Florida Gators football

Florida Gators football
	2018 Florida Gators football team
First season	1906
Athletic director	Scott Stricklin
Head coach	Dan Mullen; 1st season, 2–1 (.667)
Stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium; (Capacity: 88,548)
Field	Steve Spurrier-Florida Field
Field surface	Grass
Location	Gainesville, Florida
NCAA division	Division I FBS
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern
Past conferences	Independent (1906–1911); SIAA (1912–1921); SoCon (1922–1932)
All-time record	714–415–40 (.628)
Bowl record	22–21 (.512)
Claimed nat'l titles	3 (1996, 2006, 2008)
Unclaimed nat'l titles	2 (1984, 1985)
National finalist	1 (1995)
Conference titles	8 (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2006, 2008)
Division titles	14 (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016)
Rivalries	Georgia (rivalry); Tennessee (rivalry); Florida State (rivalry); LSU (rivalry); Auburn (rivalry); Miami (rivalry)
Heisman winners	3 (Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel, Tim Tebow)
Consensus All-Americans	32
Current uniform
Colors	Orange and Blue;
Fight song	"The Orange and Blue"
Mascot	Albert and Alberta
Marching band	Pride of the Sunshine
Website	floridagators.com

The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They play their home games in Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (nicknamed "The Swamp") on the university's Gainesville campus. The team's current head coach is Dan Mullen. The Gators have won three national championships and eight SEC titles in the 111-season history of Florida football.

History

The University of Florida was established in Gainesville in 1906 and fielded its first official varsity football team that fall. In over 110 years of football, the Gators have played in over forty bowl games; won three national championships (1996, 2006 and 2008) and eight Southeastern Conference championships (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2006 and 2008) and have produced three Heisman Trophy winners, more than ninety first-team All-Americans and fifty National Football League (NFL) first-round draft choices.

Since 1906, Florida's football team has had twenty-six head coaches, including three who were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for their coaching success. Its first head coach was Pee Wee Forsythe with Dan Mullen becoming the Gators' most recent head coach in 2018.

Florida's football program competed for its first several seasons as an independent before joining the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1912. They moved to the Southern Conference in 1922, then left with a dozen other schools to establish the new Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1932. UF is currently one of fourteen member institutions in the SEC, and the Florida football team has competed in the SEC Eastern Division since the league began divisional play in 1992.

Florida plays an eight-game SEC schedule, with six games against the other Eastern Division teams: Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt. The schedule is filled out with an annual game against Louisiana State and a rotating SEC Western Division team. Until 2003, the Gators also played Auburn every season, but contests in the rivalry are now infrequent events as part of the SEC's rotating opponent system.

Key conference rivalries include the annual Florida–Georgia game in Jacksonville, Florida (usually around Halloween), the Florida–Tennessee rivalry (usually mid-September), and the inter-divisional Florida–LSU rivalry with their permanent SEC Western Division foe (in early to mid-October).

Florida has also played in-state rival Florida State every year since 1958, usually facing off in the last game of the regular season. The two teams' emergence as perennial football powers during the 1980s and 1990s helped build the Florida–Florida State rivalry into a game which often has national-title implications. Before 1988, in-state rival Miami was also an annual opponent; due to expanded conference schedules, the Florida–Miami rivalry has been renewed only three times in the regular season and twice in bowl games since then. The remaining dates on Florida's regular schedule are filled by non-conference opponents which vary from year to year.

Home fields

Florida's outdoor sports teams initially played most of their homes games at a municipal park near downtown Gainesville. In 1911, the university installed bleachers alongside a grassy area on the north edge of the campus and dubbed it University Athletic Field, which was expanded and renamed Fleming Field in 1915.

The football program finally moved into a modern stadium in 1930, when the university built 22,000 seat Florida Field just south of Fleming Field. In 1989, the name was extended to "Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium" to honor alumnus and sports benefactor Ben Hill Griffin. In 2016, former player and coach Steve Spurrier was honored by having his name added to the name of the field; it is now officially known as "Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium". The facility is also commonly known as "The Swamp", a nickname that Spurrier coined in 1992, when he was Florida's head ball coach. Florida Field has been renovated and expanded many times over the decades and has a capacity of almost 90,000.

Even after Florida Field was constructed, Florida occasionally scheduled "home" game in other cities across the state, most often Tampa or Jacksonville. This practice was common in the early years of the program, when the Gators' home field was smaller and traveling to Gainesville was more difficult. The frequency of these rotating home games had decreased from one or two contests per season in the 1930s to one every few seasons by the 1980s. With the exception of the traditional rivalry game against Georgia, the Gators have not scheduled any home games outside of Gainesville since Florida Field expanded to became the largest football stadium in the state in 1990.

Conference affiliations

Florida's football program is a charter member of the Southeastern Conference, which began play in 1933. Before that, the Gators were affiliated with two different conferences after having founded the program without a conference affiliation.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Independent (1906–1911)
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1912–1921)
Southern Conference (1922–1932)
Southeastern Conference (1933–present)

Championships

National Championships

The 1996, 2006 and 2008 Gators were ranked number one in the final AP and Coaches Polls and were recognized as consensus national champions after winning postseason national-championship games.^[7]

Year	Coach	Selector	Record	Bowl	Opponent	Result
1996	Steve Spurrier	AP, Coaches	12–1	Sugar Bowl (Bowl Alliance National Championship Game)	Florida State	W 52–20^[8]
2006	Urban Meyer	AP, Coaches, BCS	13–1	BCS National Championship Game	Ohio State	W 41–14^[9]
2008	Urban Meyer	AP, Coaches, BCS	13–1	BCS National Championship Game	Oklahoma	W 24–14^[10]

The 1984 Gators were recognized as national champions by The Sporting News, The New York Times and the Billingsley, DeVold, Dunkel, FACT, Matthews, and Jeff Sagarin rankings. However, they finished third in the final AP Poll and seventh in the final UPI Coaches Poll behind the BYU Cougars, who were number one in both major polls and thus considered the national champions in the pre-Bowl Alliance and BCS era.^[11] The 1985 Gators finished fifth in the final 1985 AP Poll and were recognized as national champion by one minor selector.^[12] Partially because the football program was on NCAA probation in the mid-1980s, the university has never claimed a share of the national championship for either the 1984 or 1985 season.^[13]

Conference championships

Florida has won a total of eight SEC championships. The Gators won their first championship with a conference record of 5–0–1 in 1984, but the title was vacated several months after the season ended by the SEC university presidents because of NCAA infractions by the Florida coaching staff under Charley Pell. The 1985 and 1990 teams also finished atop the standings with conference records of 5–1 and 6–1, respectively, but Florida was ineligible for the championship due to its NCAA probation for rule violations by previous coaching staffs. The Gators won their first official SEC football championship in 1991.^[14]

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall Record	Conference Record
1991	SEC	Steve Spurrier	10–2	7–0^[15]
1993			11–2	7–1^[16]
1994			10–2–1	7–1^[17]
1995			12–1	8–0^[18]
1996			12–1	8–0^[8]
2000			10–3	7–1^[19]
2006		Urban Meyer	13–1	7–1^[9]
2008		Urban Meyer	13–1	7–1^[10]

Division championships

With the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina to the Southeastern Conference in 1992, the conference split into eastern and western divisions and a game between the division winners determined the SEC champion. Florida has made twelve appearances in the SEC Championship Game (the most by any SEC school), its most recent in 2016. The Gators have won seven of the twelve SEC Championship Games in which they have appeared.

Season	Division	Opponent	CG result
1992†	SEC Eastern	Alabama	L 21–28^[20]
1993		Alabama	W 28–13^[16]
1994		Alabama	W 24–23^[17]
1995		Arkansas	W 34–3^[18]
1996		Alabama	W 45–30^[8]
1999		Alabama	L 7–34^[21]
2000		Auburn	W 28–6^[19]
2003†		–	– ^[22]
2006		Arkansas	W 38–28^[9]
2008		Alabama	W 31–20^[10]
2009		Alabama	L 13–32^[23]
2012†		–	– ^[24]
2015		Alabama	L 15–29^[25]
2016		Alabama	L 16–54^[26]

† In 1992, Florida finished the season tied with Georgia for the SEC East; however, Florida had defeated Georgia and won the tie-breaker to represent the division in the 1992 SEC Championship Game. In 2003 Florida ended the regular season in a three-way tie for the SEC East title with Georgia and Tennessee, and in 2012 the Gators were tied with Georgia. According to the SEC's tie-breaking procedure, Georgia was selected to represent the division in the 2003 SEC Championship Game and 2012 SEC Championship Game.

Bowl games

Florida has appeared in 43 NCAA-sanctioned bowl games, garnering a 22–21 record. This includes a streak of 22 consecutive bowl-game appearances from 1991 through 2012, the fifth-longest in college football history.^[27] Four of their bowl games were for a National Championship, with two under the Bowl Alliance and two in the Bowl Championship Series. Florida is 3–1 in national championship games.

Season	Coach	Bowl	Opponent	Result
1912	George E. Pyle	Bacardi Bowl†	Vedado Athletic Club	W 28–0^[28]
1952	Bob Woodruff	Gator Bowl	Tulsa	W 14–13^[29]
1958	Bob Woodruff	Gator Bowl	Mississippi	L 3–7^[30]
1960	Ray Graves	Gator Bowl	Baylor	W 13–12^[31]
1962	Ray Graves	Gator Bowl	Penn State	W 17–7^[32]
1965	Ray Graves	Sugar Bowl	Missouri	L 18–20^[33]
1966	Ray Graves	Orange Bowl	Georgia Tech	W 27–12^[34]
1969	Ray Graves	Gator Bowl	Tennessee	W 14–13^[35]
1973	Doug Dickey	Tangerine Bowl	Miami (OH)	L 7–16^[36]
1974	Doug Dickey	Sugar Bowl	Nebraska	L 10–13^[37]
1975	Doug Dickey	Gator Bowl	Maryland	L 0–13^[38]
1976	Doug Dickey	Sun Bowl	Texas A&M	L 14–37^[39]
1980	Charley Pell	Tangerine Bowl	Maryland	W 35–20^[40]
1981	Charley Pell	Peach Bowl	West Virginia	L 6–26^[41]
1982	Charley Pell	Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	Arkansas	L 24–28^[42]
1983	Charley Pell	Gator Bowl	Iowa	W 14–6^[43]
1987	Galen Hall	Aloha Bowl	UCLA	L 16–20^[44]
1988	Galen Hall	All-American Bowl	Illinois	W 14–10^[45]
1989	Gary Darnell	Freedom Bowl	Washington	L 7–34^[46]
1991	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl	Notre Dame	L 28–39^[15]
1992	Steve Spurrier	Gator Bowl	NC State	W 27–10^[20]
1993	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl	West Virginia	W 41–7^[16]
1994	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl	Florida State	L 17–23^[17]
1995	Steve Spurrier	Fiesta Bowl	Nebraska	L 24–62^[18]
1996	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl	Florida State	W 52–20^[8]
1997	Steve Spurrier	Florida Citrus Bowl	Penn State	W 21–6^[47]
1998	Steve Spurrier	Orange Bowl	Syracuse	W 31–10^[48]
1999	Steve Spurrier	Florida Citrus Bowl	Michigan State	L 34–37^[21]
2000	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl	Miami (FL)	L 20–37^[19]
2001	Steve Spurrier	Orange Bowl	Maryland	W 56–23^[49]
2002	Ron Zook	Outback Bowl	Michigan	L 30–38^[50]
2003	Ron Zook	Outback Bowl	Iowa	L 17–37^[22]
2004	Charlie Strong (interim)	Peach Bowl	Miami (FL)	L 10–27^[51]
2005	Urban Meyer	Outback Bowl	Iowa	W 31–24^[52]
2006	Urban Meyer	BCS National Championship Game	Ohio State	W 41–14^[9]
2007	Urban Meyer	Capital One Bowl	Michigan	L 35–41^[53]
2008	Urban Meyer	BCS National Championship Game	Oklahoma	W 24–14^[10]
2009	Urban Meyer	Sugar Bowl	Cincinnati	W 51–24^[23]
2010	Urban Meyer	Outback Bowl	Penn State	W 37–24^[54]
2011	Will Muschamp	Gator Bowl	Ohio State	W 24–17^[55]
2012	Will Muschamp	Sugar Bowl	Louisville	L 23–33^[24]
2014	D. J. Durkin (interim)	Birmingham Bowl	East Carolina	W 28–20^[56]
2015	Jim McElwain	Citrus Bowl	Michigan	L 7–41^[25]
2016	Jim McElwain	Outback Bowl	Iowa	W 30–3

† The 1912 Bacardi Bowl was not sanctioned by the NCAA and was intended to be one half of a two game event which was never completed. As such, the University of Florida Athletic Association does not include the contest in the Gators' official bowl record.^[14]

Yearly records

Florida's season records are from the record books of the university's athletic association. Through 2016,^{[needs update]} Florida has compiled an overall record of 710 wins, 404 losses, and 40 ties (including post-season bowl games).^[14]

All-time record against SEC teams

Opponent	Won	Lost	Tied	Percentage	Streak	First	Last
Alabama	14	25	0	.359	Lost 5	1916	2016^[57]
Arkansas	9	2	0	.900	Lost 1	1982	2016^[58]
Auburn	38	43	2	.470	Lost 3	1912	2011^[59]
Georgia	43	50	2	.468	Lost 1	1915	2017^[60]
Kentucky	51	18	0	.750	Lost 1	1917	2018^[61]^[62]
LSU	32	29	3	.516	Lost 1	1937	2017^[63]
Mississippi State	33	19	2	.630	Lost 1	1923	2010^[64]
Missouri	3	4	0	.429	Lost 1	1966	2017^[65]
Ole Miss	11	12	1	.479	Won 1	1926	2015^[66]
South Carolina	26	9	3	.716	Lost 1	1911	2017^[67]
Tennessee	27	20	0	.574	Won 1	1916	2017^[68]
Texas A&M	2	2	0	.500	Lost 1	1962	2017^[69]
Vanderbilt	39	10	2	.784	Won 4	1945	2017^[70]
Totals	323	238	15	.574

Rivalries

Georgia

Previously known as "the world's largest outdoor cocktail party," it is most commonly called the "Florida–Georgia game" by Gator fans.^[71] The game is held at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, usually on the last Saturday in October or the first Saturday in November.^[72] The designated "home" team alternates, with ticket distribution split evenly between the schools.^[73]

In the rivalry's early years, games rotated among locations in Savannah, Georgia, Tampa, Florida, Jacksonville and, occasionally, Gainesville and Athens.^[60] Since 1933 the game has been played in Jacksonville, except for 1994 and 1995 (when the teams played a pair of home-and-home games at their respective stadiums).^[60]

Georgia had early success in the rivalry, winning the first six games and holding a 21–5–1 series lead before 1950.^[60] After the 2014 game Florida had won 21 out of the most-recent 27 games, and holds a 38–28–1 advantage in the series since 1950.^[60] The Bulldogs lead the series overall, 49–43–2.^[60]

Since 2009, the Okefenokee Oar has been awarded to the winner of the Florida-Georgia game.^[74] Florida last received the oar for its 2016 victory.^[75]

Tennessee

Although Florida and Tennessee are charter members of the SEC, irregular conference scheduling resulted in the teams meeting infrequently for many years. Tennessee won the first ten games between 1916 and 1954, when Florida finally defeated the Volunteers.^[68] In 1969, Florida hired Tennessee head coach (and former Florida quarterback) Doug Dickey to replace the retiring Ray Graves immediately after their teams met in the Gator Bowl.^[76]

The rivalry reached a peak during the 1990s. In 1992, the SEC expanded to twelve schools and split into two divisions.^[77]^[78] Florida and Tennessee (in the Eastern Division) have met every year since, usually in mid-September for both teams' first conference game of the season.^[68] Led by coaches Steve Spurrier and Phillip Fulmer and featuring players such as Danny Wuerffel and Peyton Manning, both teams were highly ranked and the game had conference- and national-title implications. Florida and Tennessee combined to win two national championships during the decade.^[79]

Since becoming annual opponents, the Gators and Volunteers have combined to represent the Eastern Division in the SEC Championship Game fifteen times in twenty seasons. Florida had an eleven-game winning streak against Tennessee (from 2005 to 2015) and leads the series, 27–20.^[68]

Florida State

The University of Florida and the Florida State College for Women became co-educational in 1947.^[80] The new Florida State Seminoles football team began playing small colleges, moving up to the major-college ranks in 1955.^[81] Almost immediately, Florida State students and supporters called for the teams of Florida's two largest universities to play each other annually.^[82]

Contrary to popular belief, Florida's state legislature did not decree that Florida and Florida State should meet on the field; a bill mandating the game was rejected by the Florida Senate.^[83] Prodding by Florida governor LeRoy Collins facilitated an agreement between the two universities to begin an annual series in 1958.^[84] Due to Florida State's smaller stadium, the first six games were played at Florida Field. The series has alternated between the campuses since 1964, when Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee was expanded.^[85] Florida dominated the early series with a 16–2–1 record through 1976. Both teams have produced significant winning streaks, and the series is nearly tied over the past four decades; Florida State holds a 23–16–1 advantage. Florida leads the all-time series, 34–26–2.^[86]

The Florida–Florida State game has had national-championship implications since 1990, and both teams have entered the game with top-10 rankings thirteen times.^[87] Among these was the Sugar Bowl rematch at the end of the 1996 season, when Florida avenged its only regular-season loss and won its first national championship 52–20.^[88]

LSU

Louisiana State and Florida first met on the football field in 1937, and have been annual opponents since 1971.^[63] Since 1992, LSU has been Florida's permanent inter-divisional rival from the SEC Western Division. The winner of the Florida–LSU game went on to win the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national championship game in the 2006, 2007, and 2008 seasons. This rivalry has been known recently for close games, with both teams highly ranked. Florida leads the all-time series, 32–29–3.^[63]

Auburn

Auburn and Florida played annually from 1945 to 2002.^[59] In the overall series won-lost record, Auburn is Florida's most evenly-matched SEC opponent. Beginning in the 1980s, one team was usually highly ranked coming into the game and it had conference- and national-title implications.^[89]^[90]

The series has had several notable upsets. Auburn defeated previously-unbeaten Florida teams in 1993, 1994, 2001, 2006 and 2007, although the Gators won SEC championships in 1993, 1994 and 2006.^[14]

The annual series ended in 2002, when the SEC adjusted its football schedules so each team played one permanent and two rotating opponents from the opposite SEC division every year (instead of one rotating and two permanent teams).^[91] When Texas A&M and Missouri joined the conference in 2012, the schedule was changed again; each team played one permanent and one rotating opponent from the opposite division every year. LSU was designated as Florida's annual SEC Western Division opponent, and Florida and Auburn play two regular-season games every twelve years. Auburn leads the series, 43–38–2.^[59]

Miami

Florida and Miami formerly played each other for the Seminole War Canoe Trophy, but they canceled after the 1987 season^[92] when Florida's annual SEC schedule expanded to eight games. The teams did not play each other again until the 2001 Sugar Bowl.^[92] Florida and Miami played a home-and-home series in 2002 and 2003, and met again in the 2004 Peach Bowl.^[92] The Gators won the first leg of a home-and-home series in 2008, ending a six-game losing streak against the Hurricanes.^[92] Their 2008 victory against Miami was Florida's only victory against them in the last 30 years. The last scheduled regular-season meeting of the Gators and the Hurricanes was in Miami in 2013, where the Hurricanes won 21–16. The next scheduled matchup between the schools will open up the 2019 season on August 31 at the Camping World Kickoff in Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.^[93]

Individual award winners

Heisman Trophy

Steve Spurrier (1966)^[94]

Danny Wuerffel (1996)^[95]

Tim Tebow (2007)^[96]

Maxwell Award

Danny Wuerffel (1996)^[97]

Tim Tebow (2007, 2008)^[97]

Walter Camp Award

Danny Wuerffel (1996)^[98]

Sammy Baugh Trophy

John Reaves (1971)^[99]

Danny Wuerffel (1995)^[99]

Davey O'Brien Award

Danny Wuerffel (1995, 1996)^[100]

Tim Tebow (2007)^[100]

Rimington Trophy

Maurkice Pouncey (2009)^[101]

Ray Guy Award

Chas Henry (2010)^[102]

Jim Thorpe Award

Lawrence Wright (1996)^[103]

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award

Danny Wuerffel (1996)^[104]

Chic Harley Award

Steve Spurrier (1966)^[105]

Tim Tebow (2007)^[105]

Lou Groza Award

Judd Davis (1993)^[106]

John Mackey Award

Aaron Hernandez (2009)^[107]

Draddy Trophy

Brad Culpepper (1991)^[108]

Danny Wuerffel (1996)^[108]

Tim Tebow (2009)^[108]

Wuerffel Trophy

Tim Tebow (2008)^[109]

Manning Award

Tim Tebow (2008)^[110]

Rhodes Scholarship

William McRae (1933)

Bill Kynes (1977)

College Football Hall of Fame members

Twelve people associated with Florida have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, four as head coaches and nine as players.

Name	Position	Florida years	Inducted	Ref.
Carlos Alvarez	Wide receiver	1969–71	2011	^[111]
Charlie Bachman	Coach	1928–32	1978	^[112]
Wes Chandler	Wide receiver	1974–77	2015	^[113]
Doug Dickey	Coach	1970–78	2003	^[114]
Ray Graves	Coach	1960–69	1990	^[115]
Marcelino Huerta	Coach	1947–49	2002	^[116]
Wilber Marshall	Linebacker	1980–83	2008	^[117]
Emmitt Smith	Running back	1987–89	2006	^[118]
Steve Spurrier	Quarterback, Coach	1963–66 (QB); 1990-2001 (Coach)	1986, 2017	^[119]
Dale Van Sickel	End	1927–29	1975	^[120]
Danny Wuerffel	Quarterback	1993–96	2013	^[121]
Jack Youngblood	Defensive end	1967–70	1992	^[122]

Steve Spurrier was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986 for his record as Florida's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from 1964 to 1966 and again in 2017 for his head coaching achievements at Duke, Florida, and South Carolina.^[119] He is one of four members of the College Football Hall of Fame inducted as both a player and a coach.^[123]
Doug Dickey, Florida's quarterback in 1951 and 1952, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003 for his record as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers from 1964 to 1969 and the Gators from 1970 to 1978.^[114]
Marcelino Huerta, a standout Gator lineman from 1947 to 1949, was inducted in 2002 for his record as head coach of the Tampa Spartans, Wichita State Shockers and Parson Wildcats.^[116]

All-Americans

Since Florida's first season in 1906, eighty-nine players have received one or more selections as first-team All-Americans.^[14] This includes thirty-two consensus All-Americans, of which six were unanimous.^[124] The first Florida first-team All-American was end Dale Van Sickel, a member of the 1928 team.^[125] Florida's first consensus All-American was quarterback Steve Spurrier, the winner of the Heisman Trophy for the 1966 Gators.^[14]^[126]

SEC Legends

Since 1994, the Southeastern Conference has annually designated one former football player from each SEC member school as an "SEC Legend." Through 2017, the following Gators have been named SEC Legends:

Fergie Ferguson Award

The Fergie Ferguson Award is given in memory of one of the University of Florida's finest athletes, Forest K. Ferguson. Ferguson was an All-SEC end for Florida in 1941 and state boxing champion in 1942. Subsequently, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he led an infantry platoon during the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944.^[127] Ferguson helped clear the way for his troops to advance on the Axis position, and was severely wounded leading his men in the assault.^[127] A recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions,^[127] he died from war-related injuries in 1954. The award, a trophy, is given to the senior football player who most displays "leadership, character, and courage."^[128]

Ring of Honor

The Gators do not currently have any retired jersey numbers. Although Steve Spurrier's (11) and Scot Brantley's (55) numbers were once retired, Spurrier reissued them as head coach.^[129]

The Florida Football Ring of Honor, the Gator's alternative to retiring a player's number, pays homage to former players and coaches. The University of Florida Athletic Association created the Ring of Honor in 2006 to commemorate 100 years of Florida Football. Jerseys with numbers worn by Wilber Marshall, Emmitt Smith, Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel, and Jack Youngblood are displayed on the facade of the north end zone of Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium; their numbers are used by current players.^[130] In July 2018, the university announced that Tim Tebow would be inducted into the Ring of Honor during a game on October 6, 2018.^[131]

Name	Position	No.	Florida years	Inducted
Wilber Marshall	Linebacker	88	1980–83	2007
Emmitt Smith	Running back	22	1987–89	2006
Steve Spurrier	Quarterback	11	1964–66 (player), 1990–2001 (coach)	2006
Danny Wuerffel	Quarterback	7	1993–96	2006
Jack Youngblood	Defensive end	74	1967–70	2006
Tim Tebow	Quarterback	15	2006-09	2018 (To be inducted Oct. 6, 2018)

To be considered for induction into the Ring of Honor, a former player or coach must be absent from the university for five seasons, be in good standing, and meet at least one of the following criteria:^[132]

Heisman Trophy winner (Spurrier, Wuerffel, Tebow)
Former All-Americans inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as players (Smith, Youngblood)
Former All-Americans who are NFL career category leaders (Smith)
College-career category leaders (Tebow)
Coaches with one or more national championship (Spurrier)
Coaches with three or more SEC championships (Spurrier)
Players with two or more consensus All-America honors who were also named national offensive or defensive player of the year (Marshall, Tebow)

All-Time teams

A Florida Football All-Time Team was compiled by the Florida Alumnus, the official publication of the Florida alumni, in 1927.^[133]

First team
QB – Rammy Ramsdell
HB – Dummy Taylor
HB – Ed Jones
FB – Bill Middlekauff
E – Ferdinand H. Duncan
T – Cy Williams
G – Goldy Goldstein
C – Bo Gator Storter
G – Tootie Perry
T – Jim Coarsy
E – Joe Swanson

Second team
QB – Bob Shackleford
HB – Ark Newton
HB – Harvey Hester
FB – Ray Dickson
E – G. P. Wood
T – Pus Hancock
G – Arthur Doty
C – Lamar Sarra
G – Ed Meisch
T – Robbie Robinson
E – Frank Oosterhoudt

Another University of Florida all-time team was chosen by the Miami Herald according to a fan vote in August 1983.^{[not specific enough to verify]}

First Team Offense
QB – Steve Spurrier
RB – Larry Smith
RB – Nat Moore
WR – Cris Collinsworth
WR – Wes Chandler
TE – Jim Yarbrough
OT – Randy Jackson
OT – Mike Williams
OG – Burton Lawless
OG – Guy Dennis
C – Bill Carr
PK – David Posey

First Team Defense
DL – Jack Youngblood
DL – Scott Hutchinson
DL – David Galloway
DL – Charlie LaPradd
LB – Ralph Ortega
LB – Scot Brantley
LB – Wilber Marshall
LB – Glenn Cameron
DB – Steve Tannen
DB – Jackie Simpson
DB – Bernie Parrish
P – Bobby Joe Green

Second Team Offense
QB – John Reaves
RB – Rick Casares
RB – James Jones
WR – Carlos Alvarez
WR – Charles Casey
TE – Chris Faulkner
OT – Mac Steen
OT – Charlie Mitchell
OG – Larry Beckman
OG – John Barrow
C – Steve DeLaTorre
PK – Brian Clark

Second Team Defense
DL – Robin Fisher
DL – Joe D'Agostino
DL – Lynn Matthews
DL – Vel Heckman
LB – David Little
LB – Fred Abbott
LB – Sammy Green
DB – Bruce Bennett
DB – Tony Lilly
DB – Hagood Clarke
P – Don Chandler

All-Century Team

The Florida Football All-Century Team, chosen by Gator fans, was compiled by The Gainesville Sun in the fall of 1999.^[134]

First Team Offense
QB – Danny Wuerffel (1993–96)
RB – Neal Anderson (1982–85)
RB – Emmitt Smith (1987–89)
WR – Carlos Alvarez (1969–71)
WR – Wes Chandler (1974–77)
TE – Jim Yarbrough (1966–68)
OT – Lomas Brown (1981–84)
OT – David Williams (1985–88)
OG – Burton Lawless (1972–74)
OG – Donnie Young (1993–96)
OC – Jeff Mitchell (1993–96)
PK – Judd Davis (1992–94)
KR – Jacquez Green (1995–97)

First Team Defense
DE – Jack Youngblood (1968–70)
DE – Kevin Carter (1991–94)
DT – Brad Culpepper (1988–1991)
DT – Ellis Johnson (1991–94)
LB – Wilber Marshall (1980–83)
LB – Scot Brantley (1976–79)
LB – David Little (1977–80)
CB – Steve Tannen (1967–69)
CB – Jarvis Williams (1984–87)
S – Louis Oliver (1985–88)
S – Bruce Bennett (1963–65)
P – Bobby Joe Green (1958–59)

Second Team Offense
QB – Steve Spurrier (1964–66)
RB – Rick Casares (1951–53)
RB – James Jones (1979–82)
WR – Reidel Anthony (1994–96)
WR – Ike Hilliard (1994–96)
TE – Kirk Kirkpatrick (1987–90)
OT – Jason Odom (1992–95)
OT – Mike Williams (1973–75)
OG – Larry Gagner (1963–65)
OG – Jeff Zimmerman (1983–86)
OC – Phil Bromley (1981–84)
PK – David Posey (1973–76)
KR – Jack Jackson (1992–94)

Second Team Defense
DE – David Ghesquiere (1967–69)
DE – Lynn Matthews (1963–65)
DT – David Galloway (1979–81)
DT – Charlie LaPradd (1950–52)
LB – Sammy Green (1972–75)
LB – Alonzo Johnson (1983–85)
LB – Ralph Ortega (1972–74)
CB – Fred Weary (1994–97)
CB – Richard Fain (1987–90)
S – Tony Lilly (1980–83)
S – Wayne Fields (1972–75)
P – Ray Criswell (1982–85)

100th-Anniversary Team

The 100th-Anniversary Florida Team was selected in 2006 to celebrate a century of Florida football. Fans voted by mail and online.^[135]

Offense
QB – Danny Wuerffel (1993–1996)
RB – Errict Rhett (1990–1993)
RB – Emmitt Smith (1987–1989)
RB – Fred Taylor (1994–1997)
WR – Carlos Alvarez (1969–1971)
WR – Cris Collinsworth (1977–1980)
WR – Chris Doering (1992–1995)
WR – Ike Hilliard (1994–1996)
OL – Lomas Brown (1981–1984)
OL – Mike Degory (2002–2005)
OL – Jeff Mitchell (1993–1996)
OL – Jason Odom (1992–1995)
PK – Jeff Chandler (1998–2001)

Defense
DL – Trace Armstrong (1988)
DL – Alex Brown (1998–2001)
DL – Kevin Carter (1991–1994)
DL – Brad Culpepper (1988–1991)
DL – Jack Youngblood (1968–1970)
LB – Scot Brantley (1976–1979)
LB – Channing Crowder (2003–2004)
LB – Jevon Kearse (1996–1998)
LB – Wilber Marshall (1980–1983)
DB – Louis Oliver (1985–1988)
DB – Lito Sheppard (1999–2001)
DB – Fred Weary (1994–1997)
P – Shayne Edge (1991–94)

Uniforms

The Florida football team has worn a home uniform of blue jerseys (usually a variation of royal blue) with white pants for most of the program's history. The most notable exception was a decade-long period from 1979 until 1989, when at the suggestion of coach Charlie Pell, the Gators switched to orange home jerseys.^[136] For road games, Florida wears white jerseys with blue, orange, or white pants, depending on the colors of the opponent or the choice of the players that week.

Steve Spurrier restored the home blue jerseys when he became the Gators' head ball coach in 1990.^[137] From 1990 until 2014, Florida's primary home uniforms were blue jerseys with white pants, with blue pants an option for high-profile games, especially at night. Former coach Jim McElwain usually allowed his senior players to decide which uniform combination the team wore for each game. Since this practice began during the 2015 season, the Gators have worn many different combinations of blue or orange jerseys along with blue, orange, or white pants.^[138]^[139]

Florida has occasionally worn alternative uniforms, which are usually similar to current or former uniforms and used an orange and blue color scheme. One exception were the "swamp green" uniforms used at a home game against Texas A&M in October 2017. These used a dark green theme for the entire uniform from shoes to helmet that was inspired by the appearance of actual alligators. The uniform marked the 25th anniversary of former coach Steve Spurrier introducing the Swamp nickname for Florida Field.^[140]

Helmets

Florida has had a number of helmet designs, especially early in the program's history. Since the end of the leather helmet era, base colors have alternated between orange, white, and (occasionally) blue, and logos have included an interlocking "UF", a simple "F", and the player number.^[141]

From 1979 until 2006, Florida wore orange helmets with a script "Gators" logo in all contests. To commemorate the 100th year of the football program in 2006, the Gators played one game wearing throwback uniforms modeled after their mid-1960s uniforms which included white helmets with a simple "F" logo.^[142] In 2009 the Gators participated in Nike's Pro Combat uniform campaign, wearing specially-designed blue uniforms and white helmets with a slant-F logo.^[143] These uniforms were worn for the last regular-season game against Florida State, and the white helmets were worn again the following week against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game with white jerseys and pants.^[144] Florida introduced a different white alternative helmet in 2016 which featured the script "Gators" logo on one side and a Gator head logo on the other. In 2017, the Gators wore "swamp green" helmets for one game. These dark green helmets featured a color-altered Gator head logo on one side and the player's number in orange on the other.

Team logos

Gator helmet logo during the mid-1960s
Primary helmet logo since 1979
Alternate Florida Athletics logo since the early 2000s

Current coaching staff

Head Coach Dan Mullen was hired immediately following the conclusion of the Gators' 2017 season on November 27, 2017. This is Mullen's coaching staff.^[when?]

Name	Position	First season	Previous team
Dan Mullen	Head Coach	2018	Mississippi State
Todd Grantham	Defensive Coordinator	2018	Mississippi State
John Hevesy	Co-Offensive Coordinator, Offensive Line	2018	Mississippi State
Billy Gonzales	Co-Offensive Coordinator, Wide Receivers	2018	Mississippi State
Larry Scott	Tight Ends	2018	Tennessee
Greg Knox	Running Backs, Special Teams	2018	Mississippi State
Brian Johnson	Quarterbacks	2018	Houston
Sal Sunseri	Defensive Line	2018	Oakland Raiders
Christian Robinson	Linebackers	2018	Mississippi State
Charlton Warren	Cornerbacks	2018	Tennessee
Ron English	Safeties	2018	Mississippi State
Nick Savage	Director of Strength & Conditioning	2018	Mississippi State

Both Gonzales (2005-2009) and Hevesy (2005-2008) coached with Mullen while he was the offensive coordinator at Florida under Urban Meyer from 2005-2009.

Christian Robinson will serve as a coordinator for the first time in his coaching career. Robinson's career as a linebacker in college concluded in 2013 when he graduated from the University of Georgia. He went on to become a graduate assistant at Ole Miss, Georgia and MSU under Mullen.

Future opponents

Non-division opponents

Florida plays Louisiana State (LSU) (a non-division opponent) annually; with the other six SEC Western Division teams rotated on a six-year cycle, Florida plays every Western Division team once every six years (twice every twelve years) with alternating home and away games.^[145]

2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
vs LSU	at LSU	vs LSU	at LSU	vs LSU	at LSU	vs LSU	at LSU
at MSU	vs Auburn	at Ole Miss	vs Alabama	at Texas A&M	vs Arkansas	at Auburn	vs MSU

Non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of June 7, 2018^[146]

2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027
vs. Miami (FL) at Orlando, FL August 31	vs. Eastern Washington September 5					vs. South Florida September 6
vs. UT Martin September 7	vs. South Alabama September 19		vs. South Florida September 17	at South Florida September 9
vs. Towson September 28		vs. Samford November 20
vs. Florida State November 30	at Florida State November 28	vs. Florida State November 27	at Florida State November 26	vs. Florida State November 25	at Florida State November 30	vs. Florida State November 29	at Florida State November 28	vs. Florida State November 27

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