SEC Media Days: Steve Spurrier Calls Nick Saban ‘Greatest Recruiter’ Ever

Steve Spurrier is up to some interesting tricks at SEC Media Days. A man known for sarcastic comments and talking down rivals told reporters at SEC Media Days that he considers Alabama head coach Nick Saban to to be the greatest recruiter of all-time.

On one level we can look at this statement and say it is true Saban is a great recruiter. Class rankings, players who ended up in the NFL, and on-field success would seem to indicate Saban is indeed a great recruiter.

On the other hand, this sounds a bit like a slap in the face to Saban, who some believe could end up being the greatest college football head coach of all-time. Saban’s teams have won four national championships, three since 2009, and four SEC titles. Including a two-year period where he left college football to go coach the Miami Dolphins, Saban still won seven SEC Western Division titles since 2001. He’s 165-57-1 (170 wins if you don’t count vacated wins) in his college coaching career, 74-15 at Alabama.

It should be noted, however, that while Spurrier does not have the four national titles, he does have more wins and SEC championships. He built Florida Gator football and South Carolina Gamecocks football into what it is today. And Spurrier has also won 219 college games, even with the awful two years away in the NFL.

Hell, Spurrier even won an ACC Championship as the Duke head coach. Think on that one for a while.

So is this a true compliment or a small slap in the face to Nick Saban? Given the history of Spurrier I’m going to go with the latter.