Spurrier deserves a chance

By Piet Van Leer Sports Central Columnist

Steve Spurrier is catching a lot of flak for instituting the University of Florida in Washington. His high-powered offense is the subject of constant ridicule in the NFL and he will make Danny Wuerffel and Shane Matthews compete for the honor of testing his proven college passing game in the pros. While there are many skeptics who think Spurrier will be a colossal failure, let me remind you, he won at Duke. Sure, he'll have two shaky pro quarterbacks to choose from, but he won at Duke. I don't know much about Duke football, except that it was respectable during the Spurrier tenure. Before and after him, it is a joke. Duke football is on a par with the Clippers and Bengals. No history of winning, no reason for hope. Spurrier brought it there, and I think for that reason alone, he should be given the benefit of the doubt.

If you don't give him that, at least he'll be colorful. This is the man, upon hearing the Auburn library had burned to the ground, stated the biggest tragedy was only half the books were colored in. How can you not like a guy who kicks an adversary when they are literally torched to a cinder?

He'll also be a breath of fresh air in an NFL that is dominated by limiting the offensive mistakes and winning with defense. Other then St. Louis head coach Mike Martz, offensive innovation is at an all-time low. Defense is the leading resume for running a football team in today's game. John Fox is this year's Greg Williams. And Dom Capers, Marty Schottenheimer, and Tony Dungy head the list of recycled defensive head coaches. Jon Gruden changed locations, but he's not exactly a bastion of offensive ingenuity.

We haven't even discussed Marvin Lewis on the defensive side, quite possibly the biggest coup of the offseason. Why anyone would want Fox over Lewis is beyond me. All Lewis did was design one of the greatest defenses in the game over the past three seasons, while Fox was the defensive captain of a sinking Giant ship.

Then again, Bill Belichick was a disaster of a head coach in Cleveland before winning the Super Bowl last year. Now, he's a genius! Although, it is remarkably refreshing listening to a quiet genius following a Super Bowl victory. I'll never forget when Shannon Sharpe toe-dragged an Elvis Grbac overthrow in the back of the end zone for a game-winning TD in Jacksonville, Coach Billick having the gall to exclaim with joy, "Anyone want to ask who my quarterback is?" Yeah, I do. Who is Baltimore's quarterback?

Washington promises to be exciting this year, which is more than I can say for the rest of the NFC East. At least the Giants/'Skins game will be tolerable this year. And Spurrier can insult the New York media after the game for asking him what he views as questions so irrelevant that he'll fire back a condescending schoolteacher look, followed by some after school comment.

Other Offseason Thoughts

* As far as my whipping boys, the New York Jets, I have to wonder if drafting Bryan Thomas is such a bad thing. After watching Chris Fowler interview the Jet contingency and their apparent displeasure with the defensive end from UAB, I like it more and more. I tend to go the opposite of people who regularly go to the draft and root it on like some deranged brain-washed, Kool-Aid drinking cult.

The Jets just got rid of their starting cornerbacks, and one way to make the secondary look good is to put pressure on the QB. Otis "Toast" Smith looked good in last year's Super Bowl, thanks in large part to rookie Richard Seymour and the gang. Who would have thought John Abraham was going to be the steal he was? None of the fans at the draft that year, who liked Shaun Ellis a whole lot. Well, after watching Shaun Ellis consistently get zero pressure on the QB the whole year while Abraham was getting tripled, I like Thomas that much more.

* Did anyone catch Rich Eisen's impersonation of Tony Kornheiser the other night on SportsCenter? That was probably the best impersonation I have seen since Ian McKellen's Maggie Smith on Saturday Night Live.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.