Refreshingly Juicy Quotes Are His Staple

The last time the Florida Gators went to the Orange Bowl, in the 1966 season, it was because quarterback Steve Spurrier had a Heisman Trophy-winning year to lead them there.

Tonight the 9-2 Gators are facing Syracuse in the Orange Bowl primarily because they’re from the state of Florida and can sell more tickets than a higher-ranked Kansas State team that lost only once in the regular season. “Nobody said life was supposed to be fair,” said Spurrier, now in his ninth year as Florida’s coach. “Nobody said these bowl games are supposed to be fair.”

That’s why I like Spurrier so much. He doesn’t apologize. He doesn’t say just what he’s supposed to say. He says what he really believes, not caring much who is offended in the process.

It seems that every time he talks, there’s an ulterior motive or snide insult lurking just beneath the surface. He couldn’t be content to simply explain the economics of the bowl selection process. He also had to use that explanation to imply a general disinterest in Midwestern geography and to make a recruiting pitch.

“I think if we were 11-1 and the Orange Bowl was played in Kansas City, Missouri--Kansas . . . wherever--and Kansas State was 9-2, that they would probably have been invited to the Orange Bowl in Kansas City,” Spurrier said. “That’s just the way it is in our state. That’s one of the little advantages we have. Florida, Florida State, [the] bowl games, most of them are down here. If a kid wants to play in a bowl game, he ought to stay in Florida.”

It’s such comments that make Spurrier so disliked by other college football coaches. If they don’t like him, that’s all the more reason for the rest of us to like him. He’s a welcome relief from the monotonous coaches who patrol the sidelines. Their idea of an interesting statement is: “Our football team has to maintain control of the football in order to win the football game.” Spurrier doesn’t even use the same lingo as the rest. He calls his inventive playbook “ball plays.” He doesn’t spend his life in his office studying game tapes. He makes plenty of time for golf.

And he still beats the other coaches most of the time. He’s 92-18-1 at Florida, where he has won five Southeastern Conference championships and the 1996 national championship.

He has one of the most innovative offensive minds in football, one that tends to attract interest from the NFL every December. When five more NFL coaches lost their jobs on Monday, Spurrier’s name circulated again.

“I’ve learned over nine years at Florida not to worry about the rumors and what people say on the talk shows, radios, things like that,” Spurrier said. “We don’t pay a whole bunch of attention to it. Personally, we sort of looked at it as a compliment that maybe there are some teams that think I’m worthy to coach in the NFL and that they don’t mention a lot of other college coaches as possible NFL coaches. Other than that, I usually come out and tell everybody I’m very happy coaching Florida, plan to be here many more years.”

The players take his word when he says he’s staying.

“He let us know after the Florida State game,” senior cornerback Tony George said. “He said, ‘It’s that time of year again. You’re going to hear the rumors. I assure you, 120%, I am not going anywhere. I’m happy here.’ ”

There’s so much to like. He’s revered in Gainesville. He makes almost $2 million a year. But he does have a clause in his contract that allows him to inquire about other jobs every year--just in case.

When his name was linked to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ opening in 1995, Spurrier used the opportunity to poke fun at rival Phil Fulmer of Tennessee, wondering why if Fulmer was such a good coach, how come his name wasn’t mentioned for these openings?

Spurrier isn’t averse to taking shots at his own players, either.

“I watch these quarterbacks all around the country scramble up in there, make that first and keep the drive alive,” he said. “I wish we could get one to do that.”

When reminiscing on the key play in Florida’s 1967 Orange Bowl victory over Georgia Tech, a 94-yard touchdown run by Larry Smith, Spurrier noted that he dutifully followed Smith all the way to the end zone.

“I sprinted down there,” Spurrier said. “I can’t teach our guys to follow the ballcarrier in case he fumbles. I was always taught the ball might pop up, you might be there. I used to trail them all the time.

“I can’t even get our receivers to trail the guys. Our guys like to watch. How’d we win nine games?”

Not with the usual offensive firepower. Florida’s scoring average of 31.7 points was its lowest since 1992. The Gators produced only 17 points in an overtime loss to Tennessee on Sept. 19 that put an early crimp on their SEC and national championship hopes, and scored only 12 points in a loss at Florida State on Nov. 21.

Not only did Spurrier lose to two of his biggest rivals, he now must watch them play in the Fiesta Bowl.

“I guess the bad news is that one of those two teams is going to be the national champion,” Spurrier said. “And the good news for the Gators is one of them is going to lose.”

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ORANGE BOWL: SYRACUSE (8-3) vs. FLORIDA (9-2); Tonight, 5; Channel 7

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BOWLS: Full coverage of Friday’s full schedule of games. D4-5

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com