Steve Spurrier is carried off the field after clinching the 1991 SEC title with a 35-26 defeat of Kentucky.

Mike Bianchi (with hair) then ... and now

UF at home in 'The Swamp'

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Back when his teams at Duke were lighting up scoreboards and shattering school records,once called a reporter with a request. Spurrier was not fond of the repeated references labeling him an "offensive genius." So he offered a suggestion."Call me 'mastermind,' instead," Spurrier said.Pretty good story, eh? Well, here's another one that highlights Spurrier's aptitude for vocabulary, his flair for branding and, best of all, the orange and blue blood that runs through his veins.This is a "Swamp" story.Actually, this is the "Swamp" story.It ran in The Gainesville Sun exactly 25 years ago today — June 9, 1992 — and all it did was change Florida football vernacular forever.Spurrier, two seasons in as Gators coach, was the story's inspiration. Mike Bianchi, columnist for The Sun, was the messenger. It opened with a line from a Charlie Daniels Band song called "The Legend of Wooly Swamp." The next line came from the far more famous Tennessean in these parts."The 'Swamp' is a place where only Gators get out alive," Spurrier said.The day before, you see, Spurrier called Bianchi with a pitch. It had been seven months since the Gators ended their 1991 regular season by defeating Kentucky to finish unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play and win the first league title in school history. They followed that milestone victory with a thrilling 14-9 defeat of No. 3 Florida State that marked the first win over the rival Seminoles in six years. It also gave UF a perfect 12-0 record at Florida Field in Spurrier's first two seasons.The UF home field (and its crowd) had taken on an identity all its own and Spurrier felt it was time to give the place a nickname."The 'Swamp' is where Gators live," Spurrier told Bianchi. "We feel comfortable there, but we hope our opponents feel tentative. A swamp is hot and sticky and can be dangerous. We feel this is an appropriate nickname for our stadium."How's it worked so far?Plans are in the works (with details forthcoming) to commemorate the silver anniversary of Spurrier's consummate trademark. But it was a quarter-century ago today it was introduced into the mainstream."I knew immediately, despite some eye-rolling among UF administrators, that the 'Swamp' was yet another stroke of Spurrier brilliance," Bianchi, now columnist at The Orlando Sentinel, said Thursday. "I knew it because Spurrier absolutely loved it. He was giddy about it. And you knew if it excited him, it was damn sure going to excite Gator Nation. That's because Spurrier thinks like the most rabid Gator fan thinks. He is the ultimate Bull Gator, and he came up with the perfect name at the perfect time."It's true (and as Bianchi said and wrote at the time), the nickname was not universally embraced by the University Athletic Association in 1992, with some feeling it was too "backwoods" and did not "do justice to a state-of-the-art-facility like Ben Hill Griffin Stadium."But that didn't stop Spurrier from tossing out countless "Swamp" references during his spring '92 booster tour and his many public appearances throughout the summer and into the SEC Media Days in Birmingham.The "Swamp," though, would be used in a limited capacity, the UF Sports Information Department deemed at the time, with no plans for posters, bumper stickers or a marketing theme, the column said.Instead, it was a Spurrier thing, and it quickly became a thing — a "Swamp" thing, if you will — because he felt so strongly about it.He had elevated Florida football from mediocrity to national prominence overnight those initial two seasons. Along the way, Spurrier always credited the rabid, racket-making UF home crowds for the Gators' blowout performances. He'd coached (and won) in both "Death Valleys" — the one in Clemson during his time at Duke, as well as the one at LSU with the Gators — and in dominating opponents at home by a combined score of 471-228 and out-gaining them by nearly 200 yards per game those first two seasons, Spurrier deemed Florida Field every bit the pit of either "Death Valley."Or the "Big House" at Michigan. Or the "Horseshoe" at Ohio State. Or "Happy Valley" at Penn State.And certainly that place "Between the Hedges" at rival Georgia.Spurrier, along with then-UF communications director and resident historian, did some homework on this. In 1930, UF President John J. Tigert selected the location for the school's football stadium and described the area as a "swampy depression." The school hired engineers to drain the area and install pipes that funneled water down the hill along North-South Drive and dumped it into what is now known as Graham Pond.So Florida Field, in essence, was built on a swamp 60 years before it became the "Swamp."Perfect, right?It was for the Orange & Blue Game in '92 that Spurrier first had a fiberglass Gator head, donated then by a local company that built museum exhibits, placed in the south end zone hallway. He had the UF players rub the creature's head as they ran onto the field.Into the "Swamp," that is.The Gators went unbeaten at home in '92 and did not lose a game in the "Swamp" — Spurrier's first 23 there — until FSU's Charlie Ward clinched his Heisman Trophy in the regular-season finale of '93. Midway through the '94 season, UF took off on a streak of 31 consecutive home wins on the way to claiming four straight SEC titles and the 1996 national championship.All told, Spurrier's teams went 68-5 at home during his 12 seasons. In time, Urban Meyer went 38-5 at Florida Field on his way to two national titles.is 11-1 at home after going unbeaten in the "Swamp" last year, the same season the Head Ball Coach's name, appropriately enough, officially was put on the building.But even the namesake of/Florida Field will tell you his house goes by another name.'Cause he's the one who named it … 25 years ago today."His mission when he returned to UF was to give Gator fans a program they could be proud of and rally around — and the 'Swamp' epitomized that," Bianchi said. "It wasn't just a name; it was a symbol and a personality. It turns outwasn't just an offensive genius. He was a marketing genius, too."Mastermind.=========================================================June 9, 1992By Mike BianchiGainesville Sun Sports ColumnistOne night, the oldest brother said, 'Y'all meet me in the Wooly Swamp later. We'll take the old man's money and we'll find him to the alligators.'— Charlie Daniels singing about a place called Wooly Swamp."The Swamp is a place where only Gators get out alive."— Florida football coach, talking about a place called Gator Swamp.The swamps, ominously referred to by Daniels and Spurrier — two well-known Tennesseans — are muggy, murky and marshy. They are teeming with ghostly legends and infested with creepy critters. To visitors, they are a place to be avoided at all cost, but to the swamp there is no place like home.Florida football fans might not realize it just yet, but they are about to be known forever more as the keepers of "The Swamp" — the new nickname Spurrier has come up with for the unfriendly confines of Florida Field.At the end of last season, Spurrier was looking for a catchy pet name to capture the eerie essence of Florida Field/Ben Hill Griffin Stadium when "The Swamp" oozed into his mind. The nickname was Spurrier's way of recognizing the special aura which has surrounded Florida Field since his arrival in 1990.Spurrier has often paid oral tribute to Florida Field and fans and the chilling effect they have on opponents. He felt it was time for them to be honored with a nickname to rival the intimidating "Death Valley" — the menacing moniker used by both Clemson and Louisiana State. Perhaps, too, Spurrier drew some inspiration from the plaque which hangs on the wall of good friend, UF's assistant athletic director. The message on the plaque: "When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's difficult to remind yourself that your initial objective was to drain the swamp.""That's the way we want our opponents to feel," Carlson says and chuckles.Undoubtedly, it has become commonplace for wide-eyed opponents to break out in a clammy sweat and in a case of the heebie-jeebies upon stepping foot on Florida Field on sauna-like September Saturdays. Usually, they slog and bog around in such surroundings as if they are enduring a chronic bout with swamp fever. Meanwhile, Florida traverses the treacherous terrain as if riding on some sort of swamp buggy."The Swamp is where Gators live," Spurrier says. "We feel comfortable there, but we hope our opponents feel tentative. A swamp is hot and sticky and can be dangerous. We feel like this is an appropriate nickname for our stadium."There is some historical significance to the nickname as well. The area on campus where Florida Field was originally built in 1929 was once a marshy depression. Before construction could be started, the area had to be drained and an underground spring capped. Because there already was such a big hole in the ground, the stadium actually was built from the the ground down. The top row of seats in the stadium (Row 32) was the same height as the surrounding area. The rest of the stadium was below ground level.If Florida Field is the "Swamp" then Spurrier's Gators must like like the "Creature of the Black Lagoon" to those teams on Florida's home schedule. Since Spurrier's arrival in 1990, the Gators are 12-0 at home, have outscored opponents by a 471-128 margin (an average score of 39-11) and outgained them by an average of more than 200 yards per game. In the last two years, only two other Division I schools have won all their home games — Miami and Brigham Young.Actually, Spurrier has only perfected a growing tradition of Florida Field excellence. Since 1981, the Gators are 55-9-2 in Gainesville, including a 23-5-1 record against Southeastern Conference opponents. There was a time between 1982-86 when Florida recorded a 21-game unbeaten streak at home."You have all that heat and humidity and you're surrounded by a bunch of alligators. I guess it [Florida Field] does sort of remind you of a swamp," says Kentucky coach Billy Curry, who will bring his Wildcats to Gainesville for the season opener. "It's a tough place to play, but mostly because Florida has great players."Spurrier, a master of psychological motivation, obviously feels "The Swamp" gives these players a sense of home. He has installed a menacing fiberglass Gator head, donated by Museum Services — a local company that builds museum exhibits — at the entrance to UF's locker room. During the spring game, Florida's players rubbed the Gator's head before crawling into "The Swamp."While the new nickname has caught on during the summer Gator Club circuit, there are those in the athletic department who feel it is too backwoods and doesn't do justice to a state-of-the-art facility like Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Although the "Swamp" reference is being used in some press information dispersed by UF's Sports Information Department, there are no plans to use the nickname on posters, schedule cards or bumper stickers. The Swamp is not an overall athletic department marketing theme.At least not yet.Knowing Gator fans, there soon will be a clamoring for Swamp wear, Swamp sunglasses and Swamp toilet seats.And Spurrier? We'll just call him the "Swamp Fox."