Moving the Chains: A Gator’s Holy Grail

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The first time Cindy and I walked through Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille in Gainesville, Florida, we spent a considerable amount of time looking at the photographs, artwork, exhibits, and memorabilia that fill out the museum component of the establishment.  

For two longtime Florida Gators, it was a walk down Memory Lane – stirring up old yet familiar memories we share of the university’s football team over the past 60 years.

Following the same route with Freddie Wehbe, however, shed an entirely different light on things – some of which I am about to share with you now.  (Some, however, are for Gators only.  Sorry.) 

First, the photographs and artwork:

• An oil painting from Brian Meade with Steve Spurrier at the center wearing his traditional visor surrounded by the coaches he inspired to wear one as well: Kirby Smart, Bob Stoops, Lane Kiffin, Mike Gundy, Gus Malzahn, Lincoln Riley, and Chip Kelly.

• Caricatures drawn by former Gator football player James Bates (who played on Spurrier’s 1996 National Championship team; Bates was the captain of the defensive unit) of all the University of Florida coaches who have won National Championships in any sport.  

• A drawing titled ‘The Kick’ by artist Rick Reeves featuring Steve Spurrier’s game-winning field goal (he kicked as well as played quarterback for the Gators) against Auburn at Florida Field on October 29, 1966.  It’s been known as the kick that nailed down the Heisman.

• An endless array of photographs of Steve Spurrier, ranging from his high school days in Johnson City, Tennessee, to the opening of his restaurant in Gainesville, covering a span of more than six decades.  

Next, the exhibits and memorabilia:

• The two restrooms upstairs are adorned with wallpaper featuring Spurrier’s 24 favorite plays, all in his handwriting and reproduced directly from the napkins on which they were originally written.   (Freddie pointed out that there is more of them to see in the women’s restroom, as they have an extra stall.  And yes, I saw them all.  Remember, this was a private tour.)

• The outfit his wife, the former Jerri Starr, wore to the 1966 Florida-Auburn game.  At the time they had been married all of 46 days.
• Sporting equipment and game balls Spurrier used in high school.  Freddie mentioned that he was a better baseball player than football player in high school – and a better basketball player than baseball player.  In other words, of the three sports he played as a teenager, football was his weakest.
• A large mosaic of the Head Ball Coach is the first thing to catch your eye when you enter the restaurant.  It occupies the entire wall behind the front desk, is composed of 12,144 different tiles – and is absolutely spectacular.  
• There are collections of memorabilia everywhere you look.   Helmets.  Visors.  Shirts.  Rings.  Watches.  Trophies.  Game balls.  Award certificates.  Heisman trophies.  Davey O’Brien awards.  Maxwell awards.  The trophy for the 1996 National Championship.  It’s enough to make any Gator proud.  
• A letter from Spurrier to his team in June of 1996 informing them they needed to improve their conditioning (inspired by a 62 – 24 loss to Nebraska in the National Championship game the year before) and that they had ‘a chance to be the best team ever at Florida.’  The team went on to win Florida’s first National Championship, winning the title with a 52 – 20 win over rival Florida State.    
• And last but not least, an orange-and-blue-alligator-adorned leather boot worn on the sidelines by Ray Graves, Spurrier’s head coach during his playing days.  
• Wehbe provided plenty of stories, photographs, and videos that aren’t available to the general public as well.  I’ll end with a glimpse ‘behind the curtains.’
• Remember Kirby Smart and Mario Cristobal exchanging verbal albeit playful blows in February?  The Georgia coach teased the Miami coach about aggressive recruiting, excessive NIL spending, and stealing players.  In retaliation, the Miami coach talked about his team’s recent success and how much a player could accomplish with good coaching.*  
• * Carson Beck played for Georgia in 2024 before transferring to Miami. 
•  In 2025, Beck led the Hurricanes to the National Championship game (a loss to Indiana).
• Smart coached Beck at Georgia; Cristobal coached him at Miami.  
• This all took place at the annual FWAA Steve Spurrier Awards ceremony held at Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille.  Trust me: reading about it is one thing; seeing it as it occurred in real time is another.   I’d like to share more, but as I said before, some things are for Gators only.  
• Wehbe also has video of Doug Dickey, the former Tennessee and Florida head coach, who was in attendance for the awards.  Wehbe said that Dickey was responsible for giving both Steve Spurrier (when Dickey coached the Gators) and Phil Fulmer (when Dickey was Tennessee’s athletic director) their first coaching jobs.  It was impressive how good Doug Dickey still looks for a man 93-years-young.  (Yes, I meant to say young.)    
• I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my personal favorite: the game ball from the 1995 Florida-Georgia game.  It’s my favorite because of what’s written on the football:

GAME BALL

STEVE SPURRIER

FLA. 52  GA. 17

MOST POINTS SCORED BETWEEN THE HEDGES

OCT. 28, 1995

It came with a story, of course.  The Gators were leading in the game, 45 – 17, when one of the players on the sideline approached Spurrier and said ‘you know, coach, no one has ever scored 50 points against Georgia in Athens.’   On that note, the second-string Gator quarterback added another 7 points on the scoreboard with an 8-yard touchdown pass as time expired.  (Worth noting: Kirby Smart played for the Bulldogs that season.)  

Which is the perfect segue for me to end with one of Steve Spurrier’s most famous quotes:

‘It’s not my job to stop my team from scoring.  It’s your job. 

 If you don’t want to be scored on, do something to stop it.’