Steve Spurrier

Head coach, South Carolina, 2005 to 2015
Before: Florida

College career228-89-2

Titles1national

Program liftNo. 81tied · of 1,290 tenures since 1937

Now

Report card

Offense carries it: 67th percentile offense, below the median defense at 48th.

South Carolina, every completed season graded against the whole field, then averaged.

Offense

of which —67th

efficiency — 67th percentile success rate, 2005–15

B63rd

Standard-downs success

B69th

Passing-downs success

B66th

Trench push (line yards)

C+47th

Red-zone scoring rate

B66th

Power-success (short yardage)

C+45th

Ball security (giveaways per game)

Defense

C+

of which —48th

48th percentile SP+ defense, 2014–15 (SP+ starts 2014)

F0th

Front-7 havoc

B61st

Secondary havoc

C+47th

Stuff rate (run defense)

B-52nd

Takeaways per game

Each season is his team’s percentile among every team with that stat (the share it beat), averaged over his completed seasons here; a mid-season takeover year and the season in progress aren’t graded. Letters: A+ 90th percentile and up, A 80, B+ 70, B 60, B− 50, C+ 45, C 40, C− 30, D 15, F below.

Stats

Big games

Pick a job to see its years on their own.

Duke1987–89 · 20-13-1Florida1990–2001 · 122-27-1South Carolina2005–15 · 86-49All jobs228-89-2

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

3-0 against his rivals at Duke. Just 1-2 against Bill Dooley.

Rivalry record

3-0

100.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

7-6-1

50.0% · margin ≤8

Against the spread

No lines

no betting lines before 2013

Rivalry ledger

North Carolina3-0100%

The toughest matchup

vs. Bill Dooley1-2

3 meetings, 1987–1989

’87 L’88 L’89 W

33% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Power Program

2-4 33.3%

National Program

8-4 66.7%

Regional Program

8-5 61.5%

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

16-9 against his rivals at Florida. Just 1-2 against Mike DuBose.

Rivalry record

16-9-1

61.5% · 2 rivals

One-score games

17-12-1

56.7% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

12-14

46.2%

Against the spread

No lines

no betting lines before 2013

Rivalry ledger

Florida State5-8-136%

Georgia11-192%

The toughest matchup

vs. Mike DuBose1-2

3 meetings, 1998–1999

’98 W’99 L’99 L

33% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Dynasty

0-1 0.0%

Blue Blood

12-13 48.0%

Power Program

39-11 78.0%

National Program

32-2 94.1%

Regional Program

36-0 100.0%

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

11-10 against his rivals at South Carolina. Winless in 4 tries against Les Miles.

Rivalry record

11-10

52.4% · 2 rivals

One-score games

31-23

57.4% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

6-13

31.6%

Against the spread

13-19

−2.5 pts a game vs. the line

32 of 135 had a line

Rivalry ledger

Georgia5-645%ATS —

Clemson6-460%ATS —

The toughest matchup

vs. Les Miles0-4

4 meetings, 2007–2015

’07 L’08 L’12 L’15 L · blew a 3-pt lead

covered the spread · no line for ’07, ’08, ’12

0% win rate across a real, 4-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Dynasty

0-1 0.0%ATS —

Blue Blood

6-12 33.3%ATS —

Power Program

26-29 47.3%ATS 7-8 15 of 55

National Program

16-3 84.2%ATS 4-2 6 of 19

Regional Program

29-4 87.9%ATS 0-6 6 of 33

Signature games

16-27 vs. AP top 25 · 7-16 vs. the top 10

Every AP-ranked regular-season opponent, by rank (#1 at top) and year

win loss · higher = higher-ranked opponent · dashed line = top 10

Signature wins

Georgia · 2012

35-7

RivalQuality opponent

Nebraska · 2011

30-13

Quality opponentBowl/CFP stakes

Georgia · 2010

17-6

RivalQuality opponent

Signature losses

Georgia · 2015

20-52

Rival

Iowa · 2008

10-31

Bowl/CFP stakes

Georgia · 2006

0-18

Rival

Tags describe each game; they aren’t scores. The weighting that picks these games is still being tested.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

30-19 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Les Miles.

Rivalry record

30-19-1

60.0% · 4 rivals

One-score games

55-41-2

56.1% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

18-27

40.0%

Against the spread

13-19

−2.5 pts a game vs. the line

32 of 319 had a line

Rivalry ledger

Georgia16-770%ATS —

Florida State5-8-136%ATS —

Clemson6-460%ATS —

North Carolina3-0100%ATS —

The toughest matchup

vs. Les Miles0-4

4 meetings, 2007–2015

’07 L’08 L’12 L’15 L · blew a 3-pt lead

covered the spread · no line for ’07, ’08, ’12

0% win rate across a real, 4-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Dynasty

0-2 0.0%ATS —

Blue Blood

18-25 41.9%ATS —

Power Program

67-44 60.4%ATS 7-8 15 of 111

National Program

56-9 86.2%ATS 4-2 6 of 65

Regional Program

73-9 89.0%ATS 0-6 6 of 82

Signature games

16-27 vs. AP top 25 · 7-16 vs. the top 10 · 2004– (no AP data before 2004)

AP-ranked regular-season opponents since 2004, by rank (#1 at top) and year

win loss · higher = higher-ranked opponent · dashed line = top 10

Signature wins

Florida State · 1996

52-20

RivalQuality opponentBowl/CFP stakes

Florida State · 2001

37-13

RivalQuality opponent

Florida State · 1995

35-24

RivalQuality opponent

Signature losses

Florida State · 1994

17-23

RivalBowl/CFP stakes

Texas Tech · 1989

21-49

Bowl/CFP stakes

Nebraska · 1995

24-62

Bowl/CFP stakes

Tags describe each game; they aren’t scores. The weighting that picks these games is still being tested.

ATS is his record against the spread: did his team beat the closing betting line, winning by more than it or losing by less? Lines start in 2013; a dash means fewer than 6 of those games had one. One-score games carry no spread record: a big favorite that wins a close game has almost always failed to cover, so that number would say nothing about the coach.

How he plays

more pass-heavy than 49% of FBS coaches →

Run/pass mix, by field position

Passed more than the situation called for under Elliott/Jr..

6,245 run and pass snaps at South Carolina, 2005–2015, his own games, one row per offensive coordinator. Each cell is how much more often he passed than the rest of FBS did in the same situation (field zone, down, distance, score, quarter, same season), in percentage points.

backed upown territorymidfieldopp. territoryred zoneOC unrecorded2005–13−1−1+3+8+5Elliott/Jr.2014+8+6+5+9+4Mangus2015−20−6−3−4+2All years2005–1500+3+7+5

passed moreran morewithin noise (95% range includes 0)

Pass rate, stint by stint

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next, against the FBS-wide average of 41% pass. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 449 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2004–2025.

Typical stint7.010.3 median14.8middle half of all stints

South Carolina17.3pt#58 of 449 · more than most

Building the roster

Five numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.

1Who followed him
2Roster ownership
3Size up front
4Where he recruits
5The NFL pipeline

Followed him here

Duke→

Florida1990

No confirmed followers on this move. This move predates this database’s 2021 transfer-portal tracking floor, so real followers may be undercounted here.

Players who transferred from his old program to his new one through the portal in the same year he made the move. Name-matching across data sources misses some, so every count is a floor, not an exact number.

Roster ownership

42%His own players

of his 2015 roster arrived on his watch — 47 of 111 players. The other 64 are holdovers from before he was hired.

Arrived under him 47Inherited 64

This coach's entire tenure (2005-2015) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.

“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.

Size up front

+3 lbAgainst the FBS average

Offensive linemen on his South Carolina rosters have averaged 3 lb heavier than the FBS average (2010–2014 rosters on record).

South Carolina2010–2014+3 lb

His seasonsMiddle half of FBS coaching runs since 2010

Average listed weight of every offensive lineman on each season’s roster, holdovers included, against every FBS roster that season (2010 on; a program needs 3+ seasons under him to appear). Weights are the ones programs publish, and programs list differently. This describes size only — not scheme, and not quality.

Where he recruits

SCTop state

is his biggest recruiting state: 59 of 188 signees (31%) across his 2005–2015 tenure, drawn from 14 states in all. Next: GA (49).

Where his signees came from, 2005–2015 (188 high-school, JUCO and prep signees)

67% of his signees come from SC and its 2 border states (GA 49, NC 18).

Off this map: 9 signees to the north (NJ 5, MD 2, others), 7 to the west (MS 3, KS 2, others) and 6 to the south (FL 6).

By region

South

178

Northeast

Midwest

West

Feeder school Georgia Military 7

Roster distance from campus (Williams-Brice Stadium, SC)

median hometown distance: 182 mi
within 100 mi: 32%
within 500 mi: 84%
beyond 1,000 mi: 4%

110 of 111 roster players with a known hometown (99% coverage)

The map counts signed recruits across his tenure; the distance figures cover his current roster, transfers and walk-ons included. Two different groups, kept separate on purpose.

The NFL pipeline

35Drafted

players drafted into the NFL off his teams here. He brought in 12 of them himself. 23 more can’t be traced to who brought them in (no roster record). 4 went in the first round.

His recruits 12Inherited 0Can’t verify 2312 roster-verified · 23 estimated

Most recent picks first

Year	Pick	Player	Pos	NFL team	Note
2015	R3.03	A.J. Cann	Offensive Guard	Jacksonville Jaguars
2015	R4.27	Mike Davis	Running Back	San Francisco 49ers
2015	R7.23	Corey Robinson	Offensive Tackle	Detroit Lions
2015	R7.37	Rory Anderson	Tight End	San Francisco 49ers
2014	R1.01	Jadeveon Clowney	Defensive End	Houston Texans
2014	R4.06	Bruce Ellington	Wide Receiver	San Francisco 49ers	Estimated
2013	R2.25	D.J. Swearinger	Safety	Houston Texans
2013	R4.04	Ace Sanders	Wide Receiver	Jacksonville Jaguars	Estimated

Year	Pick	Player	Pos	NFL team	Note
2013	R4.34	Marcus Lattimore	Running Back	San Francisco 49ers
2013	R4.35	Devin Taylor	Defensive End	Detroit Lions	Estimated
2013	R6.17	DeVonte Holloman	Outside Linebacker	Dallas Cowboys
2013	R7.45	T.J. Johnson	Center	Cincinnati Bengals	Estimated
2013	R7.48	Justice Cunningham	Tight End	Indianapolis Colts
2012	R1.10	Stephon Gilmore	Cornerback	Buffalo Bills
2012	R1.18	Melvin Ingram	Defensive End	San Diego Chargers	Estimated
2012	R2.13	Alshon Jeffery	Wide Receiver	Chicago Bears
2012	R5.15	Rokevious Watkins	Offensive Guard	St. Louis Rams
2012	R7.35	Antonio Allen	Safety	New York Jets	Estimated
2012	R7.42	Travian Robertson	Defensive Tackle	Atlanta Falcons	Estimated
2011	R3.16	Chris Culliver	Cornerback	San Francisco 49ers	Estimated
2011	R7.27	Cliff Matthews	Defensive End	Atlanta Falcons	Estimated
2010	R4.26	Eric Norwood	Outside Linebacker	Carolina Panthers	Estimated
2010	R6.17	Clifton Geathers	Defensive End	Cleveland Browns	Estimated
2009	R3.25	Jared Cook	Tight End	Tennessee Titans	Estimated
2009	R5.05	Kenny McKinley	Wide Receiver	Denver Broncos	Estimated
2009	R5.14	Jasper Brinkley	Inside Linebacker	Minnesota Vikings	Estimated
2009	R5.26	Jamon Meredith	Offensive Tackle	Green Bay Packers	Estimated
2009	R7.07	Captain Munnerlyn	Cornerback	Carolina Panthers	Estimated
2009	R7.29	Stoney Woodson	Cornerback	New York Giants	Estimated
2009	R7.47	Ryan Succop	Place Kicker	Kansas City Chiefs	Estimated
2008	R7.31	Cory Boyd	Running Back	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Estimated
2007	R2.12	Sidney Rice	Wide Receiver	Minnesota Vikings	Estimated
2007	R4.24	Fred Bennett	Defensive Back	Houston Texans	Estimated
2006	R1.24	Johnathan Joseph	Defensive Back	Cincinnati Bengals	Estimated
2006	R4.08	Ko Simpson	Defensive Back	Buffalo Bills	Estimated

A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.

Career

Coaching career

1 national title

NFL head coach: Redskins 2002–03 · 12-20 source

See South Carolina’s full coaching history →

The arc of his career is on Now.

Transformer raised the program into the sport's top tier, or higher within it · Builder meaningfully raised a program that wasn't one · Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder

2005–2015

South Carolina Builder

National Program II → Power Program II (left at Power Program III)

Closest comparable run: Matt Campbell’s Iowa State run (2016–2025)

Steve Spurrier raised South Carolina from National Program II to Power Program II.

+18.4 pts over 11 seasons · top 29% of 10+-season tenures (202 in sample)

1st-best South Carolina tenure of 19 by the numbers.

Followed Lou Holtz (1999–2004) · succeeded by Shawn Elliott (2015).

System Shift, on arrival

Season	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Record & result
Record	7-5	8-5	6-6	7-6	7-6	9-5	11-2	11-2	11-2	7-6	2-4
Postseason	L bowl	W bowl	—	L bowl	L bowl	L bowl	W bowl	W bowl	W bowl	W bowl	—
Coordinators
OC	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Shawn Elliott / Steve Spurrier Jr.	G. A. Mangus
DC	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Lorenzo Ward	Lorenzo Ward / Jon Hoke
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	68	98	76	40	36	89	90	67	92	73	51
Defense	7	30	58	55	91	46	97	76	48	23	14
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script
1st-down pass%	46.5	43.7	48.9	52.3	48.9	39.3	42.2	40.2	39.7	43.0	39.6
Red-zone pass%	48.9	39.3	47.9	53.4	52.3	34.2	22.2	37.7	38.1	40.2	42.3
4th-down go%opp. territory	32.3	32.3	27.3	25.0	27.1	10.0	60.0	41.2	42.9	24.4	21.7

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent

-9.5 pts

#147 of 208 · middle half

Defense vs. talent

-45.2 pts

#209 of 208 · bottom quarter

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Grows Tight end from high school

100%

#164 of 188 stints

Grows Edge from high school

100%

#191 of 208 stints

Postseason detail2005: Lost to Missouri 31-38 Bowl2006: Beat Houston 44-36 Bowl2008: Lost to Iowa 10-31 Outback Bowl2009: Lost to UConn 7-20 PAPAJOHNS.com BOWL2010: Lost to Florida State 17-26 Chick-fil-A BOWL2011: Beat Nebraska 30-13 Capital One Bowl2012: Beat Michigan 33-28 Outback Bowl2013: Beat Wisconsin 34-24 Capital One Bowl2014: Beat Miami 24-21 Duck Commander Independence Bowl

1 player-season honored (All-America / national award): Jadeveon Clowney (2012)

86-49

1990–2001

Florida Transformer

Power Program II → Blue Blood

Closest comparable run: Gary Pinkel’s Missouri run (2001–2015)

Steve Spurrier took Florida from Power Program II to Blue Blood.

+24.1 pts over 12 seasons · top 18% of 10+-season tenures (202 in sample)

2nd-best Florida tenure of 22 by the numbers.

Followed Gary Darnell (1989) · succeeded by Ron Zook (2002–2004).

Season	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Record & result
Record	9-2	10-2	9-4	11-2	10-2-1	12-1	12-1	10-2	10-2	9-4	10-3	10-2
Postseason	—	L bowl	W bowl	W bowl	L bowl	L bowl	W bowl	W bowl	W bowl	L bowl	L bowl	W bowl
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Defense	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script
1st-down pass%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Red-zone pass%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th-down go%opp. territory	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Where the roster comes from, by position

Grows Wide receiver from high school

100%

#230 of 243 stints

Postseason detail1991: Lost to Notre Dame 28-39 Bowl1992: Lost to Alabama 21-28 Bowl1992: Beat NC State 27-10 Bowl1993: Beat Alabama 28-13 Bowl1993: Beat West Virginia 41-7 Bowl1994: Beat Alabama 24-23 Bowl1994: Lost to Florida State 17-23 Bowl1995: Beat Arkansas 34-3 Bowl1995: Lost to Nebraska 24-62 Bowl1996: Beat Alabama 45-30 Bowl1996: Beat Florida State 52-20 Bowl1997: Beat Penn State 21-6 Bowl1998: Beat Syracuse 31-10 Bowl1999: Lost to Alabama 7-34 Bowl1999: Lost to Michigan State 34-37 Bowl2000: Beat Auburn 28-6 Bowl2000: Lost to Miami 20-37 Bowl2001: Beat Maryland 56-23 Bowl

53 NFL Draft picks: Huey Richardson (1991), Godfrey Myles (1991), Ernie Mills (1991), Richard Fain (1991), Tony McCoy (1992), Dexter McNabb (1992), Cal Dixon (1992), Tony Rowell (1992) + 45 more

122-27-1

1987–1989

Duke Steady

Regional Program III → Regional Program II

Closest comparable run: Doug Marrone’s Syracuse run (2009–2012)

Steve Spurrier moved Duke from Regional Program III to Regional Program II in 3 seasons.

+5.4 pts over 3 seasons · top 13% of 3-5-season tenures (717 in sample)

11th-best Duke tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Steve Sloan (1983–1986) · succeeded by Barry Wilson (1990–1993).

Season	1987	1988	1989
Record & result
Record	5-6	7-3-1	8-4
Postseason	—	—	L bowl
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	—	—	—
Defense	—	—	—
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script
1st-down pass%	—	—	—
Red-zone pass%	—	—	—
4th-down go%opp. territory	—	—	—

Postseason detail1989: Lost to Texas Tech 21-49 Bowl

1 NFL Draft pick: Anthony Dilweg (1989)

20-13-1

All-time wins

Wins at programs this site tracks, 1936–present — one consistent count for every coach, not each program’s own historically reported total.

3rd-most wins by an SEC coach

Was he good?

A mixed record — ahead of expectations by some measures here, behind by others. The honest read is that it depends which lens you use.

Raised the program

+24.1 pts at Florida · #45 of 1290 · top quarter

Also coached: Duke (+5.4), South Carolina (+18.4).

Beat his talent

Offense vs. talent

-9.5 pts

#147 of 208 · middle half · 1 covered season

Defense vs. talent

-45.2 pts

#209 of 208 · bottom quarter · 1 covered season

Steve Spurrier

Now

Career arc

Report card

Offense

Defense

Fans

Stats

Big games

The big-game ledger

The big-game ledger

The big-game ledger

Signature games

The big-game ledger

Signature games

How he plays

Run/pass mix, by field position

Building the roster

Followed him here

Roster ownership

Size up front

Where he recruits

The NFL pipeline

News

Career

Coaching career

All-time wins

Was he good?