University of Florida Names Football Field After Former Coach Steve Spurrier

The University of Florida gave its field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium a new name. It will now be Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium after the former player and head coach, the school revealed Thursday:    

Spurrier responded to the news in a statement (via FloridaGators.com writer Scott Carter):

Spurrier began his time at Florida as a quarterback in 1964, and he played in all 30 games over his three years at the school. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1966 after throwing for 2,012 yards and 16 touchdowns as he led Florida to a 9-2 record and an Orange Bowl win. 

After a 10-year NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Spurrier worked his way to the sidelines, getting his first head coaching gig at Duke from 1987-1989 before being hired as Florida's head coach in 1991. 

He spent 12 years in Gainesville, where he amassed a 122-27-1 record and won six bowl games. Spurrier's finest coaching moment at the school came in 1996, when he led Florida to a 12-1 record, a 52-20 win over Florida State in the 1997 Sugar Bowl and the national championship. 

It was the school's first national title in program history and the only one Spurrier ever won.

Florida director of athletics Jeremy Foley released a statement on the school's official website about what Spurrier meant to the program: "We feel this was an appropriate way to commemorate one the most legendary figures in Gator athletics history. Coach Spurrier did more than win a Heisman Trophy, a national championship and a bunch of games. Coach Spurrier changed the culture of Florida athletics."

Spurrier wasn't done with coaching when he left Florida in 2002, as he took a head coaching job in the NFL with Washington. But after going 12-20 in two years, he returned to college, coaching South Carolina for 11 years. 

Now Florida will honor Spurrier in its season opener on Saturday, Sept. 3, when it takes on the University of Massachusetts.     

Stats courtesy of Sports-Reference.com