Give former Florida and current South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier credit: The man never backs away from telling it like it is.

After days of speculation about which SEC coach did not vote for Florida quarterback Tim Tebow as a first-team All-SEC selection, Spurrier told reporters at SEC Media Days Friday he was the one who failed to vote for Tebow.

But it was all a mistake.

"I'm embarrassed,'' Spurrier said. "I apologize to Tim and all Gators.''

Spurrier said he asked South Carolina Director of Football Operations Jamie Speronis to vote for the coaches All-SEC team, then bring the ballot to him for final approval. He admits that after seeing a couple of players' names whom he deemed worthy of first-team honors, he signed off on it without actually looking closely at the remainder of the ballot.

When he started reading newspaper accounts about one coach not voting for Tebow, he called Speronis and said "We did vote for Tim Tebow, right?''

Speronis informed him that he had put Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead on Spurrier's ballot.

"That's my fault, I take full responsibility and I messed that up,'' Spurrier said. "And I apologized to Tim Tebow. We should not have messed that up. We screwed it up pretty badly and I am embarrassed about it. I feel badly about it.''

Spurrier, a former Gator quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, repeatedly said that it was a horrible mistake and nothing personal was intended.

"Tim Tebow is not only the best quarterback in this league, I think he's the best in the country,'' Spurrier said. "I think he's the best football player in the country. And what he's doing there, I believe he and (1996 Gator Heisman Trophy winner) Danny Wuerffel will go down in history two of the best quarterbacks -- maybe the two best -- to ever play college football. That's how good he is.''

Spurrier contacted Charles Bloom, the SEC's director of media relations, and asked him if he could change his vote, and Bloom agreed. So Tebow is now officialy a unanimous preseason All-SEC first team quarterback -- whatever that's worth.

[BRIAN CASSELLA | Times]