Steve Spurrier's retirement didn't last long.
The former Washington Redskins coach, who resigned as coach at South Carolina in midseason last year, has accepted a job as a consultant and ambassador for the University of Florida athletics department.
"It's a great day for the Gator Nation to be able to welcome Coach Spurrier back home," outgoing athletic director Jeremy Foley said in a school release Friday. "He has served as a tremendous ambassador to the University and the athletic department for 50-plus years and it's only fitting that at this point in his career, he is back in Gainesville. Being a Gator has always meant so much to Coach Spurrier, but it means just as much to us have him come home."
Spurrier won the 1966 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at Florida. He coached the Gators for 12 seasons from 1990-2001, leading the program to unprededented success with six SEC titles and a national championship in the 1996 season. Spurrier's aggressive passing attack took the SEC by storm and helped lead to eight SEC Championship Game appearances.
It's unclear exactly what Spurrier's role will entail, but here's guessing the ambassador part of the job will involve him in fundraising efforts. Though his two years with the Redskins were an abject failure (12-20 record from 2002-2003), Spurrier is an iconic figure at UF, as coach Jim McElwain attested.
"I look forward to visiting with him on a lot of occasions and picking his brain on a number of issues," McElwain said. "It's a credit to Jeremy to get him back home where he belongs. More than anything I look forward to actually talking to him and being around him rather than just saying hello to his statue on my way to work every day."
Spurrier was 86-49 as coach at South Carolina from 2005-2015. At age 71, however, he'll once again be identified in orange and blue.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
