Steve Spurrier was no stranger to the occasional smack talk during his coaching career.
However, the Ol’ Ball Coach thought Ryan Day went a little overboard with his wrestling-style promo in response to Lou Holtz following Ohio State’s 17-14 win at Notre Dame last weekend.
Holtz had previously predicted a 10-point Fighting Irish win and questioned Ohio State’s physicality, which led to Day’s postgame remarks.
“He didn’t say anything terrible,” Spurrier said of Holtz on the “Another Dooley Noted Podcast,” via AtoZSports. “They’ve been out-muscled. He (Day) didn’t necessarily clobber Notre Dame. He was very fortunate.”
Spurrier also claimed that if his Florida teams had won in a similar way to Ohio State, he would not have been boastful afterwards.
“[Former Florida QB] Danny Wuerffel and I, if we had won a game like that where we scored on the one-yard line with two seconds left,” Spurrier said. “We’d be saying a lot of thank you Lords instead of ‘we’re tough, we’re mean’. We’d be saying a lot of thank you’s that’s for sure. Either team could’ve won that game.”
The Buckeyes were the team that did win, scoring on a one-yard touchdown run by Chip Trayanum with one second remaining.
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world, and it’ll continue to be Ohio against the world,” Day said on NBC after the game.
Holtz opened up about his original comments during an interview with OutKick’s Dan Dakich this week, and indicated that he did not regret what he said.
“He’s a great coach,” Holtz said of Day. “He’s done a tremendous job. He has a great offensive mind. Ohio State’s a good team. I don’t think they’re a great team. He can go after me all he wants. I honestly felt that Notre Dame was better and more physical. And I’m sorry that coach Day was offended by it. I hope he goes on and has a wonderful year. I don’t think they’ll be a great team. I really don’t.”