Spurrier was born on April 20, 1945, in Miami Beach, Florida. He is the second son of a Presbyterian minister, J. Graham Spurrier, and his wife Marjorie. Graham Spurrier changed congregations repeatedly during Steve Spurrier's early childhood, resulting in several moves for the family. The Spurriers left Miami Beach before Steve Spurrier's first birthday, moving to Charlotte, North Carolina to live near his paternal grandparents.

Spurrier was the Gators' starting quarterback and team leader in 1965 and 1966. He finished his three-year, thirty-one-game college career having completed 392 of 692 attempts for 4,848 passing yards and 37 touchdowns, breaking every UF and many conference records for passing and total offense. In addition to being a stellar passer, Spurrier gained notoriety by playing his best under pressure; eight times during his college career, he led the Gators to fourth quarter comeback wins. The most memorable example was a November 1966 game against Auburn, when, after leading the team down the field on a two minute drill, he waved off Florida's regular placekicker and booted a forty-yard field goal, giving the Gators a 30-27 win and likely securing himself the Heisman Trophy. This penchant for dramatic comebacks prompted John Logue of the Atlanta Constitution to famously write "Blindfolded, with his back to the wall, with his hands tied behind him, Steve Spurrier would be a two-point favorite at his own execution."  As a junior, Spurrier was named a Football Writers Association of America first-team All-American and is still the only player from the losing team to be named the MVP of the Sugar Bowl after passing for a record 352 yards in leading a furious fourth quarter rally that fell just short. As a senior, Spurrier was awarded many national recognitions, including the 1966 Heisman Trophy and Walter Camp Memorial Trophy, and was a unanimous first-team All-American. He was also the 1966 recipient of Florida's Fergie Ferguson Award, which recognizes the "senior football player who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage."  Though the 9-2 1966 season was one of the best in program football history up to that point (along with the 1928 Florida Gators football team), the Gators fell short of their elusive first conference title due to a 27-10 upset loss to arch-rival Georgia, a loss that Spurrier would remember when he returned as Florida's coach and made beating Georgia a priority.  In 2006, Spurrier was recognized by The Gainesville Sun as the No. 2 player of the first century of the Gators football program.

How many games did he win in 1965?