Orlando Apollos coach Steve Spurrier orchestrated a comeback from a 12-point deficit in the second half against the San Antonio Commanders in Week 2 of the Alliance of American Football on Sunday.

The Apollos won 37-29 at the Alamodome, so of course Spurrier used the occasion to take a swipe at Tennessee.

“I think it was just as loud as Rocky Top, to tell you the truth,” Spurrier said in the postgame interview. “I know the Swamp is a little bit louder than here.”

That should sound familiar coming from the former Florida and South Carolina coach. Orlando improved to 2-0 in the Eastern Conference, where it is tied with the Birmingham Iron. The Iron beat the Memphis Express 12-9 on Saturday thanks to former Alabama running back Trent Richardson’s 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. By the way, former Vanderbilt running back Zac Stacy had 101 rushing yards for Memphis in the loss.

MORE: AAF Power Rankings heading into Week 2

Seeing a trend here? Spurrier and Richardson are the two most recognizable faces in the fledgling league, and they help make the AAF an easy sell to a region that lives for every SEC football nugget possible. If the AAF continues to exploit geography — and maybe expand with Big Ten chapters down the line — then this league will continue to grow into an entertaining developmental ground for the NFL that can maintain a television audience.

Spurrier, 73, has proven in two weeks what kind of presence he still has.

He has brought back the Fun-n-Gun. Garrett Gilbert passed for 393 yards and a pair of touchdowns Sunday. When in doubt, he launched vertical shots to Charles Johnson and Jalin Marshall, who both caught touchdowns. Orlando had 212 passing yards and 4 rushing yards at halftime. San Antonio led 29-17 in the second half before Orlando rallied.

Spurrier coached three years in the USFL (1983-85) with the Tampa Bay Bandits, which led to his first head coaching job in college football, with Duke. Whether his AAF work attracts interest from the FBS or the NFL is immaterial. We enjoy seeing him on a sideline, and the AAF is reaping the benefits.

The same could be said for Richardson, the first-round pick who fizzled out in the NFL but has emerged as a workhorse behind quarterback Luis Perez, who will likely get a look from NFL teams in the preseason. Richardson himself might be able to use the AAF to get one more shot in the pros.

The Iron’s roster is littered with former Alabama and Auburn players who are competing in a state that does not have a professional football presence. The arrangement has worked thus far for coach Tim Lewis.

Neither coach would look ahead, but the March 9 matchup between the teams in Birmingham and the April 14 matchup in Orlando could be the most intriguing games on the AAF schedule this season.

The games will be Orlando vs. Birmingham, but in a way they'll also be Florida vs. Alabama. That pairing has worked in the SEC ever since the conference introduced a championship game in 1992. Spurrier was on the sideline against Alabama at Legion Field for the first two title games (he went 1-1). Richardson and the Crimson Tide beat the Gators in 2009, albeit in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

When the AAF teams hook up, fans of both schools will tune in — maybe because nothing else is on, or maybe to jog those memories one more time, or more because it will give them one more thing to add to the endless pile of SEC football bragging rights.

The connection works. The AAF knows it works, too. If it wants to continue building on its early success, then it needs to continue putting Spurrier, Richardson and as many SEC products out front.

That’s the college football conference that likes to say "It just means more."

For a fledgling football league that's off to a better-than-expected start, it just makes sense.