ShareThisUrban Meyer led Florida to another national championship.
Nick Saban helped make Alabama football Alabama football again.
Houston Nutt took a bad Ole Miss team and turned it into one that has fans in Oxford dreaming of the glory days of Manning -- both Archie and Eli.
So when the SEC spring meetings wrapped up last week who was the coach creating the most buzz?
South Carolina's Steve Spurrier, of course.
The Head Ball Coach is all over newspapers and websites with more than three months to go before the 2009 college football season begins.
Certainly his confrontation with Tennessee coach and shoot-from-the-hip marksman Lane Kiffin earned some notice -- "I didn't accuse you of cheating," Spurrier said -- but apparently he's also committed to honoring his contract by honoring his commitment to make the Gamecocks contenders.
And those of us who write for a living have taken notice.
He hasn't done it yet, and he has four years left to make it happen.
In four seasons he has guided the program to 28 victories, which (amazingly) is a school record for a four-year period. But averaging seven wins isn't what Darth Visor is all about. He was a good coach with Tampa Bay in the old United States Football League.
He started looking like a great coach at Duke, leading the team to an ACC title. Unless one is referring to basketball, that seems like a misprint.
And he won a national crown and 122 games in Gainesville, inviting comparisons to that fellow who wore a houndstooth hat and prowled the sidelines in Tuscaloosa.
Yet this is the age of instant gratification, and it's been a while since Spurrier has done a lot to gratify himself, much less fans of the team he is coaching.
He thought he could win big with the NFL Washington Redskins, but after going 12-20 in two seasons he resigned.
At South Carolina, he has lost no less than five games each year. In 2007 his team rose to No. 6 in the country before collapsing down the stretch, finishing 6-6 and missing a bowl.
Last year the Gamecocks were 7-6, ending the season with blowout losses to Clemson and Iowa in the Outback Bowl.
So now he is set to begin year five in Columbia, with a contract that runs through 2012. Although he says he feels much younger, at 64 this is bound to be Spurrier's last rodeo. If he stays for the duration of his pact, he'll be knocking on 70's door.
The question is whether or not he can whip the Gamecocks into a team that can knock on the SEC's championship door before he's done.
Regardless of what happens from here on out, Spurrier's body of coaching work has earned him a spot as one of football's all-time great coaches.
Still, he won't be satisfied until and unless he can be great at least one more time.
(Contact Scott Adamson of the Anderson Independent-Mail in Anderson, S.C., at adamsons(at)independentmail.com.)
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