What if Steve Spurrier Never Left the Florida Gators?

Nov 22, 2014; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators wide receiver Andre Debose (4) gets pumped up prior to the game against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Would Florida have had the same level of success?

This is difficult to say. Florida hired Ron Zook right after Spurrier left, and that was a failed experiment. Will Muschamp was also a failed experiment. But the six-year Urban Meyer run between those two coaches can’t be ignored.

The Gators have won two national championships since Spurrier left in 13 seasons of college football. Don’t forget that in 12 seasons as head coach the program, Spurrier only had one national championship, and his team backed into that title after Nebraska lost the Big 12 Championship and Ohio State was stunned by Arizona State in the Rose Bowl. Had the BCS been in play then, Florida would have never had a chance for the national title.

So we can’t just simply say that Spurrier would have won those two national titles. However, we can say with a pretty good amount of confidence that he would have had a better record than every one of the Ron Zook years and three of the four Muschamp years at least. Look at what he’s done at South Carolina, and consider how that would be with Florida recruits.

You could expect 10-win seasons every year (he never had fewer than nine at Florida), which means the Gators would have actually been better in nine of the 13 seasons, with the only exceptions being the 11-2 season under Muschamp and the three 13-1 seasons under Meyer.

So, in short, Florida would have surpassed its level of success in terms of win. But whether they would have any national titles to show for it is a totally different story.

Next: How would Spurrier stack up against the likes of Bear Bryant and Nick Saban as an SEC head coach?