Former Buc Spurrier drops by

The Bucs had a famous visitor today in South Carolina coach (and former UF coach) Steve Spurrier.

The Ol' Ball Coach was in town for a reunion of 1960s-era Florida players this weekend at Innisbrook. But first, the one-time Bucs quarterback took a little time to take in this morning's workout at One Buc Place. He came away impressed.

"The Bucs have a good looking team," Spurrier said. "Of course, I played for them way back, so that's the team I pull for, as well as the 49ers (who he also played for). Hopefully, they'll meet in the Super Bowl."

One thing Spurrier and Bucs coah Jon Gruden have in common in their one-on-one work with quarterbacks. Asked who is harder on them, Spurrier grinned and said he couldn't say.

But Spurrier did allow this: "I haven't watched Jon coach a lot until today, and I understand why his voice is a little hoarse most of the time. He yells and screams. Boy, I tell you. I admire the passion he has for this game. And he does it year round. I'm a little different from him. In the offseason, I need to get away from football. But I think he could do football 12 months a year and never get tired of it....The NFL is a good 11-month job. Ours, we get about two or three months off to do some other things in the offseason."

Spurrier has several former players with the Bucs, including Ike Hilliard and Kevin Carter, both of whom played for Spurrier at Florida. Another of his former players hasn't been around in a while, running back Earnest Graham.

"Hopefully Earnest Graham will get his butt back out here," the coach said. "I haven't called Earnest, but he would expect me to say what I said."