Tennessee football assistant coach Mike Canales made a reference to Steve Spurrier when talking about the Volunteers possibly using two quarterbacks.
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He went there. The quarterbacks coach for Tennessee football invoked one of the greatest quarterbacks geniuses of our time to justify what the Vols might do this year.
In the starting quarterback race between Jarrett Guarantano and Quinten Dormady, Butch Jones has spoken about the possibility of using both.
Speaking about that potential, Mike Canales echoed Butch Jones’s sentiment by referencing the fact that Steve Spurrier did it in the 1990s, according to Mike Griffith of SEC Country. Here’s a bit of what he also said on doing it.
"“What’s important is that they push themselves and they compete and not compare, that’s really important. I thought we got past that in the spring, we got better at that, just competing and not worrying about the other, and making sure we’re better than the day before.”"
Now that’s a bold comparison. And it’s also not entirely accurate for a number of reasons.
The first reason is that Spurrier did it to mixed results. Yes, the Florida Gators beat the Florida State Seminoles with that move in 1997. But they lost to the Vols in 1998 alternating Doug Johnson and Jesse Palmer, committing five turnovers in the process.
Another reason it’s not an accurate comparison is Spurrier alternated quarterbacks every play. We don’t know for sure, but it’s unlikely that Jones, Canales and Larry Scott plan to do that.
And the final reason is that the quarterbacks were both drop-back passers under Spurrier, while Tennessee football could be alternating between a pocket passer and dual-threat this Fall.
Still, running two quarterbacks is not always a bad idea to start a season if neither player distances himself enough. As a result, we aren’t calling it a bad idea.
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It’s just important to note that Spurrier is a bad example. He did it in the most unconventional way possible. And quite honestly, it’s hard to believe that anybody would match that.