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Florida football: Assembling the all-time Steve Spurrier team

By Benjamin Henderson

Steve Spurrier, Head Coach for the University of Florida Gators during the NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game against the University of Tennessee Volunteers on 21st September 1996 at the at the Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. The Florida Gators won the game 35 - 29. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Allsport/Getty Images)
Steve Spurrier, Head Coach for the University of Florida Gators during the NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game against the University of Tennessee Volunteers on 21st September 1996 at the at the Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. The Florida Gators won the game 35 - 29. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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2 Dec 2000: Head coach Steve Spurrier of the Florida Gators gets doused by Kenyatta Walker #78 during the S.E.C. Championship against the Auburn Tigers at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire/ALLSPORT /

Florida Football Steve Spurrier Team LT: Kenyatta Walker

Picking out the best offensive lineman under Steve Spurrier is hard because there are no stats we can directly point to rank one lineman over the other.

Florida football had its fair share of quality linemen like Zach Piller, Cooper Carlisle, Mo Collins, Jeff Mitchell, Jason Odom, and Reggie Green.

But selected 14th overall in the 2001 NFL Draft, Kenyatta Walker was a rock-steady tackle for the Gators for three seasons.

In 2000, he was named a second-team All-American and won the SEC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy, given to the best lineman in the SEC.

He did go on to win the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but was cut after the 2006 season by the team and never played in a regular season game again.

LG: Zach Piller

During his time with the Florida Gators, Piller was at left tackle. But drafted in the third round of the 1999 draft, Piller would go on to an eight-year career in the NFL at guard.

And since finding a quality guard to fill the Steve Spurrier Team is more difficult to do than filling the tackle positions, we are going to place Piller at left guard.

C: Jeff Mitchell

Spurrier also had Cal Dixon suit up for him during the earlier years of building the team up, but Jeff Mitchell was in the middle of the 1996 offense until breaking his ankle against Georgia.

That didn’t stop Mitchell from being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 1997, and he was a member of their Super Bowl-winning team in 2000.

Mitchell would last nine years in the NFL, playing for just two teams during his time in the league.

RG: Hesham Ismail

Hesham Ismail didn’t go on the enjoy the lengthy pro career as some others on our list.

But he is the only true guard to be drafted out of Florida during the Steve Spurrier era.

After being drafted by the Steelers in 1992, Ismail spent one year in the Arena League and one year in the World American Football League before calling it quits.

RT: Mo Collins

Collins was a regular along the offensive line from 1995 to 1997.

He didn’t rack up individual accolades, but he still went on to be drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the first round of the 1998 draft and appeared in Super Bowl 37.

He played six seasons in the NFL before retiring.

Collins passed away in 2014 at the age of 38.

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