Steve Spurrier apparently had a different understanding of the word ‘suspension’ than the rest of us back when he was coaching Duke.
Steve Spurrier is sure hamming it up in retirement. During a recent interview with CBS, the recently retired Spurrier revealed that he once coached a game for the Duke Blue Devils while he was supposed to be suspended.
Back in 1988, Spurrier was suspended for a Duke-North Carolina game after comments he made regarding the officiating of a 43-43 tie with N.C. State. The suspension, which was handed down by then-ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan, allowed Spurrier to be with the team up to one hour before game time. After that time, he was supposed to leave the stadium.
In classic Head Ball Coach form, Spurrier didn’t settle and instead used Duke golf director Ed Ibarguen as a runner to call plays. Spurrier had invited Ibarguen to the game a few days earlier, and decided to make good use of him. Here’s an excerpt from the CBS Sports article written by Jon Solomon:
"“I’m sitting there learning more about football than I’ve known in 20 years,” Ibarguen said. “All of a sudden this play comes up. We had the ball. [Duke quarterback Anthony] Dilweg calls an audible and it’s the wrong audible, and we failed to make it on third down. [Spurrier] is like, ‘God dang it.’ He goes over to his desk and scribbles something down on a piece of paper and says, ‘Run this off to Carl Franks up there.’"
Spurrier continued to have Ibarguen run plays down to Carl Franks, the running backs coach at the time. Duke ended up winning the game 35-29.
I love this story, and it makes me think of two things:
The first is the time that New York Mets manager, Bobby Valentine was ejected from a game back in June of 1999 and resurfaced in the dugout wearing a disguise. He no longer was wearing a Mets uniform, but instead donned a fake mustache and some sunglasses. This is a classic power move, similar to the one by Spurrier.
Second, Spurrier waiting 28 years to come out with this story is like waiting until adulthood to tell your parents about something stupid you did as a kid. Your parents can’t even be mad at you, right? Statute of limitations definitely has to apply in that situation, just as it does in Steve Spurrier telling his story.