Anytime you get a chance to sit down with Steve Spurrier for an interview, the old ball coach is almost guaranteed to give you something good, something worth running with. At the very least, he's always entertaining.
In a sit down with Spurs and Feathers yesterday, Spurrier shared why spring ball for them isn't like most programs, and the reason why might just be a small part of why they've been so successful over the past few years.
"We don't treat spring practice as extremely important as some coaches do. We practice doing our plays and trying to avoid the big collisions. I believe that our players are smart enough to know that when we're going against Texas A&M, Georgia, our opponents now this is different. This is not practice. This is a real game." Spurrier explained.
"There's an old saying you play like you practice. I don't believe that's true in football because you cannot practice the hits and the collisions that are going to happen on Saturday or Thursday night during the games. I'm a little different probably than most coaches. I think our players appreciate that. I don't think they like clobbering their teammates. I really don't."
"We maintain good camaraderie, everybody likes each other. There's no offense vs. defense, nothing like that. We're all in this together. We believe that has helped us win a whole bunch of close games around here."
Spring ball is a long way away for every program out there, but Spurrier has some solid points that stretch beyond just spring practices. How can you talk about team and family values out of one side of your mouth, and then celebrate lighting up a teammate in practice later in the week?
Every program in the country preaches playing as a unit and staying together throughout the season, but they may among the few that actually practice what they preach.