Steve Spurrier is returning to coaching, and he wants Tim Tebow back on the gridiron

Football

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Image Credit: SECN

He has not been out of the game for long, but Steve Spurrier has already found his way back to a sideline. It was announced last weekend that Spurrier has decided to take a job as the head coach for the Orlando franchise of the Alliance of American Football, a new professional league slated to debut just days after next year’s Super Bowl on Feb. 9, 2019.

The move marks Spurrier’s second try at coaching pro football following the stint he left the Florida Gators for nearly 15 years ago when he took over as head coach of the Washington NFL franchise. He last coached South Carolina in 2015.

Spurrier will remain at Florida to serve as the athletic program’s ambassador, so he is taking this job in addition to his duties with the Gators. He is apparently doing so with the support of athletic director Scott Stricklin. The league, which features a 10-game regular season, has a lot of support from former NFL personnel and will hit the marketplace one full season before the return of Vince McMahon’s XFL. It also has a television deal in place with CBS.

“It’s a fine line between who makes a team and who doesn’t in the NFL. We don’t have a minor league of professional football,” Spurrier said while announcing the move during an appearance on CBS This Morning: Saturday. “Those players get a chance to continue playing even if they don’t play at the highest level and then maybe someday they play well enough to go to the highest level.”

So where exactly does former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow come into play?

During an Orlando radio appearance this week, Spurrier told Mike Bianchi that he would love for Tebow to join the team once rosters open. “That would be wonderful. I think TIm knows about this league. He knows he’s welcome to come down there and play,” Spurrier said.

Tebow has previously balked at the idea of playing in a league other than the NFL, though previously that mostly meant trying his hand at the Canadian Football League. With the AAF in his backyard and a national television contract in existence, there is some reason to believe that the league would be a legitimate possibility for Tebow.

He would likely have to sacrifice his current baseball career in order for the opportunity, though it may be one that he is unable to pass up.

“Obviously, if his baseball career is going well, he may decide to stick with that, which I can sorta understand,” Spurrier added. “But if it doesn’t go too well and he has an urge to play football, we certainly would welcome him there in Orlando.”

For Gators fans, a Spurrier-Tebow tandem would be a match made in orange and blue heaven.