Wilkinson applies football past with present

May 20, 1997
Originally published by The Final Cut (DINFOS--Defense Information School, Ft. George G. Meade, MD)

The University of Florida Gators swept through the ranks of college football last season, winning the first national championship in school history. They not only established themselves as a powerhouse, but also, validated head coach Steve Spurrier's commitment to success on the gridiron as both a coach and a player.

Long ago, a teammate of Spurrier's saw this coming. In 1963, in fact.

That was the year that Lt. Col. Doug Wilkinson, a reserve advisor at the Defense Information School, played with Spurrier on the Gators' freshman football team. Wilkinson played only two years alongside Spurrier in college, but was so awed by his take-charge attitude toward the game that he says he still uses much of the same values today in his life.

"We didn't socialize much," Wilkinson says, who graduated from UF with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1967. "I knew him from practices, games and such, but it was enough."

Wilkinson, who came here in January, credits Spurrier for instilling in him the desire to win. "I tell you, he doesn't do his job as a coach halfway, and neither do I," he says.

Spurrier, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1968 as the nation's top quarterback, always gave it everything he had, Wilkinson says.

"He is a highly competitive individual who never goes half-speed on anything," Wilkinson said. "I never saw him let up on anything in the time I knew him."

Wilkinson, 52, remembers fondly the time Spurrier broke his nose in a 'light' practice scrimmage.

"We weren't supposed to knock each other's brains out, and we were supposed to take it easy that day," Wilkinson said. "But of course, Steve was going full speed. He didn't care if we had a game to rest for or not. He ran a play and then blocked me full in the face. He socked me right in the jaw, too."

After winning the Heisman his senior season, Spurrier spent time in the NFL as a backup quarterback and punter with the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His playing career ended after the 1976 season, when Tampa Bay released him.

Though Spurrier's career in the pros was less than sensational, he still displayed a great work ethic, Wilkinson says. He recalls the 1972 season, when Spurrier stepped in for an injured John Brodie and helped the 49ers win a divisional title. "He didn't have the greatest career in the books, but he was always ready to win and was extremely coachable," Wilkinson says. "What happened to Steve was the simple fact that a lot of college quarterbacks are not trained properly for the pro system."

Wilkinson also notes that the disappointing careers of Gino Torretta, Andre Ware, and most other Heisman-winning quarterbacks are not by accident. He says that they tend to struggle in the pros because of the radical differences between college and pro offenses and that Danny Wuerffel, the Gator quarterback who won the Heisman last season, might well follow the same path.

"I don't think Danny will have that great a career either, unless a team wants to take a chance on him," Wilkinson says. "But most NFL teams don't want to take risks."

Wilkinson, meanwhile, played one more season with the Gators before giving up football to pursue his studies. He was also a punter besides a running back and says that Spurrier may have had something to do with his short college career.

"I was a walk-on player in both '63 and '64," says Wilkinson, who grew up in Tampa, Fla. "As a walk-on not recruited by the coach, it was tough to get playing time. I was in the running for the punting job, but damned it Steve didn't beat me out."

After graduation, Wilkinson used the same drive he learned from football in entering the Army. He enlisted in 1968 and volunteered for infantry duty. Graduating from Officer Candidate School, he was sent to Vietnam one year later.

"It was purely political," Wilkinson said of his decision to enlist in the service at the height of the turbulence sweeping America over the involvement in Vietnam.
Wilkinson notes that the Army is in better shape than ever as a result of the dramatic change in the typical recruit since the late 1960s.

"Before 1975, it was a draft Army," Wilkinson says. "People were getting yanked out of their homes and schools and getting drafted left and right. Some had to pick between this or jail. Today, it's a volunteer service, and the Army is better for it. People are here because they want to be, not because they have to.

"It's no big deal to quit a football team, but quitting the military is another story. You're expected to make the commitment," Wilkinson adds.

Wilkinson spent 1969 and 1970 in Vietnam as a combat adviser. He spent a good portion of the time in his share of the line of fire, he adds.

"You can't lead unless you know how to follow," says Wilkinson, who left the Army in 1972 as a captain.

In the intervening years before his return to the National Guard in 1985, Wilkinson earned his master's degree in public management and a graduation certificate in American studies. He returned to active duty in 1991.

While Wilkinson says the violence he experienced in football was trivial compared to the harshness of war, he added that he did get an inner strength from playing that prepared him for combat.

"When I was over there in Vietnam, when times got tough, I just rolled with the punches. It was an automatic response," he says.

Wilkinson now saves his blood, sweat and tears for his job at DINFOS. As the only Reserve on the staff, his duties are to keep abreast of reserve students' issues and concerns. "I love my job, and I like dealing with the students," he says. Wilkinson is also coordinator of the reserve courses for officers, such as the Public Affairs Officer Course. "We usually get about 40 officers from all branches of the service in that course," he says.

"My biggest job, though, is to help the reservists in all the courses who may have troubles or problems back at home or any questions. That's what I'm here for," Wilkinson says.

"I don't mean to equate football with the military. There really is no comparison," he said. "But I would encourage young people to give athletics a try. The lessons they learn from football or any other team sport will definitely help them later in life."