I went to UF, and lived in Gainesville between 1990 - 2001. These are the years that Spurrier was there.
Yes, he has a great big ego. But, he did ok with the skins if you compare his record.
But, the running up the score point is the really good one here. The Gators were constantly rideculed for "running up" the score. Everyone said that the gators would pay. Everyone, all the commentators, etc said that when his time came, it would get ugly and he would get beat down. They said that he would not get recruits. They said his offence was gimmicky. All kinds of crap.
But ya know, people loved to play for the guy. They still do. South Carolina is doing better than it ever has. (and don't forget that Lou Holtz was there for a good bit.) Further, the games and teams that Spurrier coaches are always exciting, and certainly when he was with Florida, they were right there challenging for the National Title. Every year.
My point. Don't ever worry about these fools talking about running up the score. And, about the consequences. The consequences are that the team will play the whole freak'n game, non stop and will probably beat the snot out of the opposition. The Gators knew, every week that they were going to see the best from the opposition. And it was wonderful.
These are great times for the Pats. They have learned something very important in my opinion. We won't see many 3 yard and a cloud of dust second halfs, where some team comes back from the cript to beat us. We will keep the foot firmly on the old adams apple.