The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Steve Spurrier

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

Peak, then fade
228–89
1987–2015 · 3 stints
DukeFloridaSouth Carolina
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerDUKEFLORIDASOUTH CAROLINADynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelDuke, 1987: 5-6, Regional Program III1987Duke, 1988: 7-3, Regional Program IIIDuke, 1989: 8-4, Regional Program II1989+5.4Florida, 1990: 9-2, Power Program I1990Florida, 1991: 10-2, Power Program IFlorida, 1992: 9-4, Power Program IFlorida, 1993: 11-2, Power Program IFlorida, 1994: 10-2, Power Program IFlorida, 1995: 12-1, Power Program IFlorida, 1996: 12-1, Blue BloodFlorida, 1997: 10-2, Blue BloodFlorida, 1998: 10-2, Blue BloodFlorida, 1999: 9-4, Blue BloodFlorida, 2000: 10-3, Blue BloodFlorida, 2001: 10-2, Blue Blood2001+24.1South Carolina, 2005: 7-5, National Program II2005South Carolina, 2006: 8-5, National Program IISouth Carolina, 2007: 6-6, National Program IISouth Carolina, 2008: 7-6, National Program IISouth Carolina, 2009: 7-6, National Program IISouth Carolina, 2010: 9-5, National Program ISouth Carolina, 2011: 11-2, Power Program IIISouth Carolina, 2012: 11-2, Power Program IIISouth Carolina, 2013: 11-2, Power Program IISouth Carolina, 2014: 7-6, Power Program IISouth Carolina, 2015: 2-4, Power Program III2015+18.4One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Blue Blood in his 10th career season — faster than 19% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #77 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

Duke, 3 seasons
+5.4
Regional Program III → Regional Program II.
Florida, 12 seasons
+24.1
Power Program I → Blue Blood.
South Carolina, 11 seasons
+18.4
National Program II → Power Program III.

Style position and drift

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

50%South Carolina2005–2015▼ 4.1pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

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.

30–17 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Gene Chizik.

Rivalry record
30–17–1
62.5% · 4 rivals
One-score games
51–40–2
54.8% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–2
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Georgia16–673%
Florida State5–8–136%
Clemson6–367%
North Carolina3–0100%
The toughest matchup
vs. Gene Chizik0–3
3 meetings, 2010–2011
’10 L’10 L’11 L
0% 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
0–2 0.0%
Blue Blood
17–24 41.5%
Power Program
66–40 62.3%
National Program
54–9 85.7%
Regional Program
73–8 90.1%

Coaching career

2005–2015
South Carolinabuilder
National Program II → Power Program II
Steve Spurrier raised South Carolina from National Program II to Power Program II.

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

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
#149 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-45.6 pts
#209 of 208 · less than most
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.

Followed Lou Holtz (1999–2004) · succeeded by Will Muschamp (2016–2020).

Season20052006200720082009201020112012201320142015Trend
Record & result
Record7–58–56–67–67–69–511–211–211–27–62–4
Postseason—————————W bowl—
Recruiting rank—————————#19#20
Style — pass rate
Pass rate—————————49.445.3
Coordinators
OC—————————Shawn Elliott / Steve Spurrier Jr.G. A. Mangus
DC—————————Lorenzo WardLorenzo Ward / Jon Hoke
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense—————————7351
Defense—————————2314
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%—————————43.039.6
Red-zone pass%—————————40.242.3
4th-down go%opp. territory—————————24.421.7
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 detail2014: Beat Miami 24–21 Duck Commander Independence Bowl

41 NFL Draft picks: Troy Williamson (2005), Rodriques Wilson (2005), Darrell Shropshire (2005), Johnathan Joseph (2006), Ko Simpson (2006), Sidney Rice (2007), Fred Bennett (2007), Cory Boyd (2008) + 33 more

86–49
1990–2001
Floridatransformer
Power Program II → Blue Blood
Steve Spurrier took Florida from Power Program II to Blue Blood.

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

Followed Galen Hall (1985–1989) · succeeded by Ron Zook (2002–2004).

56 NFL Draft picks: Emmitt Smith (1990), Stacey Simmons (1990), Cedric Smith (1990), Huey Richardson (1991), Godfrey Myles (1991), Ernie Mills (1991), Richard Fain (1991), Tony McCoy (1992) + 48 more

122–27
1987–1989
Dukecaretaker
Regional Program III → Regional Program II
Steve Spurrier moved Duke from Regional Program III to Regional Program II in 3 seasons.

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

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

2 NFL Draft picks: Mike Junkin (1987), Anthony Dilweg (1989)

20–13