ESPN: Why Did Steve Spurrier Fail In The NFL?

[2STaylor1]

i believe it was because he didnt want to put in the time... and he insisted on signing former gators

[HogNose]

How could you hate Spurrier after the rout he coached our team to in Okinawa?

Remember Osaka!!!!! Downhill after that.....

[The Diesel]

Steve didn't believe coaches had to put in the ridiculous hours that they do in the NFL to be successful. He wanted to still be able to play golf during the season.

[scruffylookin]

Well despite his own limitations, Spurrier was setup to fail when he was promised a real GM (and it seemed like Bobby Beathard was poised to come back at one point) and instead he got saddled with Vinny (and by extension Danny) instead.

I was a Patrick Ramsey guy (because we invested a 1st in him so I wanted him to succeed) but looking back, it shows you just how stupid Vinny and Danny were. Steve Spurrier, an offensive guru and a guy that you supposedly love, didn't want Patrick Ramsey. He didn't like his skill set for his offense. Now I know people will say that rolling with Shane Matthews and Danny Wuerfell doesn't give Spurrier much credibility. But now looking back it seems likely that those were just bridges, to teach the offense to the entire team, until Spurrier found a pro version of "his guy". To undermine him before coaching his first game was typical Snyderrado. Then to cut Wuerfell, Spurrier's preferred back up, in favor of Rob Johnson in 2003 just shows you how dysfunctional a Snyder run team is.

[Rex Tomb]

this...his QB selection was piss poor

I'm shocked no one has mentioned his propensity to have a real live QB Carousel every week. Remember when he started three different quarterbacks in three successive weeks? I was only in college, but good God was that frustrating. Talk about being a laughingstock of a franchise at that point.

[skinsfan07]

this is rich

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...hXTI_blog.html

On Patrick Ramsey: “If you guys ever could, you should go back and get a sideline copy of Patrick Ramsey’s first start against the Saints. There were no hot reads or no sight adjusts. If a blitz came, his whole philosophy was to change the play at the line of scrimmage. Well, in the NFL, if it looks like the linebacker from the right’s coming, he’s not the guy coming, it’s the other guy. It’s all disguised. He would literally be on the sideline screaming out to Patrick to change the play, so Patrick would change the play, then the defense would shift, and Spurrier would be like no no no no, and there’d either be a timeout or a delay of game. Dude, it was straight high school. It was honestly hilarious. It was absolutely brutal.”

[KDawg]

One of my favorite lines so far:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...hXTI_blog.html

But then the next year Spurrier comes in and we go to Dickinson for training camp and his opening meeting was, ‘You know men, I played 12 years in the NFL and went to 12 of these here training camps and I can’t remember one darn good thing I ever got out of it. But you know what, Mr. Snyder wants us to be here, so let’s try to get something done.’ ”

Nothing to inspire a team to work hard like a little motivation!

[justice98]

this is rich

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...hXTI_blog.html

For a guy that played in the league, it's funny how clueless he actually was. And for an NFL head coach, his level of preparation left much to be desired. He seemed like he had no interest in working hard. He was his own worst enemy.

---------- Post added December-13th-2012 at 08:56 AM ----------

Well despite his own limitations, Spurrier was setup to fail when he was promised a real GM (and it seemed like Bobby Beathard was poised to come back at one point) and instead he got saddled with Vinny (and by extension Danny) instead.

I was a Patrick Ramsey guy (because we invested a 1st in him so I wanted him to succeed) but looking back, it shows you just how stupid Vinny and Danny were. Steve Spurrier, an offensive guru and a guy that you supposedly love, didn't want Patrick Ramsey. He didn't like his skill set for his offense. Now I know people will say that rolling with Shane Matthews and Danny Wuerfell doesn't give Spurrier much credibility. But now looking back it seems likely that those were just bridges, to teach the offense to the entire team, until Spurrier found a pro version of "his guy". To undermine him before coaching his first game was typical Snyderrado. Then to cut Wuerfell, Spurrier's preferred back up, in favor of Rob Johnson in 2003 just shows you how dysfunctional a Snyder run team is.

To this day I still think Ramsey could've been an average starting QB in the league in a non-dysfunctional franchise and competent system. He could've been in that 15-20 range, or Ryan Fitzpatrick-esque. Not really good, but he'll have his moments. Or at least a top backup on a good team.

You don't learn to play NFL QB under Spurrier while getting your brains beat out in the process. But like you say, the whole operation was a mess.

[Riggo#44]

That article was entirely too soft on Spurrier. One game stands out: The Skins were playing the Bucs in 2003 with Simeon Rice having a career year with 15 sacks. Does Spurrier use Pro-Bowl LT Chris Samules to block him? Nope. He chips him with Robert Royal and Trung Candidate. Rice has 4 sacks in the game.

[Riggo-toni]

Spurrier's tenure would've been wildly different had Bobby Beathard been hired just as Snyder had promised....but Snyder lowballed him, which Beathard still accepted, but then handed off negotiations to some low level lackey who even refused to agree to incentives in Beathard's contract like extra $ for playoff wins. Snyder instead blew him off and brought Vinnyboy back from the ESPN graveyard.
Cerrato insisted on cutting Watson, our only RB who knew how to pick up a blitz, to save a roster space for...Sultan McCollough. He cut our best blocking TE, Walter Rasby, to make room for Flemister, even though he had admitted in several interviews that the pass-catching TE position wasn't used in SOS's offense. Then he hardballs Big Daddy right before the season starts and cuts him with no starting caliber DT on the roster - we were starting guys off the street at both DTs.
Beathard would've at least had enough credibility to convince Spurrier to adapt, and he would've picked players suited to the scheme. Not saying we would've been great, but we never would've been reduced to the joke that we becamse by 2003.

[Chilly14]

Spurriers offense runs backwards from most systems. QBs in that weird system have to make reads from last to first. That works at the college level, but the combination of defensive packages and overall skill level doesnt allow that goofy system to work in the NFL. His entire NFL game plan was flawed. From the hours he put in to the players he trusted on the field. Nice guy, but he's a college guy. He coaches to exploit weaknesses and in the NFL there just arent those glaring holes like there is in Div I. Shane Matthews didnt have a NFL arm, he was smart, and Spurrier thought that because Matthews and Wuerffel were intelligent guys that it would make up for their lack of arm strength. Again, he just underestimated pro defenses and speed. I actually like Spurrier, I think he's a decent nice guy, but he was just in over his head in the NFL. One of the reasons Belichick is so successful is that he's enough of a jerk not to be loyal and not to let his personal feelings get in the way of what he needs to do to win.

[BigMike21]

That article was entirely too soft on Spurrier. One game stands out: The Skins were playing the Bucs in 2003 with Simeon Rice having a career year with 15 sacks. Does Spurrier use Pro-Bowl LT Chris Samules to block him? Nope. He chips him with Robert Royal and Trung Candidate. Rice has 4 sacks in the game.

I agree the article seemed soft on him. I think his two years were worse than Zorn's. I just remember the Dallas and Philadelphia home games to end his tenure were just atrocious. I believe the aforementioned Timmy actual posted a 0.0 QB rating in one of those games.

[gortiz]

Arrington was outright freaking out about this on 106.7 this afternoon. Apparently he doesn't take the notion that he was a freelancer lightly (despite having ALWAYS had this reputation as a Skin) and was mighty insulting toward Hasselbeck.

I love it when LaVar is on his game, so to speak. He does a better job than anyone of making himself look like a clown.

Good grief, he went off. He KILLED Hassleback saying that dude was pretty much the lowest guy on the totem pole and he basically was worthless and should not have anything to say about anything, especially concerning the defensive side of the ball.

The defense was not even that bad during that time ... right?

[Henry]

I agree the article seemed soft on him. I think his two years were worse than Zorn's. I just remember the Dallas and Philadelphia home games to end his tenure were just atrocious. I believe the aforementioned Timmy actual posted a 0.0 QB rating in one of those games.

Yep. I remember after that 27-0 home loss to the Cowboys, Parcells saying they rushed nine guys on one play just to see if they could get away with it. And of course they did.

Who do I blame? Spurrier and Snyder, for all the reasons mentioned above. Just a terrible combination of owner/GM and coach.

[redskins4ever28]

I agree the article seemed soft on him. I think his two years were worse than Zorn's. I just remember the Dallas and Philadelphia home games to end his tenure were just atrocious. I believe the aforementioned Timmy actual posted a 0.0 QB rating in one of those games.

I'll never forget that game. It was vs Dallas. I actually got into a fist fight with one of my best friends cause he was drunk and talkin so much smack. Timmy had a 0.0 rating threw 4 interceptions an it was as embarrassing as the swinging gate.... Well maybe not THAT embarrassing.