Steve Spurrier Jr. (born September 26, 1971) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He is the associate

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

, and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

s coach at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

, a position he has held since 2024. He previously served as the wide receivers coach at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

from 2020 to 2022. Spurrier played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

as a wide receiver from 1989 to 1993. Prior to his tenure at Mississippi State, he held various assistant coaching positions at

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

, Western Kentucky University, the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

, the University of South Carolina, the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) ,and the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. Spurrier's coaching career includes 22 postseason bowl games, including the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

, Cotton Bowl, and

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

. Spurrier was also part of five conference championships (three SEC; two Big 12) and two national championships (

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, 2000;

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, 1996).

Coaching career

Florida (1994–1998)

Spurrier served as a graduate assistant at the

from 1994 to 1996. In 1997, Spurrier took on the role of football video assistant. In 1998, Spurrier was elevated to special teams coach.

Oklahoma (1999–2001)

Prior to the 1999 season, Spurrier was hired as wide receivers coach by

Head Coach,

Bob Stoops Robert Anthony Stoops (born September 9, 1960) is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through the 2016 season, and on an interim basis during the 2021 Alamo Bowl. He led the Oklahoma ...

. Spurrier stayed on Stoops’ staff, holding the same position, through the 2001 season.

Washington Redskins (2002–2003)

Spurrier was the wide receivers coach for the

in 2002 & 2003, where his father

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

, served as Head Coach.

Arizona (2004)

In May 2004, Spurrier was hired as tight ends coach at the

under head coach Mike Stoops.

South Carolina (2005–2015)

Spurrier Jr. joined his father’s staff at the University of South Carolina in 2005. At different times in his 11 seasons at

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, Spurrier served as wide receivers coach, passing game coordinator, recruiting coordinator, and co-offensive coordinator. Alshon Jeffrey, Deebo Samuel,

Pharoh Cooper Pharoh Cooper (born March 7, 1995) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at South Carolina, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth rou ...

Sidney Rice Sidney R. Rice (born September 1, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Rice played college football at South Carolina. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the s ...

, & Kenny McKinnley are amongst some of the receivers that Spurrier coached, who played in the NFL.

Oklahoma (2016)

In March 2016,

Head Coach

, announced that Spurrier would be returning to

as an offensive specialist & director of high school recruiting. Spurrier spent much of the 2016 season working closely with then

offensive coordinator and current

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

head coach, Lincoln Riley.

Western Kentucky (2017)

In December 2017, Spurrier was hired as assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach at Western Kentucky University under head coach Mike Sanford. As quarterback coach, Spurrier continued the development of Mike White, currently an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

quarterback for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Washington State (2018–2019)

In 2018, Spurrier was hired as the wide receivers coach at

under head coach Mike Leach. Spurrier played a part quarterback

Gardner Minshew Gardner Flint Minshew II (born May 16, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He began his college football career at Northwest Mississippi, winning the NJCAA National Footba ...

's record-setting season in 2018. Minshew season as the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

single-season passing leader for yards and completions.

Mississippi State (2020–2022)

On February 4, 2020, Spurrier was hired as the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at

following head coach Mike Leach. On December 21, 2022, Mississippi State Head Coach

Zach Arnett Zachary Arnett (born September 10, 1986) is an American football coach who is the head coach at Mississippi State Bulldogs football, Mississippi State University. He previously served as the defensive coordinator and as position coach at Mississ ...

, announced that Spurrier would call the offensive plays vs. the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in the RelaQuest Bowl. Spurrier took over offensive play calling duties and helped Mississippi State defeat the

, 19-10 in the RelaQuest Bowl.

Tulsa (since 2023)

On January 6, 2023, Brett McMurphy of

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

reported that Spurrier had been hired as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the

. In 2024, he added the role of associate head coach and transitioned from quarterbacks coach to running backs coach.

Personal life

Spurrier and wife Melissa, have been married 26 years (July 19, 1997), and are the parents of triplets, Luke, Gavin, and Emmaline; Nolan; twins, Palmer and Hayden; and McKinley. Two of Spurrier’s sons, Gavin and Luke, attended their father’s alma mater,

. Gavin was a former walk-on quarterback for the football team, while brother Luke ran cross country. Spurrier's father, is two-time

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

. According to former

players James Bates and

Danny Wuerffel Daniel Carl Wuerffel (born May 27, 1974) is a former college and professional American football quarterback. Wuerffel attended the University of Florida, where he was a prolific passer for the Florida Gators under head coach Steve Spurrier. Wuerf ...

, Jerri Spurrier (Spurrier's mom and wife of Steve Spurrier) makes the best chocolate chip cookies known to mankind.

References

External links

Tulsa profile

Washington State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spurrier, Steve Jr. 1971 births Living people American football wide receivers Arizona Wildcats football coaches Duke Blue Devils football players Florida Gators football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Washington Redskins coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches Players of American football from Palo Alto, California Coaches of American football from California