Customer Reviews

The Steve Spurrier Story: From Heisman to Head Ballcoach

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book was written by a Spurrier fan who told me nothing new about the great coach. It was 204 pages long and the author did not get to Spurrier's Florida coaching exploits until page 143. His legendary status as a coach BEGAN at Florida. Spurrier's Gator coaching accomplishments made him the star that he is today and I was hoping to get a detailed look at HOW he was so successful at Florida. I was left wanting SO much more. It was a good look at his younger days growing up and as a player in college and the NFL. It also explored his days as a small time college coach, but the contents regarding his tenure at Florida was rather pitiful. Still, a must read for any Gator or Spurrier fan, but not a real complete work. This, I hope, will NOT be considered THE definitive Spurrier biography when it is all said and done.

With all the media buzz about this book, I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype, but I gotta admit that it's one very good book. Chastain really gets into the mind and heart of a remarkable and complex man.

This book provides a decent if uninspired look at one of football's more interesting figures. High school star, Heisman trophy winner, modest pro, top college coach. Spurrier comes across as talented, decent, and fairly complex. The book focuses more heavily on his early life, from youth, to Heisman-winning quarterback, to disappointed pro. Fans expecting an indepth look at Spurrier's coaching accomplishments at Duke and Florida may find the information a bit thin. Nor is there all that much on his style of recruiting, game preparation, the game's mechanics, nor NCAA corruption. But there is a sense of the man and where he's been. This book was penned just as Spurrier took over as NFL coach in Washington, where he didn't have much success before returning to NCAA ranks. The book is readable and informative, but somehow I was left wanting more - and I'm not really a Spurrier fan, nor a fan of his teams.