[gatortalk] Fwd: [gatornews] Dooley's Dozen: A look at the last 12 head coach debuts for Florida
I miss Pat Dooley!!
Oliver Barry CRS, GRI
Real Estate Broker
Crye-Leike, Realtors
964 Main St
Nashville, TN 37206
Office: 615-650-7447
Mobile: 615-972-4239
barryo@realtracs.com
Begin forwarded message:
From: Shane Ford <goufgators01@gmail.com> Date: August 29, 2022 at 11:14:01 AM CDT To: GatorNews <gatornews@googlegroups.com> Subject:[gatornews] Dooley's Dozen: A look at the last 12 head coach debuts for Florida Reply-To: gatornews+owners@googlegroups.com
There is nothing quite like opening day no matter what the sports. But especially in a city like Gainesville, it feels like it is an awakening, a rebirth of sorts as we all get together to start a new chapter in the history of Florida football.
This one has some special juice because it has been hyped for months, partly because Florida hasn't played a team ranked this high for an opener since the famous 1969 Houston game.
That's the thing – the openers are special when the opposition is Charleston Southern or The Citadel.
It's a reunion of sorts, people getting together for the first time in months, eating and drinking and laughing and sweating.
Sometimes, the first game of the season tells us something. Sometimes, it is forgotten before September is over.
This edition of Dooley's Dozen looks at the last 12 coaches at Florida (not including the four interim coaches in less than two decades) and how they fared in their openers.
1
Raymond B. (Bear) Wolf, 1946
Chuck Hunsinger. Courtesy: University of Florida SID
Wolf took over a team that had lost the last game of the previous season to the U.S. Amphibs in Norfolk, Va. It didn't get any better. His first game was a 13-7 loss to Ole Miss. So, there was hope. Right? The Gators went 0-9 and were never that close again. But the good news was that the players from the time referred to it mockingly as the Golden Era and used to have reunions and raise money for scholarships.
2
Bob Woodruff, 1950
Courtesy: University of Florida SID
Woodruff — a protégé of Gen. Robert Neyland — took over for Wolf, who finally started winning games but not enough. Woodruff's first game as head coach was against The Citadel and UF came out on top 7-3. The most significant thing? It was the first home night game for the Gators at Florida Field.
3
Ray Graves, 1960
AP Photo/Horace Cort
After 10 seasons of Woodruff, who did get Florida to its first-ever bowl game, Florida went to the Neyland tree again and hired Ray Graves. His first game was a 30-7 win over George Washington in the Gator Bowl (where they would also finish the season). This was the first of nine wins for UF, the first time that had happened at Florida.
4
Doug Dickey, 1970
Ray Graves (left) and Doug Dickey (right). Syndication/Nashville
After Graves was kicked upstairs, Florida brought Dickey home. A former Gator and P.K. Yonge quarterback, Dickey toned down the offense but escaped, 21-19, despite the Blue Devils outscoring Florida 13-0 in the fourth quarter. Carlos Alvarez had the eventual game-winner with a 67-yard punt return.
5
Charley Pell, 1979
Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
Pell had so much success at Clemson that it seemed like the perfect hire. He rallied the Gator Nation and had a big part in making Florida what it is today. His first game was a 14-10 loss in the Astrodome to a Houston team that would win 11 games that year. Pell's first team, of course, would win no games.
6
Galen Hall, 1985
Allen Dean Steele/Getty Images
So, you can look at this one of two ways. Hall was named interim coach after Pell was fired so his first game was a 27-12 win over Mississippi State. But after he was given the job permanently, his first win was 35-23 over Miami. In Miami. He had things rolling before the past sins of the previous staff caught up with the roster.
7
Steve Spurrier, 1990
USA TODAY Sports
Shane Matthews often tells the story that he wanted a draw or screen on the first play against Oklahoma State. That's not the way the HBC rolls. Instead, it was a long pass to Ernie Mills on a deep cross and Florida was on its way to a 50-7 win in Gainesville. Things felt different that day and it certainly was the beginning of an amazing 12-year run. Trivia: First touchdown of the Spurrier Era? Dexter McNabb.
8
Ron Zook, 2002
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The Zooker went to dinner with Spurrier soon after he succeeded him and the HBC told him, "You got this job because nobody else wanted it." Bigger names did not want to be the man after THE MAN, but Zook got off to a good start with a bomb from Rex Grossman to Taylor Jacobs on the first play and a 51-3 win at home over UAB.
9
Urban Meyer, 2005
USA TODAY Sports
Florida opened with Wyoming at home and won 32-14 in a game where Chris Leak set the record for consecutive completions with 17 straight. Yay. Meyer was not a happy camper. "In case you're wondering what the offense should look like, that wasn't it," he said after the game. Lighten up, Urbs.
10
Will Muschamp, 2011
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Muschamp was a bit of a surprise hire and was charged with cleaning up the broken program. It started with a 41-3 win at home over Florida Atlantic in what was also the debut at UF of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. Chris Raineyscored on a pass reception, a run and a blocked punt return. Remember when Florida used to score on blocked punts?
11
Jim McElwain, 2015
Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports
Probably the worst cultural fit at Florida, Mac started off strong with a 61-13 win over New Mexico State. Of course, he had this quarterback named Will Grier, who was 15-for-17 with two TD passes and a run for a score. That didn't work out and neither did McElwain, but he has the record for the most points scored by a Gator coach in his debut.
12
Dan Mullen, 2018
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
And here came Mullen, an offensive whiz who seemed to be a lot more personable than when he was at Florida as OC. His first game was a 53-6 win over Charleston Southern in the Swamp and we thought he had unlocked the door to Feleipe Franks (5 TD passes). Mullen was so happy, he took a victory lap and threw his visor into the crowd.
Sent from Shane's iPhone
Go Gators!
-- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorNews" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to gatornews+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gatornews/FF25737D-1652-4900-8901-248AB0F1C281%40gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment