The attendance-starved Carolina Panthers would have walked barefoot on hot coals to get [Steve Spurrier]. Allegedly they offered him $5 million a year. The owner of the Washington Redskins offered a similar amount. He had Spurrier's college coach, Pepper Rodgers, on staff just for this moment; if he thought it would have helped, he'd have brought in Spurrier's first-grade penmanship teacher.

The owner in Washington doesn't have a quarterback worthy of Spurrier's spit, and his most reputed wide receiver has been seven years worth of disappointment. But he hired Spurrier in a heartbeat. (It's like signing Tom Cruise to star in your movie, and only afterward writing a script.) What does he expect Spurrier to do, wave a magic wand over these guys?

That's the one hiccup. Look, I beat the drum to hire this guy. But what if Spurrier isn't Merlin? What if the reason he is so far ahead of everyone in college is that, like Bobby Knight, he can develop great college players? What if he won't have that advantage in the NFL because 1) he can't recruit new players every year, and 2) the talent pool is more equal? Name one quarterback Spurrier had at Florida who made it big in the NFL, or one great NFL receiver Spurrier produced. There aren't any. Ironically, the most successful pro from Spurrier's Florida teams is probably Jevon Kearse, a defensive end.