Danny Wuerffel, Sam Acho Q&A: CFB Greats Talk Texas to SEC, Heisman Trophy, Horns Down

DALLAS — Former Florida Gators quarterback Danny Wuerffel is one of the greatest players in program history. Playing for the legendary Steve Spurrier, Wuerffel led the Gators to the 1996 national championship and took home numerous national player of the year awards, including the Heisman Trophy.

Nine years later, the Wuerffel Trophy was established to annually honor the FBS player “who best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field.” Texas defensive end Sam Acho, now a popular ESPN personality, was the 2010 Wuerffel Trophy recipient, and he subsequently formed a bond with Wuerffel.

Athlon Sports sat down with the two college football greats at SEC media days recently, as they made the media rounds promoting the new partnership between Allstate, sponsor of AFCA Good Works Team, and the Wuerffel Trophy. They also discussed the SEC’s additions of Texas and Oklahoma , the impact of the transfer portal and NIL, the ”horns down” controversy and some of the SEC players who are nominated for the Good Works Team this season.

They also took some lighthearted jabs at one another, as is expected for newly minted conference rivals.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Athlon Sports: Danny, as a Heisman Trophy winner, do you think it’s appropriate that the award has essentially become a quarterback award?

Danny Wuerffel: Well, just the way that college football’s unfolded, the quarterbacks are doing more running, they’re doing more throwing. There are a lot more dynamic things happening. Every now and then you’ll get somebody else. It’d be really fun to see someone that’s a non-quarterback win. It’d be great to see a defensive player win at some point, but just the way of the world that quarterbacks are putting up the stats, usually teams that are the No. 1 team have a super dynamic quarterback as well. And so, as much as it’s an individual board, it’s hard to win if your team’s not doing well. As a quarterback, we’re OK with that.

AS: Sam, you were an All-Big 12 player. What was your immediate reaction in 2021, when you found out that Texas and Oklahoma were going to be coming to the SEC.

Sam Acho: Danny’s probably going to say, “It just means more.” That wasn’t my immediate reaction. My immediate reaction was anger, really, and frustration, because I actually don’t think and didn’t think that it meant more. I always thought that, “Hey, Texas, we are this big brand, and we’re this and that, and then all of a sudden, why are we joining forces with the SEC?” And then, and then we lost to Alabama [in 2022], which didn’t help, and lost to Arkansas that year [in 2021], which didn’t help. And so, first I was frustrated, and then I kind of calmed down a little bit and started seeing the bigger picture to realize that, man, this is a great opportunity for college football, for college athletics, for college sports. And then I think about some of the relationships and the friendships and even the partnerships, right?  With Texas being in the SEC now, and then the partnership with Allstate, the partnership with Danny and the Wuerffel Trophy, I went from anger to a little bit more calm, to actually a sense of excitement about the opportunity to beat schools like Florida.

DW: Well, it’s always good, like when you’re in high school, you’re on the JV team, you always want to get to varsity. So, welcome. [Laughing.]

SA: What?!

AS: What will you miss most about the Big 12?

SA: I’m not gonna miss anything. I can’t wait to beat — Texas plays Florida this year, so I’m excited for that game! Florida’s not very good. They haven’t been very good for a long time.

No, I think what will I miss about the Big 12? I don’t know yet. You know, it’s one of those things where I’m excited to see about the partnership with the SEC, I’m excited to see how we fare. I’m excited to see some of the matchups, some of the games. I’m not sure what I’m going to miss about the Big 12, outside of maybe winning Big 12 championships, but I think we’re going to start winning some SEC championships.

DW: You sure might. I also think just for college football, you know, in the days past, you had your schedule, you had a couple of really hard games in whatever conference. You had a lot of games that really weren’t as difficult that you were going to win by a lot, for Texas and for Florida, you almost had to be undefeated to get into the finals or win, depending on the area that you played. Whereas now, there’s so many good games, you don’t have to be undefeated to make it to the playoffs. So I think we’re going to get better matchups week in and week out that are more exciting. And, you know, Florida does play Texas this year, and I’m not betting on it, but I’m excited about it.

AS: Danny, it hasn’t been that long since your coach, Steve Spurrier, retired, but it feels like college football has changed in magnitudes. If he was in his prime right now, how do you think he would handle the modern game with NIL, the transfer portal and everything else?

DW: You know, the thing with Coach Spurrier was, at the end of the day, he was just an ingenious innovator for offensive football. And whatever time he played or wherever he was, USFL, different things, he figured out a way to develop plays and to score points. And I think that’s what he would do. That’s what he did. That’s what he’d do now. I think he’d figure out a way to recruit. Like some of these older coaches, I don’t think he’d be a big fan of this NIL era, but I think he’d figure out a way to win and it’d be exciting.

AS: Sam, a big topic for years has been “horns down.” The SEC says it will not penalize the gesture unless it’s clear taunting. Do you think it actually gets Texas players that worked up, or is this more fan and media driven?

DW: I asked him about it today, and my best friend here almost destroyed me, so let’s just start with that. He’s serious about it.

SA: [Laughs.] It does get players riled up, but not from a, “Let’s outlaw the horns down.” Now, mind you, I don’t think I’ve ever done a horns down. I don’t think that’s physically possible for me to do a horns down, being a Longhorn. But I don’t think players want it to be outlawed. We want to compete, right? If you beat us, sure, put your horns down. If we beat you, we’ll put our horns up. But I think the hype, from the media perspective, is a little bit overblown when it comes to, “Hey, we’ve got to get rid of this horns down symbol.” No, it’s a part of ball. If you can beat us, feel free to put the horns down. If you can beat us. Like the Gator deal. Right? People [mockingly] do the gator chomp. Everybody has something.

AS: This year, I think the SEC has one of the deepest rosters of quarterbacks that I can remember. Whom do you see as the one who can transition best into the NFL ?

SA: I get excited about, obviously, Quinn Ewers of Texas . Just the arm talent, I think, is elite. Jalen Milroe at Alabama, I think he’s another player where I just saw the growth and the maturity of him last year. Remember, he got benched Week 3 after the Texas game. He didn’t play that game, and a lot of people thought, “OK, well, this is gonna be the end of his career.” Yet he came back in the last seven, eight games of the season and, in my opinion, should have been in the Heisman Trophy conversation. He was playing that good of football. And then all he’s done over the offseason has been work.

I’ve got a chance to know, as one of his offensive linemen, Tyler Booker, pretty well. All this dude does is work. And so Jalen Milroe, I think his game to the next level, he’s elite athletically. He’s getting better as a passer. So him and Quinn, I get excited.

DW: Well, you know what, I love my man Graham [Mertz]. He hasn’t had the fanfare of some of these other guys, but he’s a true professional in the way he goes about his business, the way he contributes. And then go deeper down the level, DJ Lagway, just the incredible recruit coming into Florida, incredible talent that’s a few years down the road. Between those two guys, we’ve got one of the best quarterback rooms in the SEC.

AS: Graham is a guy who transferred in from Wisconsin. Just this week at SEC media days, we have so many players who actually sat early in their careers — Carson Beck, Jalen sat for two years and then was benched last year, came back and played amazingly well. Do you think we might start to see things sway in the other direction as we see more players who wait to start until their junior, senior years and then take the advantage of being at these big programs rather than trying to go to other places to play right away?

DW: I mean that’s a tough thing. The world with NIL and with the transfer portal and it’s like, “I want to do well right now, and I want this to be my time.” I do think though, when you look at these examples of these guys that were so successful when they were patient, I think that hopefully be a good sign for others.

I always think, even in the NFL, it’s rare that you jump right in and start and play and do great. Most of the guys that are playing right away don’t end up having long pro careers. The exception, is a Brett Favre or Peyton Manning, who do bad and then come back and are amazing. So hopefully young people will see that it’s worth the investment to develop, to grow, to learn from another quarterback, and that sort of the long view will win over the short-term gratification.

SA: I think development matters. I remember my rookie year in the NFL, I got a chance to learn from nine- and 10-year NFL vets, and that’s what brought me to a nearly decade career in the NFL. I think the same goes for quarterbacks. You look at some of the quarterbacks who’ve got a chance — Jordan Love, prime example — spent years on the bench watching every single move that Aaron Rodgers did, four-time MVP, and all of a sudden Jordan Love is on that trajectory. And so those are the things I get excited about. Obviously, you talk about guys like Peyton Manning struggled and then had success. I think there’s value in this mentor-mentee relationship, especially players who have it on their team.

AS: How many SEC teams will make the College Football Playoff this year?

SA: That’s a good question. I was going to say seven, but it feels like a lot. I’ll go five.

DW: I was thinking five, too. So I think together we’re going to balance that out and say five.

AS: Allstate and the Wuerffel Trophy announced they are combining forces. What are your impressions of some of the nominees for the award who are representing their schools at SEC media days this week?

DW: We are super excited. This partnership is a win-win for everybody and really through the world in our ability to tell more stories and the great things that young folks are doing. And there are so many nominees. My favorite, and I’m a little biased, is Graham Mertz, University of Florida. The work he’s done with Habitat for Humanity and the food bank there. Sam has some others that’ve caught his attention.

SA: Yeah, I may be a little biased myself — Hayden Conner from Texas, offensive lineman, and he started Paws for a Cause, a nonprofit organization that actually supports the Austin Animal Center. And so for me, the excitement isn’t just that Texas is in the SEC with Florida and that they play each other, but it’s the players on the field and the work that they’re doing in the community.

So we just talked about a few of them. There are 178 nominees, players who are nominated for the Allstate AFCA good works team. And in September it’s going to go down to 22 players on that Allstate AFCA good works team. And out of those 22, one of those will be the winner of the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy. And so the light that gets a chance to shine on these players is what gets me so excited.

AS: Sam, What did it mean for you to win the Wuerffel Trophy back in 2010?

SA: It was everything. That’s the thing. One, it’s a national award. I’m at ESPN right now, and I got a chance to present the award at the college football award show. So that’s one big deal. But the second piece is the community. So when I won the award, I got a chance to spend time with Danny and his family, and the other winners. And every single year we go back and spend time with Danny and his family, and the winners build this community. And then just the last several years, I spent more time with the Allstate AFCA good works team. And now these two amazing organizations that are trying to do their best to shine light on players and the work they’re doing, now they’re becoming one.

And so for me, winning that award back in 2010 and being part of the Allstate AFCA good works team, it was a seal of approval of the work that me and my family have been doing for a long time.

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