Signs point to Spurrier in Tebow controversy

HOOVER, Ala. — In the great who-didn't-vote-for-Tebow debate that has swirled around SEC Media Days, apparently only one candidate now remains.

Steve Spurrier.

Could the former UF coach have been the only SEC coach not to vote Tim Tebow on the preseason all-conference first team?

Signs are pointing in his direction.

ESPN reported Thursday that LSU's Les Miles and Auburn's Gene Chizik voted for Tebow.

Those confirmations, along with those from the coaches who have already appeared at SEC Media Days, leave Spurrier's vote as the only one not made known public yet.

He will be at the podium this morning. Calls to Spurrier on Thursday were not returned.

So far, all the coaches who have come through here the past two days said they voted for Tim Tebow. Before the start of Media Days, one coach, Tennessee's Lane Kiffin, announced he voted for Tebow. Florida's Urban Meyer wasn't asked because coaches could not vote for their own players. With Miles and Chizik also revealing to ESPN that they voted for Tebow, that leaves Spurrier as the only coach unaccounted.

The latest to confirm their Tebow votes at Media Days were Georgia's Mark Richt, Alabama's Nick Saban and Mississippi's Houston Nutt.

It has become such a big topic this week that Nutt gave his answer before even being asked Thursday.

After giving his opening statement about the upcoming season, Nutt said, "I'll tell you, I voted for Tim Tebow. I voted him first team. Langston Rodgers, my (sports information director) will verify that."

It was someone's vote for Nutt's quarterback, junior Jevan Snead, that prevented Tebow from being a unanimous choice as the all-conference quarterback.

Many were speculating earlier in the week that it might have been Saban. It wasn't, as we found out Thursday.

"I voted for Tim Tebow," Saban said. "I think he's one of the most outstanding leaders I've seen in my coaching career. He certainly played a fantastic game against us in the SEC Championship Game last year.

"But I also think everybody should have the right to vote for whoever they want, and I don't think they should be criticized for that. It's what a lot of people have fought for in this country for a long time."

Richt also revealed his vote earlier in the morning.

"It was Tim Tebow," Richt said. "I think that's what everybody else said so far. The ballots are private for a reason, but everybody wants to know what everybody thinks.

"Everyone has a right to their own opinion. There are different reasons why a coach will vote one way or another. It would be very difficult to not vote Tim. But I guess somebody did.

"Maybe there was a mistake in calculation. I don't know. Maybe there was a typo."

Maybe there will be a confession today, when Miles, Spurrier, Chizik and Kiffin take the podium.

When Tebow made it to the podium late in the day, he said none of this is a big deal to him.

"It's not something I'll use for motivation," he said. "I'm not going to be running sprints thinking about a coach who didn't vote for me. I have a lot of other things to motivate me."