Steve Spurrier recalls what led to him wearing his iconic visor

College Football Hall of Fame head coach Steve Spurrier is infamous for many things. His winning culture. His gamesmanship. And his iconic visor.

Spurrier coached 26 seasons of college football across three different programs (Duke, Florida and South Carolina), compiling a career 228–89–2 record with one national championship (1996 at Florida), six SEC championships and seven SEC Coach of the Year awards.

The ‘head ball coach’ joined “Another Dooley Noted Podcast” on Monday to discuss the origins of his visor.

“Well I wasn’t the first to ever wear one,” Spurrier said with a grin. “They have a picture of Vince Lombardi when he played in the LA Coliseum and it was about 90 degrees out there that day and he had that little visor with the Packers. So I wasn’t the first, but I may have been more the first in college [football] I guess to wear the visor.”

The Miami Beach, FL native coached three seasons at Duke (1987-89) before making the jump to Florida. In 12 seasons in Gainesville, Spurrier led the Gators to a 122-27-1 (82-12) record before making the jump to the NFL. He coached the Washington Redskins for just two seasons before darting back to college football in 2005.

“You’re down here in Florida and it’s 85-95 degrees and fortunately I got enough hair, I needed to wear a visor,” said the Hall of Fame coach. “I remember [Florida equipment manager] Bud Fernandez, I told him ‘I’m not gonna wear that hat.’ ‘Oh you’re not gonna wear a hat? Everyone else wears a hat!’ I said well I’m not wearing one. I’ve got some hair up here, I’m gonna wear a visor. I wore my own visor that first year to practice and all that. Then they had one made before the season.”

Spurrier coached South Carolina from 2005-2015, leading the Gamecocks to a 86-49 (44-40) record with three stellar 11-2 seasons from 2011-2013. Following his resignation in 2015, Spurrier returned to the University of Florida to serve as an ambassador and consultant for the athletic program.

“First of all, I’m resigning and not retiring,” Spurrier said following his resignation. “I doubt if I’ll ever be a head coach again … but don’t say I’ve retired completely. Who knows what will come in the future?”

He ranks 14th all-time with 228 career wins as a college football head coach and is the all-time winningest coach at both Florida and South Carolina.