SEC Football (Rivalry Coaches): Spurrier V Swinney

Rivalries are a part of what makes sports great. Oklahoma-Texas. Cardinals-Cubs. Jordan-Nba. Kobe-his teammates. Already I have offended people by not including their favorite rivalry. As posted in the first article in this series, however, each post will contain some new rivalries in the introduction, so feel free to make a suggestion in the comments or tweet @southbounddown or @jcrichardson12 (still not great with “the twitter”) with your suggestions.

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If you have been following along with this series, you can skip to the voting portion. I have continued to include the following for first-time readers of this series. It is especially important to fans of programs that have not yet been mentioned or are being mentioned for the first time.

Originally I intended for this to be strictly SEC Football rivalries and coaches. Fortunately I realized my folly. If I were to limit this series to only SEC games, some great rivalries would get left out. Additionally, the SEC East would be done a huge disservice.

More from SEC Football

Many SEC West teams have the (dis)advantage of having one of their biggest rivals be not only in the same division, but also in-state (Alabama-Auburn, Ole Miss-Mississippi State). Many teams in the SEC East, however, have one of their biggest rivalries with an in-state team that is not a part of the SEC (Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson, Kentucky-Louisville…it counts).

I also thought the wording of the questions was key. “Who would you rather have take over your program right now” eliminates coaches who may not be in the game very much longer. “Who would you rather have for one season” negates recruiting expertise to an extent. So it was settled that the question would be “Who would you rather have for the next 4 years?” That encompasses coaching and recruiting. It implies that the coach cannot retire after one season.

If you have a preference, you already know which way you are going to vote. The introductions and overview here will be kept at a minimum.

So without further ado, let us introduce our fourth contestants for our ‘Rivalry Coaches’ series . . .

The Venue: The Palmetto Bowl

Special Guest Commentator: Andrea Adelson, ESPN Writer

Steve Spurrier:

*cue announcer voice* Fighting out of the Garnet and Black corner and being accompanied by Cocky… …he has a 6-4 Palmetto Bowl Record record against the Tigers, with his longest win streak being 5 … he won a National Championship in a previous stop but never an SEC Championship at his current school… he has been on and off with his recruiting…he’ll rotate quarterbacks that throw interceptions until one proves he can handle the Darth Visor offense…He’ll swing wildly and hope for the best, never remembering to defend himself…his supporters call him the “Ole Ball Coach” while his haters anxiously await his next visor toss…STTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEVVVEEEE “DARTH VIIIIIIIISSSSOOOORRRRRRRRR” SPURrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrIIIIERR.

Dabo Swinney:

*throat clear, cue announcer voice* Fighting out of the Orange and Purple corner wearing a tiger mascot outfit and claiming his Tigers are the best in the south….He owns a 2-5 Palmetto Bowl Record and was the target of a security check for looking 16…he’s made it to a BCS Bowl but also owns one of the worst BCS losses in history…He cannot resist needling the Old Man at USCe…His supporters love his passion while his haters can’t figure out what he has to be passionate about…. DDDDDAAAAAAAABBOOOOOO “YABA DABA DABO” SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYY

Take your pick. Share with friends. Make sure your coach comes out on top. Results for round 2 purposes will be taken a week after the publish date (8/26/2015). The poll will remain open and like LL Cool J said, “Don’t Call it a Comeback”

For more on SEC Rivalries, check out Barrett Sallee’s article: ‘SEC Football: Ranking the Conference’s Best Rivalries’

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