The time Nick Saban gave Steve Spurrier a ride home – on an airplane | Toppmeyer

It’s a myth that Nick Saban could move mountains. It’s a truth that he could alter one’s movements in the skies.

Just ask Steve Spurrier.

Twenty four years ago, Spurrier and Saban coached in the East-West Shrine Bowl in California. Afterward, they discussed their travel plans home.

Spurrier had Delta flights, from California to Atlanta to Gainesville.

And Saban?

The LSU plane was picking him up in California. Forget a layover. It was straight back to Baton Rouge.

“He said, ‘You want a ride?’” Spurrier recalled, when I spoke with the Head Ball Coach on Thursday.

Absolutely, Spurrier did.

Spurrier told the folks back at Florida: Have a plane pick him up in Baton Rouge. He was flying south with Saban.

“That’s how I got back – on his LSU airplane,” Spurrier said.

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Spurrier was a Florida legend, planning to fly commercial. Saban hadn’t coached his first game yet at LSU, and he had LSU at his beck and call.

Meet the power of Saban.

“He had more pull than I did, already,” Spurrier said.

Saban retired on Wednesday as the greatest college football coach of all time, a winner of six national championships at Alabama, plus one at LSU.

I wanted to chat with Spurrier about Saban’s retirement, because the HBC is among a handful of coaches who boast a winning record against Saban. And, heck, Spurrier is good to talk to on just about any topic. As usual, Spurrier had some stories.

Here are a few:

Want to replace Nick Saban? Good luck with that, says Steve Spurrier

You know the cliché. Of course you do. You don’t want to be the guy to replace The Guy. You want to be the guy to replace the guy who replaced The Guy.

Take Florida, for example. Who honestly thought they could replace Spurrier? As a player, he won the Heisman Trophy. As a coach, who won a national championship and put Florida on the map. As a quipster, he charmed the media.

Try to replace that.

Ron Zook signed up for the job. Not long after his hire, the website fireronzook.com was born. Poor Zooker lasted three seasons.

Now, Saban’s heir? Matching the GOAT will be an impossible task.

“It’s going to be a tough job, whoever takes it," Spurrier said. "It’s going to be a very difficult job.”

Spurrier declined to suggest any candidates, but when I put forward the idea of Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, he didn’t swat it down.

“He seems to be a heck of a coach,” Spurrier said.

Yeah, but what about that old cliché? Don’t be the guy to follow The Guy.

“There’s something to that,” Spurrier said.

Steve Spurrier went 3-1 against Nick Saban

Spurrier’s Florida Gators went 2-0 against Saban’s LSU Tigers.

Spurrier credited those lopsided wins to Rex Grossman having two of the best games of his Florida career.

Saban earned his first win against Spurrier in 2009, when Mark Ingram ran over South Carolina to the tune of 246 yards in Alabama’s 20-6 smushing of the Gamecocks, en route to an undefeated national championship.

Spurrier teases Ingram about the rematch that occurred a year later.

Strangely, Spurrier says, Ingram got just 11 carries for 41 yards. South Carolina’s Stephen Garcia had the “game of his life,” as Spurrier describes it.

South Carolina beat the top-ranked Tide, 35-21.

“That might have been the happiest South Carolina crowd ever,” Spurrier said.

After the game, Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy predicted the teams would meet again in the SEC Championship. They didn’t. Spurrier and Saban would never again face off.

When Steve Spurrier and Duke lost to Navy and Nick Saban

Before we even arrive at those Florida-LSU or Alabama-South Carolina games, Spurrier wants to talk about a different matchup with Saban. The one that occurred in 1982.

Officially, it doesn’t count in their head-to-head record, because they were assistant coaches. Spurrier was Duke's offensive coordinator, while Saban coached Navy’s defensive backs.

Home fans booed the Blue Devils as they left the field for halftime. After three quarters, Navy led 27-0.

The Blue Devils stormed back behind Ben Bennett’s flurry of touchdown passes. With a less than a minute remaining, Duke had penetrated the red zone, with a  chance to take the lead. Bennett rolled out. Nobody was open.

Throw it away, Spurrier hollered from the sideline. Throw it away! Bennett didn’t. He scrambled. He reached the 6-yard line. And then he fumbled.

Navy recovered.

“So, anyway, we lost,” Spurrier said, still not entirely over it, more than four decades later. “That was the first encounter we ever had.”

Like Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban can golf

Spurrier thinks Saban will learn to adjust to retirement. If nothing else, maybe he can golf more often.

“Nick’s all set. A lot of people don’t realize, he is a pretty good golfer,” Spurrier said.

They played together once in a two-man scramble in Georgia. Spurrier partnered with Sterling Sharpe. Saban paired with Mark Ingram, his Heisman Trophy-winning tailback.

Saban carried his duo.

“Mark Ingram, he used about all of Coach Saban’s shots all the way through,” Spurrier said. “He hit the ball well and made some putts. I didn’t know he could play that well – you know, a lot of people didn’t know he played that well.”

Spurrier figures that was part of Saban’s genius: Everyone knew Spurrier was a good golfer. Fewer people knew much about Saban’s golf game.

“I probably talked too much about playing golf when I was a coach,” Spurrier joked. “People thought I played all the time, but you probably should keep it a little quieter.”

Keep quiet about your wedge game, and don’t even think about flying commercial. Arrange for the school plane to fly you and a coaching rival home from California.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Steve Spurrier shares Nick Saban stories, including ride home together