Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier gets college football Hall of Fame bid
Steve Spurrier, who coached at Duke, Florida and South Carolina before retiring in 2015, will be part of the 2017 College Football Hall of Fame class for coaching, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced Monday.
Spurrier coached at Duke from 1987-89 and had a record of 20-13-1. He was ACC coach of the year in 1988 and 1989 and led Duke to the ACC championship and All-American Bowl in 1989.
Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy in 1966 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986.
He’s the fourth Duke head coach enshrined into the Hall, joining Howard Jones, Wallace Wade and Bill Murray. Former coach Mike McGee was also inducted as player in 1990.
Spurrier won 11 bowl games in his career, missing a bowl just five times in his 26-year career, where he finished 228-89-2 overall.
Aside from his first season (1987 with Duke) and last (2015 with South Carolina), he never finished a season below .500. Spurrier posted back-to-back 12-win seasons with Florida in 1995 and 1996 and went on for three straight 11-win years with the Gamecocks from 2011 to 2013.
The 2017 class will be inducted at the 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 5 in New York. The inductees with be honored at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 1, 2018.
Other 2017 inductees
▪ Bob Brable, Notre Dame, LB, 1978-81
▪ Marshall Faulk, San Diego State, RB, 1991-93
▪ Kirk Gibson, Michigan State, WR, 1975-78
▪ Matt Leinart, Southern California, QB, 2003-05
▪ Peyton Manning, Tennessee, QB, 1994-97
▪ Bob McKay, Texas, OT, 1968-69
▪ Dat Nguyen, Texas A&M, LB, 1995-98
▪ Adrian Peterson, Georgia Southern, RB, 1998-01
▪ Mike Ruth, Boston College, NG, 1982-85
▪ Brian Urlacher, New Mexico, DB, 1996-99
▪ Danny Ford, head coach at Clemson and Arkansas
▪ Larry Kehres, head coach at Mount Union (Ohio)
This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier gets college football Hall of Fame bid."