South Carolina Gamecocks

10 times Spurrier destroyed enemies -- or friends -- with a perfect quote

Published Oct. 13, 2015 1:50 p.m. ET

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Steve Spurrier is one of the strongest and most enjoyable personalities in college football history. Some consider him the greatest coach in SEC history, and you could argue the case.

Spurrier won a national championship, six SEC titles and an ACC title during his coaching career. He won a Heisman Trophy as a player and coached a Heisman Trophy winner in Danny Wuerffel.

One thing that's not in dispute? The guy was one of the best trash-talkers of all time.

From zinging his rivals to kicking opposing coaches when they were down, few did it better than Spurrier. He is a legend's legend.

And in honor of him stepping down as coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks, we present the best Steve Spurrier quotes all time.

Enjoy!

STEVE SPURRIER'S BEST ALL-TIME QUOTES

10) On Ron Zook: "He told me I'm a tough act to follow. I told him that's why he got hired. Some of those coaches that had really great jobs, they didn't want to touch it."

9) On Mack Brown: When Spurrier was at Duke and beat North Carolina, he and his team took a photo at midfield. Mack Brown, then at UNC, called Spurrier classless for the gesture.

"Why? I've got a better record on that field than he does."

8) On why he keeps coaching at his age: 

"Someone said, 'Why are you still coaching?' I forgot to get fired, and I'm not going to cheat. That's about the only way you lose your job. You get fired for losing or you cheat, and they get somebody else."

7) On Clemson coach Dabo Swinney saying the two of them are from different planets:

"Dabo probably thinks there's [still] nine planets out there."

6) To his beloved Danny Wuerffel:

5) On succeeding at age 68 at South Carolina:

"Back in January, they appointed this guy, and he's 77 years old, and he's the leader of a billion people in the world. They call him the pope, and he replaced a guy that was 85 years old. So if he can be the leader of over a billion people worldwide, surely I can get 11 guys on the field."

4) On his offensive line in 2006:

"Well, we can't trade 'em. So I guess we have to coach 'em."

3) On speaking out:

"I'm not one to say 'no comment' whether I am right or wrong, but especially if I am right."

2) On what REALLY wins games (hint: not defense): 

1) On Tennessee (and perhaps his greatest all-time quote): 

BONUS! SPURRIER'S BEST QUOTES ABOUT RIVAL PROGRAMS

On Tennessee:

-- "I know why Peyton [Manning] came back for his senior year. He wanted to be a three-time star of the Citrus Bowl."

-- "In Knoxville, they're still doing cartwheels because they went 7-6 and won a bowl game."

On Auburn:

On Alabama:

"In 12 years at Florida, I don't think we ever signed a kid from the state of Alabama. ... Of course, we found out later that the scholarships they were giving out at Alabama were worth a whole lot more than ours."

On Arkansas:

On Georgia:

-- "I don't know. I sort of always liked playing them the second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended."

-- "Why is it that during recruiting season they sign all the great players, but when it comes time to play the game, we have all the great players? I don't understand that. What happens to them?"

-- Asked if they would beat Georgia: "Is Ray Goff still coaching there?"

On hated intra-state rival Clemson:

-- "These two Capital One bowls in a row are pretty nice, but that state championship ain't bad either!" --€“ Spurrier in 2014

On Florida State:

--"You know what FSU stands for, don't you? Free Shoes University."

--And after Jadeveon Clowney got a speeding ticket: "I didn't know Jadeveon's car could go that fast. He doesn't have a pretty car like those FSU guys used to drive."

On Florida (when he was at South Carolina), said in 2013:

On Vanderbilt:

-- Talking about not having any gimme wins in the NFL: "There are no Vanderbilts in the NFL."

-- After Vandy improved: "They're not slow guys anymore."

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