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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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Unknown date; Jacksonville, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Florida Gators defensive end (42) Jevon Kearse in action against the Georgia Bulldogs at Alltel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports /

Florida Football Steve Spurrier Team OLB: Jevon Kearse

This might get into a semantics argument of whether you consider Jevon Kearse a defensive end or an outside linebacker.

On Wikipedia, it states that with the Gators, “He began his college career at safety before shifting to outside linebacker in 1996.[5] Later in his college career, he occasionally lined up at defensive end during obvious passing situations to intensify the Gators’ pass rush.”

So for the purpose of this list, we are going to count The Freak as a linebacker.

Plus, if we put him as a defensive lineman, then would have to choose between him and Alex Brown, and that isn’t a choice we wanted to make.

Kearse was a member of the 1996 national championship team, was on the All-SEC team in 1997, and was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 1998.

He finished his Gator career with 145 total tackles, 16.5 sacks, and six forced fumbles.

Kearse was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the 16th overall pick in 1999 and set the NFL Rookie record for sacks with 14.5, which still stands today. He would finish his NFL career with 74 sacks and three Pro Bowl appearances.

MLB: Johnny Rutledge

For three seasons, Johnny Rutledge patrolled the middle of the field to help keep the Gators’ defense together.

During the 1996 championship season, Rutledge had 108 tackles, with 15 going for a loss.

In 1997, he led the team in total tackles with 67 and had 10 tackles going for a loss.

He racked up 105 tackles in 1998, with 9.5 going for a loss.

He went on to be drafted by Arizona in 1999 and spent six seasons in the NFL.

OLB: Mike Peterson

Now back in Gainesville as an assistant coach, Mike Peterson knew a thing or two about the linebacker position during this time as a player under Spurrier.

He racked up 249 tackles with 8.5 sacks from 1995 through 1998. He was a first-team All-American member in 1998 as well as a first-team All-SEC member.

He went on to a 14-year NFL career with 883 career tackles and 21.5 sacks.

Peterson turned to coach upon retiring in 2013 and was the outside linebackers coach at South Carolina for six season before coming back to Florida in 2021.

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