Coach earns his spurs at Oklahoma

MIAMI (AP) _ Steve Spurrier Jr. is back coaching football in Florida, and this time he knows he's earned his way. <br><br>Spurrier, the son of Florida coach Steve Spurrier, is the receivers coach for

Tuesday, January 2nd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ Steve Spurrier Jr. is back coaching football in Florida, and this time he knows he's earned his way.

Spurrier, the son of Florida coach Steve Spurrier, is the receivers coach for No. 1 Oklahoma, which is preparing to play No. 3 Florida State for the national championship Wednesday night in the Orange Bowl.

The younger Spurrier previously spent five years on his father's staff at Florida, and isn't bashful in explaining how he got the job.

``It was a clean case of nepotism, which was OK,'' he said. ``I thought I, to a certain degree, was capable of handling it. But I got hired because I was Steve Spurrier Jr. I knew that.''

Spurrier Jr., 29, played receiver at Duke, then joined his father's staff as a graduate assistant in 1994. He stayed in that position three years, then was video assistant for one year and worked with special teams for one year.

``I was assistant receivers coach, assistant special teams, and I was directly in charge of kickers, snappers and holders,'' he said.

And, he knew, the target of plenty of whispers.

``At Florida, on campus, off campus, I knew everyone looked at me _ other players, other coaches _ and said, 'That's the head coach's son. He will be treated differently because of who he is,''' he said.

``I know here I'm on my own. Nobody cares who I am, and I appreciate that.''

When Bob Stoops was hired as Oklahoma's coach, he asked Spurrier Jr. to coach receivers. He had spent three years as Florida's defensive coordinator and said the younger Spurrier was impressive.

``I've said a number of times, he's a carbon copy of his father, which I have great respect for,'' Stoops said. ``Steve comes to work every day positive, upbeat, excited to be there. He has great ideas on offense.

``He has a great knack for communicating with his players and teaching fundamentals and techniques. I believe he's learned from one of the best and how to do that, how to communicate.''

Spurrier Jr., whose wife Melissa is on bed rest in Oklahoma awaiting triplets, looks and talks like his father and is every bit as comfortable with the media. At the Orange Bowl's media day, he was surrounded by writers and broadcasters throughout the hourlong session and never flinched.

``I had much better opportunities in life, being Steve Spurrier and being his son and being raised in his environment, than I had any negatives,'' he said. ``I learned more from just listening to him coach than I did him coaching me.''

That knowledge was put to the test at Oklahoma. The Sooners were installing a wide-open passing offense despite having only one starting receiver returning from the previous season.

Spurrier said that inexperience resulted in some long, tedious practices but also was good for him. Instead of taking over a veteran crew of receivers who might balk at listening to a young coach, the Oklahoma receivers were eager to learn.

The Sooners use five wide receivers in their offense, most of whom were moved from other positions.

``That first spring when they (the coaching staff) came in, we knew we could come out there and catch the ball. We knew we could run fast,'' said Curtis Fagan, a converted cornerback who has 40 catches this year. ``But some things he had to show us. I didn't know before how to read every defense. He taught me the defensive coverages. I give him the credit on a lot of the knowledge of the game.''

In the past two years, the receivers have played well enough to help make quarterback Josh Heupel the school's all-time passing leader and the Heisman Trophy runner-up this season. Heupel isn't bashful about throwing to any of the five.

``One of the things that jumps out at me is the good job Steve did of bringing them together, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of those kids,'' offensive coordinator Mark Mangino said. ``I don't care who his father is, this kid can coach football.''

Spurrier was called ``Bubba'' at Florida, a nickname given by his father. He hasn't been called that since arriving in Norman.

``For the first time in my adult life, I'm being called Coach Spurrier,'' he said. ``It's kind of nice.''