at which point he decided to end his playing career. Over 10 NFL seasons, Spurrier played in 106 games (starting 38), completing 597 passes in 1,151 attempts, for a total of 6,878 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 60 interceptions. He also punted 230 times for a 38.3-yard average. Coaching career Assistant coach Florida (1978) Spurrier spent fall 1977 out of football, living in Gainesville with his young family and considering possible career choices. While not officially connected with the University of Florida at the time, he was often on campus, running at the university's track and attending football games as a fan. He watched the Gators play to a 6–4–1 record in 1977, a season that prompted head coach Doug Dickey to scrap the wishbone-based run-heavy attack that his teams had used for several years with declining success in favor of a more open pro-style offense. To effect this change, Dickey revamped his offensive staff, and he hired Spurrier to his first coaching job as Florida's quarterbacks and receivers coach. The changes did not bring many positive results. While Florida's passing attack improved and former option quarterback Cris Collinsworth was named to the All-SEC team as a wide receiver under Spurrier's tutelage, the 1978 Gators' overall scoring output was almost identical to that of 1977 at about 22 points per game. The team's record also slumped to 4–7, leading to Dickey's dismissal. Spurrier expressed an interest in becoming Florida's next head coach but was not a serious candidate due to his lack of experience, and Clemson coach Charley Pell was hired soon after the conclusion of the season. Pell chose not to retain any of Dickey's coaching staff, leaving Spurrier without a job. In later years, Spurrier has repeatedly thanked Doug Dickey for giving him a chance to get into coaching with no prior experience. Georgia Tech (1979) Spurrier was unsure if he wanted to continue pursuing a coaching career after his unpleasant experience at Florida, stating that he would only accept a position "if the opportunity was really right." In 1979, he accepted an offer to become the quarterbacks coach at Georgia Tech under head coach Pepper Rodgers, who had been an offensive assistant at Florida when Spurrier was the quarterback. Like Dickey at Florida, Rodgers sought to shift Georgia Tech's offense from a wishbone attack to a more passing-oriented offense. And also like Dickey, Rodgers's efforts did not produce