Some of Spurrier’s former players share criticisms of the HBC in the NFL

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that Steve Spurrier actually coached in the NFL. But he did, for two seasons as the HBC of the Washington Redskins.

Unlike everywhere else he coached – Duke, Florida, South Carolina, even in the USFL with the Tampa Bay Bandits – where he was a big success, Spurrier was a failure in the NFL. He posted a 12-20 record in two season in Washington, before he resigned and walked away from what was then the richest contract given to an NFL coach.

Much was made of Spurrier’s shortcomings as an NFL coach, things that never were an issue in college where his teams went 228-89-2 in 25 1/2 seasons. But he was known to enjoy as much time on the golf course as in the film room, which might have been one issue at the pro ranks.

While much of it has become urban legend, some of his former players in the NFL shed a little light on the issues Sunday.

It got started with a post on Twitter from Sage Rosenfels, who played 11 seasons in the NFL, serving primarily as a backup or third-string quarterback. Rosenfels was commenting on Marvin Lewis, the longtime Cincinnati Bengals head coach.

Lewis reportedly will leave the Bengals at the end of this season, but before landing the job in Cincinnati in 2003, he served as Spurrier’s defensive coordinator. Lewis had been an assistant coach in the NFL for a decade before becoming a head coach, including a stint in Baltimore where his Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV.

The polished NFL veteran assistant didn’t exactly see eye to eye with Spurrier, at least in terms of preparations. That’s what some of his former players said on Twitter.

Rosenfels career got started in 2001 with Washington, and briefly overlapped with the start of Spurrier’s stint in D.C. He took note of conflict between Lewis and Spurrier.

“My favorite Marvin Lewis story from Washington 2002. When Spurrier told him that the defense would practice on 1 field and the offense would practice on another field, Lewis basically said ‘This ain’t college. We don’t have 120 players. We practice together.’ ”

Another former Washington player was quick to back up Rosenfels.

Ross Tucker, now an NFL commentator, was an offensive lineman who also joined Washington in 2001. He also took note of how Lewis would try to get Spurrier to adopt NFL protocols.

“He also used to beg Spurrier to still have practice when it was raining,” Tucker tweeted.

Defense was the strength of Spurrier’s first team in Washington. But after Lewis left for the Bengals, Washington’s defense suffered. It went from 5^th in scoring defense to 24^th in 2003.

Not surprisingly, both of Spurrier’s years in Washington were losing seasons. In his entire career, those were two of the only three losing seasons – complete seasons – Spurrier experienced as a head coach. The other one was his first year in Duke.

While his tenure in the NFL is considered a failure, if Spurrier hadn’t tried his hand at coaching in the pros, he never would have come to South Carolina. He led the Gamecocks to three consecutive 11-win seasons and was 86-49 in 10 1/2 years at the school, quitting midway through the 2015 season.

Spurrier is USC’s winningest coach, but he has made it clear he has no plans to return to the sideline. Part of his motivation to stay away has something to do with the way college football has evolved, and more closely resembles an NFL structure.

Spurrier said too much has changed in college football since he got started in coaching in the 1980s. Although he helped revolutionize the game, especially during his tenure with the Gators in the 1990s, time waits for no man. Not even the HBC.

“Major college ball, these guys, they work 11 months of the year now,” Spurrier said in October. “It’s so different than it was, in the 90s, and even in the 2000s as far as the total amount of hours these guys work.”

This story was originally published December 17, 2017 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Some of Spurrier’s former players share criticisms of the HBC in the NFL."