Posted by: Chris Vannini on December 3, 2012

Steve Spurrier has always been one of the most honest people when it comes to coaches' votes.

He created a bit of an uproar a few years when he admitted he didn't make the selections for his all-SEC team. A criticism of the coaches poll has been that many sports information directors actually fill out the ballots, because coaches are too busy focusing on their own teams and opponents.

On Sunday, Spurrier had some more interesting comments about the poll, saying his selections for the final ballot would have been different if it didn't become public knowledge, as the final ballots do.

"You know, there's a little bit of a tough call, because you have to be politically correct, as we know, when they put your name on your ballot," he said. "I tried to be politically correct. If it was anonymous, I would have changed it a little bit, to be honest with you. I would have put some other teams here, there and the other. When I'm going to read USA Today (Monday), I'm going to see where all those other SEC coaches put us, and so forth, and they're going to see where I put them.

"That's just the way life is. When it's public knowledge, gosh, you've got to put them here and them here. It was sort of the way maybe it is, but I would have done it differently if I hadn't had to put my name on it, yeah. That's just being honest."

Spurrier admitted that he would have put some SEC teams higher if the ballot wasn't revealed, but that's no different than many other coaches would do for their conference. The coaches poll is part of the BCS formula.

"We're in the SEC, we look out for each other a little bit," he said. "Other conferences look out for their guys. It's just human nature. That's the way life is. Whether or not we all believe Notre Dame should be No. 1, hey, they won all their games. Have they played the toughest schedule? No, they haven't. If they were playing Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Florida, Georgia or us, who would be favored on a neutral site? I don't know. I need to call Danny Sheridan and ask him. He'd give you a line.

"But they won all their games, and that's the way we do it in college football. They deserve to be No. 1, because they've won all their games. Whether or not they're the best team, it doesn't matter."

Spurrier was also asked about his Heisman Trophy ballot. He wouldn't reveal anything, but did say he always gives a vote for a player on his team.

Below is part of Spurrier's press conference about the Outback Bowl.

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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com