GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Steve Spurrier, saying he could not resist the chance to return to his alma mater, Sunday agreed to become football coach of the University of Florida.
'This is the place I realized I wanted to be,' the former Duke coach said. 'This is the place I should be.'
Robert Bryan, the school's interim president, announced Spurrier's decision to return to the university where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1966.
'We're delighted that Steve has accepted our offer to coach the team,' Bryan said. 'He is a first-class person, loved by literally thousands of Floridians, and we think it is great that he has decided to come home to his alma mater.'
Spurrier replaces Coach Galen Hall, who resigned mid-season amid allegations of rules violations, including paying his assistant coaches extra money.
Bryan and Athletic Director Bill Arnsparger offered Spurrier the job Dec. 12. Spurrier will begin recruiting for Florida immediately, Bryan said.
'When Steve called late last night (Saturday) to inform me officially that he had decided to accept Florida's offer and return to his alma mater, I felt like celebrating the new year a day early,' Arnsparger said.
'His hiring is another positive sign that our football program is indeed headed in the right direction and that the University of Florida will be a program to be reckoned with on the national level during the 1990s.'
As quarterback, Spurrier led the Gators to berths in the Sugar and Orange bowls, directing the 1966 team to a 9-2 record his last year. He is the school's only Heisman Trophy winner.
After nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he returned to the Gainesville campus in 1978 to serve as assistant coach.
He later served on the coaching staffs of Georgia Tech and Duke before returning to Tampa in 1983 to coach three successful seasons with the Tampa Bay Bandits of the U.S. Football League.
Spurrier has resurrected the Duke football program. Chosen the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 1988 and 1989, he led the Blue Devils this year to a share of the ACC title and an All-American Bowl berth. It was the school's first bowl since the 1962 season.
Spurrier is considered one of the nation's foremost offensive masterminds. In each of his six seasons at Duke (1982 as quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, and 1987-89 as head coach), the Blue Devils averaged more than 300 yards passing a game.
Those four years are the only 300-yard passing seasons by any team in conference history.