Since Mike Leach's passing, Mississippi State has gone through multiple rounds of staff changes, and following the 2023 season, none of "The Pirate's" former assistants on either side of the ball remained in Starkville. In fact, none of his former on-field staffers had landed at other SEC programs, but that changed this week.
Former Mississippi State Bulldogs, Mike Leach assistant coach Steve Spurrier Jr. hired at Florida
Steve Spurrier Jr., son of legendary Florida and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier and longtime assistant to Mike Leach, has made a homecoming to Gainesville. He will be joining Billy Napier's Florida staff as an offensive analyst. Spurrier Jr. got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant for the Gators under his father in the late '90s. Zach Abolverdi of Gators Online reported the news.
It's Official: Steve Spurrier Jr. has joined the Florida staff.
— Zach Abolverdi (@ZachAbolverdi) February 26, 2025
He has a connection to one of UF's position coaches.
DETAILS: https://t.co/qyvHMqpRNP pic.twitter.com/FWRnUMEafg
Steve Spurrier Jr. served as Mississippi State's Outside Wide Receivers Coach and Passing Game Coordinator under Mike Leach from 2020 through 2022. During that time, he coached the likes of Makai Polk, Tulu Griffin, and Caleb Ducking as he helped the Air Raid offense take off in Starkville.
The son of the "Head Ball Coach" had plenty of experience working under "The Pirate." His first position coach job came in 1999, when he went to Oklahoma with Bob Stoops as the Sooners' WR coach. That year, Stoops hired Mike Leach as his offensive coordinator, bringing the Air Raid to the Big 12 and changing the course of offensive football forever.
Steve Spurrier Jr. would spend the bulk of his career coaching for his father, but in 2016, he was reintroduced to the Air Raid when Bob Stoops brought him back to Norman as on offense analyst for then-OC Lincoln Riley. In 2018, he would reunite with Mike Leach, becoming a WRs coach at Washington State and eventually following him to MSU.
After Leach's passing, Spurrier Jr. was hired as the Offensive Coordinator for Tulsa under Kevin Wilson. Wilson and his staff were fired at the end of the 2024 season. Now, Spurrier Jr. will return to where his coaching career began and get to work alongside his father, who serves as an ambassador for the Gators athletic department.