Steve Spurrier: I did 'lousy' job with Redskins, but so did Daniel Synder

Steve Spurrier has had a long and decorated career that has taken him to the heights of college football, through a foray into the NFL and now in the Alliance of American Football, which aims to be a minor-league feeder system for the NFL.

And in an interview published by the Washington Post, Spurrier reflected on what went wrong in his time as the coach of the Washington Redskins.

“I did a lousy job,” Spurrier told the Post. “The GM did a lousy job. He happened to be the owner, so who needed to go?”

Spurrier was referring to team owner Daniel Snyder, who clashed with Spurrier over management style and decisions after he granted Spurrier a five-year, $25 million contract in 2002 that – at the time – was the richest contract for a head coach in league history.

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Spurrier went 12-20 in two seasons in Washington and opted to resign from his position. Spurrier told the Post that he was upset that Snyder “picked the quarterback,” referring to Patrick Ramsey, whom the team selected with the last pick of the first round in the 2002 NFL draft.

In his two seasons with Spurrier in Washington, Ramsey completed just 52.5 percent of his passes for 3,705 yards 23 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

“Leaving the Redskins was a good thing,” Spurrier said. “Because I got the chance to go to South Carolina and become the winningest coach in school history. You knew that, didn’t you?”

Spurrier got his first head coaching job in college in 1987 with Duke, where he helped turn the program around. He joined the Florida Gators in 1990 and coached there through 2001, the year before he joined the Redskins. He won the national championship with Florida in 1996.

Spurrier went on to coach the Gamecocks from 2005-15, compiling an 86-49 record.

As coach of the Orlando Apollos in the AAF, he has the team sitting at 6-1 and in the playoffs after they demolished the Atlanta Legends, 36-6, on Saturday.

“This Alliance has given a lot of us a chance to go out a winner,” Spurrier said.

Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.