John Clay's notes: Spurrier a good quote, a bad quitter

Random notes:

■ For media people everywhere who love colorful personalities and coaches who refrain from coach-speak, Steve Spurrier's sudden retirement Monday night was a crushing blow.

Spurrier was a one-of-a-kind figure, a modern-day Bear Bryant in an era when there aren't many Bear Bryants.

Spurrier built Florida football. Spurrier was the most successful coach in South Carolina history. More than that, he changed the way the game was played in the SEC, downplaying the ground game in favor of air travel. He did it with the kind of skill and confidence that was fun to cover.

On the other hand, Spurrier quit on his team. Unless there is some sort of secret medical problem with the Head Ball Coach, there is no other way to look at it.

No doubt Spurrier hates losing. So do a million other coaches, and they don't up and retire midway through a disappointing season. If they do decide to retire, they at least coach their teams through the remainder of the schedule.

■ Spurrier goes out having lost his last two matches against Kentucky, which might have been one of the contributing factors in his decision.

■ Tip of the hat to Lexington Catholic graduate Ben Revere, who has six hits in 19 at-bats for Toronto in the American League Division Series. The Blue Jays and Texas Rangers are tied 2-2 heading into Wednesday's fifth and deciding game in Toronto.

In 56 games with the Blue Jays, after coming over from Philadelphia in a trade, Revere is hitting .319. He hit .298 in 96 games with the Phillies. He has a career batting average of .295 in 2,497 at-bats. Not too shabby.

■ Losing quarterback Will Grier to a PED suspension is a tough blow for Florida, but I'm not ready to write off the Gators.

Florida was winning with defense. The Gators' front four might be the best in the country.

Plus, head coach Jim McElwain knows how to coach quarterbacks. I'm not picking Florida to win at LSU on Saturday, but the guess here is that the new starter, Treon Harris, will do an admirable job replacing Grier.

■ Florida stat: The Gators did not surpass the 400-yard mark in total offense in any of the past three games yet won all three, beating Tennessee, Ole Miss and Missouri.

■ Consider that on Monday, Southern Cal fired head coach Steve Sarkisian, Florida announced Grier's suspension and word leaked that Spurrier was retiring immediately. Now that's a Manic Monday.

■ One of the best parts of being at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday for the Bengals' comeback 27-24 overtime win over Seattle was talking to Adam Jones in the Cincinnati locker room.

Jones, whose 35-yard punt return helped start the Bengals' rally, chastised the media — with a smile — saying, "I know what kind of b------ you guys were writing on your blogs in the third quarter. It didn't turn out that way, did it!"

■ A week ago, I wrote in my notes column that I thought Rick Pitino would survive the alleged escorts scandal at Louisville. Now, I'm not so sure. U of L President James Ramsey's statement backing Athletic Director Tom Jurich, but omitting Pitino's name, was not a good sign for the basketball coach.

■ One name to watch for the South Carolina job: Memphis Coach Justin Fuente, who has done a marvelous job resurrecting the Tigers. Prior to that, Fuente was co-offensive coordinator at TCU.

■ And yes, Mark Stoops' name has come up as a possible South Carolina candidate. That's a compliment to Stoops, but I don't see the UK coach bolting Lexington after just three years.

■ If I'm a Kentucky fan, my biggest fear is that Auburn used the off week to put it all together. Picked by some to win the SEC and be a College Football Playoff contender, the Tigers have been the league's biggest disappointment thus far.

My guess is Auburn will hit Commonwealth Stadium on Thursday ready to turn its season around.

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 5:40 PM with the headline "John Clay's notes: Spurrier a good quote, a bad quitter."