This is exactly why both of these individuals are sorely missed.
This coming weekend in The Swamp, Florida and LSU will resume a rivalry that extends back more than 80 years and will be renewed yet again Saturday for the 65th time. The stakes are high for both sides as the Tigers come in ranked fifth in the country and the Gators 22nd, with the former trying to keep pace with No. 1 Alabama and the latter No. 2 Georgia in the SEC West and East, respectively.
A couple of former head coaches at both schools are highly aware of the stakes involved. So much so, in fact, that Steve Spurrier (Florida) and Les Miles (LSU) spent a small portion of their Tuesday afternoon partially ironing out wagers that would see the Ol’ Ball Coach munching on some of Miles’ favorite grass if LSU wins and the Mad Hatter donning one of Spurrier’s famed visors (presumably in Gator colors) if Florida wins.
At least, those are Spurrier’s conditions as, as of this posting, Miles has yet to officially respond to the proposed wager.
Hey @SteveSpurrierUF… how much you wanna bet your Gators are going down this weekend? #GameOn
— Les Miles (@CoachLesMiles) October 2, 2018
.@CoachLesMiles shoot, we’re going to win on Saturday. If we don’t, I’ll eat some of that grass of yours. When we do win, you’re wearing my visor! #GoGators https://t.co/6asGecE37v
— Coach Steve Spurrier (@SteveSpurrierUF) October 2, 2018
For the record, Spurrier went 11-1 against LSU when he was the head coach at Florida from 1990-2001. Miles, meanwhile, was 7-5 against the Gators from 2005-16. Overall, the Gators have lost four of the last five meetings to the Tigers.
As for Miles and Spurrier head-to-head? They never met when the two were coaching in this rivalry, but they did meet four times when Spurrier was the Head Ball Coach at South Carolina -- the Gamecocks were winless in four tries against Miles’ Tigers from 2005-15.