matt
August 4, 2007 10:38 AM | Link to this
Tony, the polls don’t have much integrity for anyone to undermine. They are the biggest farce in the sports world, ESPECIALLY preseason polls. College football fans take them way to seriously. Actually its not the fans. Its more like the media taking them way too seriously. I think its hilarious what Suprrier is doing. In fact, I wish all coaches would do it so we could shut this joke of a system down.
By shane
August 4, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this
atlanta gator,i don’t know if you noticed,but most of us dogs agree with you guys on this one. most of the hard feelings, not just at uga,but in the sec as a whole,toward sos are due to his “running up the score” when at uf. putting your first string in to score a td at the end of a game that was already won was considered “bush league”. i think the bcs system at the time was the reason for much of this,margin of victory was and still is considered when votes are made in those cursed polls. that is another thing i don’t like about the bcs system.
By Matt
August 4, 2007 11:40 AM | Link to this
Georgia fan here. Crying about running up the score is what is bush league. Spurrier owned us at Florida. Its in the past. Let it go. Just be thankful he’s at SC now so we can own him. You don’t often get second chances like that in life.
By SavTechIE
August 4, 2007 11:54 AM | Link to this
No different than favorite sons being on the first ballot of national party nominations. Is our national presidency of less importance? Don’t answer that….
By spike
August 4, 2007 12:26 PM | Link to this
Tony, it is much ado about nothing. All this attention does is focus more on Spurrier and nourish the ego of the self centered jerk and he gets his kicks out of it.The less attention paid to it the better, for all of us.
By Airheadmotorcycle
August 4, 2007 12:27 PM | Link to this
As previously pointed out, SOS is making fun of the BCS. He was one of the earliest proponents of a playoff system. Also, it’s nice to see some of the more intelligent UGA fans commenting here. The comments to AJC blogs seem to be dominated by rednecks who never attended a single class at UGA. Their hatred for SOS is misplaced; they should be angry at the UGA football program for not fielding a competitive team during SOS’s tenure at UF.
By shane
August 4, 2007 12:33 PM | Link to this
matt,i wasn’t crying about running up the score,i merely stated why many sec fans didn’t like spurrier. personally,i have no desire to beat spurrier or anyone else by thirty or more points. to humiliate an opponent unnecessarily IS bush league. i would hate to see cmr leave the first string in against,say,western kentucky or ga southern with a big lead just to impress people voting in some stupid poll. besides,you always run the risk of injury,look at what happened to prothro at ‘bama. not only was the young mans probable nfl career lost,it no doubt contributed to shula losing his lob.
By Elijah
August 4, 2007 12:45 PM | Link to this
I like Spurrier and I think that he is a great coach, and very interesting person. I don’t think that he has the right to get personal on his voting. This is suppose to be one of the most respected polls for having teams in the position of where they belong compared to other teams. What if everyone put teams where they wanted for personal reasons. The poll could possible be way off, and finding this out makes me wander if it already is.
By Williams Brice
August 4, 2007 2:01 PM | Link to this
Spurrier should be casting the vote for South Carolina not Duke! GO GAMECOCKS!!!!!!! Beat UGA!
By B-Bro
August 4, 2007 2:35 PM | Link to this
I don’t understand anyone who would make waves about this vote Spurrier is placing. Get a life USA Today and if you want to get on a serious supject stop printing information that you put your reporter dicks up too that puts our troops in harms way… if you want to start throwing rocks then you should be pelted.
By adjuster1812
August 4, 2007 3:11 PM | Link to this
Lord Visor can vote anyway he sees fit! It is a harmless PRE-season vote. Loyalty is a big part of Spurrier’s Strength of Character that he displays through his voting for Duke.
As a Gator fan, I say to SCarolina fans, enjoy him while he is there. There is no other coach like him.
As a College Football fan, I say GO BLUE DEVILS!!!!
By Mike T.
August 4, 2007 3:35 PM | Link to this
UFownsUGA—
—46-36-2 Georgia owns Florida
the wholw series matters, not just the games since 1990.
By heeldawg
August 4, 2007 4:35 PM | Link to this
Who cares what Spurrier does in the preseason poll? For that matter, who cares about the preseason polls? They mean exactly nothing.
By jdmann
August 4, 2007 5:18 PM | Link to this
Let him make his little token gesture of loyalty that in the end affects absolutely nothing. No harm done.
By Rusty Banks
August 4, 2007 6:15 PM | Link to this
Hilarious that Tony writes a column about this. Typical Tony.
Anyone had a chance to checkout the early lines for opening weekend. You know I have.
http://www.rustybanks.com
By reality check
August 5, 2007 12:27 AM | Link to this
What Spurrier does about Duke is harmless and he has the right.
What he did at Duke was special.
All you have to do to shut Spurrier up is beat him.
If he finally has the run defense in place the chickens will be in the mix this year. Otherwise the cackling from all the Columbia chickens has all the credibilty they’ve earned over the decades. Which is zero.
By BlackMagic
August 5, 2007 10:10 AM | Link to this
Whether Spurrier’s vote reflects loyalty, best wishes, thankfulness, or a subtle pin-prick at a system plagued by human fraility, until those seeking to control his thinking take it from him, it will remain his to cast.
By Atlanta Gator
August 5, 2007 11:42 AM | Link to this
Rusty Banks——It seems a little bit unseemly to use someone else’s freely provided microphone (i.e. the AJC sports blogs) to promote your pay-per-view college football rating services. Who are you?
By Thunder Dawg
August 7, 2007 5:24 AM | Link to this
I don’t care what Spurrier does or who he votes for or if he gets pouty and threatens to leave USC for not getting his way for his faulty recruiting—- I THINK IT JUST SUBSTANCIATES WHAT MANY,MANY OF US THINK: SPURRIER-SUCKS!
By Bill
August 7, 2007 5:57 AM | Link to this
Right or wrong, if USA Today wants Spurrier’s vote, they’re going to have to do things Spurrier’s way. And, no, one vote for Duke in the first poll doesn’t hurt a thing. (Note to Safety Dawg and Thunder Dawg: That sucking sound is Georgia’s championship chances, especially as long as Spurrier, the Gators, or both, are around. Hey, guys, he owns you. What’s it say about you if he sucks?).
By Chip
August 7, 2007 9:45 AM | Link to this
Spurrier is absolutely right to vote for Duke in the pre-season poll. It doesn’t affect anything with respect to the BCS for many more weeks to come. USA Today is taking itself way too seriously. They want to punish a guy for having an opinion. Give me a break!
By Spurrier is a Crybaby
August 7, 2007 12:00 PM | Link to this
Spurrier has always been a crybaby. He cried when UGA beat him and knocked UF out of number 1 when he was a QB. He cries when he does not get an official’s call or something goes wrong. He cried when he couldn’t win in the NFL. Now he is crying because the University of South Carolina’s admissions standards are too high for him to win. No offense to USC, but it is not Harvard. So USC is supposed to lower its standards to suit Spurrier or he is going to take his football and go home. He has alwyas been a jerk and obviously still is one.
By jackets fan
August 7, 2007 12:03 PM | Link to this
How is that any worse than the way other coaches vote? Most of them know squat about the other 119 teams (minus the current opponents on their schedule or maybe their conference) and are no more qualified to be voting than Joe Blow college fan who works at the filling station. Lots of these coaches delegate the voting to staffers anyway and who validates their qualifications to vote? Nobody. So get off Steve Spurrier’s back. I guarantee he’s the most honest coach in explaining “why” he voted for who he voted for.
An example of why the coach’s poll is bunk: a team that finished second in their (BCS) conference last season and returns 4/5th’s of their upper classman offensive line, the league’s top rusher, plus 4 of their top 5 DL rotation, 2 of 3 LB’s (including an all-american LB), and 4 of 5 of their to DB rotation (including an all-conference Safety), not to mention a Sr. kicker and Ray Guy Award finalist at punter gets left out of the top 25. This team also has a new QB who is KNOWN to be an upgrade on the guy who left. All these factors are what tells expert analysts who put together all those college football preview magazines and websites that this team should be a top 15 (or at least top 20) team. But for some reason Georgia Tech is an afterthought to the coaches in the coaches’ poll.
By John P
August 7, 2007 3:49 PM | Link to this
It is time universities start acting like institutions of higher learning, not just a waystation between high school and the pros for athletes who care little about education. A school should set its standards for all students to have the best chance of obtaining a degree in the environment they have established. Some may be higher than others for that reason. College athletics has gone way past building character in young men and women to one of following the money. It has become entertainment of the worst sort. Perhaps there should be no scholarships for athletes and kids play the game for the fun of it again.
By Tigzilla,
August 9, 2007 10:36 AM | Link to this
John P,
So… do you agree with Spurrier ranking Duke at #25 or not? I’m a little unclear on your position.
A little overboard with the pontification, don’t ya think?
By Terp Fan
August 10, 2007 2:25 PM | Link to this
As a Maryland Terrapin fan, the correct answer is F*&K Duke.