Ten Years Later: A Retrospective on the Most Inspiring Pregame Speech in CFB History

Captain Sasquatch

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"Defense play with a lot of confidence, play with enthusiasm, and with togetherness. BC comes to our house to take away what you and I want. They come right down here in our house.....to take it away, men. You know? So you'll get out there with a..........you gotta fight. Ya know? You gotta fight, and I know you will. It--it--it'll......I KNOW you're gonna fight tonight. It's gonna be execution......execution. Quart--quarterback just making good handoffs, backs taking--protecting the ball, receivers CATCHIN' THE BAWLLL. Not worrying about where they're gonna run, and not worrying about who's coming, just making the durngone catch like you're--you're capable of doing................*checks notes*.....................Who's--who--somebody--some of you gonna get opportunities tonight that we mentioned last night, some of you gonna get an opportunity to show the nation what you can do. Boy, you can't ask for better than that, can you?" *scratches balls*



The Florida State Seminoles would knock the locker room door off its hinges on their way to a 27-17 loss to Boston College that night.
 

soflagator

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If we’re honest, he’s got a point. I mean, the nerve of BC to come right down to their house to take away what they wanted. It wasn’t cool.
 

AlexDaGator

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I'll just leave this here...a powerful counterpoint to the OP and it seems especially perfect for Veterans Day.

Norm Carlson Looks Back.. - Gene Ellenson's Letter - Florida Gators

Norm Carlson Looks Back.. - Gene Ellenson's Letter

This is written for the countless players, fans, fellow coaches and friends of Coach Gene Ellenson, the master motivator and defensive coordinator for Florida football in the l960s. Over the years so many of them have asked to see a copy of "The Letter" which Ellenson, a World War II hero, wrote to his players on the l962 team, so that's what this article is all about.

Please do yourself a favor and read the whole article. You won't regret it. Just watch out, it can get a little dusty towards the end.



Ellenson was asked to address players even after his coaching career ended. From Wikipedia:

Ellenson was hugely popular among the Gators players, and served as the team's chief motivational speaker during the 1960s and beyond.

After the Gators struggled to a 1–2 record to begin the 1962 season, Ellenson wrote a letter to each member of the team detailing his War World II experiences and encouraging them to play harder: "You'll be a better man for it, and the next adversity won't be so tough." Players and coaches credit "The Letter" for inspiring the team to beat several tough opponents and end the season with a bowl victory.[10][4]

Ellenson's pep talk before the Gators' 1963 game against Alabama inspired Gators lineman Jack Katz to smash his helmet through a locker room blackboard, and inspired the team to upset the Crimson Tide 10–6, handing Alabama coach Bear Bryant his first of only two career losses in Tuscaloosa.[11]

When Buster Bishop, the coach of the Florida Gators men's golf team, fell ill immediately before the 1968 NCAA national tournament, Ellenson accompanied the golfers to the tournament in Las Cruces, New Mexico in his place. He delivered a memorable pep talk to the team using his favorite "positive molecules" metaphor, and the Gators upset the top-ranked Houston Cougars to win the NCAA tournament—the first national championship, in any sport, won by University of Florida athletes.[12]

Even after he left the coaching profession in 1970, Ellenson was still called upon to deliver motivational pregame speeches. In 1986, then-Gators coach Galen Hall invited Ellenson to give a pregame talk before the 3–4 Gators faced the 7–0 and 5th-ranked Auburn Tigers. Florida won 18–17 in what is still considered one of the greatest games in Florida Field history.[13]

Steve Spurrier had been the Gators' award-winning quarterback while Ellenson was an assistant coach in the 1960s. When Spurrier was the head coach at Duke in the late 1980s, he twice had Ellenson give pep talks to his team before traditional rivalry games. Duke won on both occasions.[14] When Spurrier returned to his alma mater in 1990 to become the Gators' head coach, he again invited Ellenson to deliver inspirational talks before big games.[15] The Gators went 4–0 in those contests.[15][16]



I wish Coach Ellenson had lived two more years so he could have seen his beloved Gators finally win it all.

A couple more articles about the greatest motivational speaker in UF history:

Former Gator Ellenson Always Has Been Fighter

Spurrier Plays His Hand - And It Delivers Spades




Alex.
 

rogdochar

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"Defense play with a lot of confidence, play with enthusiasm, and with togetherness. BC comes to our house to take away what you and I want. They come right down here in our house.....to take it away, men. You know? So you'll get out there with a..........you gotta fight. Ya know? You gotta fight, and I know you will. It--it--it'll......I KNOW you're gonna fight tonight. It's gonna be execution......execution. Quart--quarterback just making good handoffs, backs taking--protecting the ball, receivers CATCHIN' THE BAWLLL. Not worrying about where they're gonna run, and not worrying about who's coming, just making the durngone catch like you're--you're capable of doing................*checks notes*.....................Who's--who--somebody--some of you gonna get opportunities tonight that we mentioned last night, some of you gonna get an opportunity to show the nation what you can do. Boy, you can't ask for better than that, can you?" *scratches balls*



The Florida State Seminoles would knock the locker room door off its hinges on their way to a 27-17 loss to Boston College that night.


Nothing more lost than a Seminole without a reservation.
 

stephenPE

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I'll just leave this here...a powerful counterpoint to the OP and it seems especially perfect for Veterans Day.

Norm Carlson Looks Back.. - Gene Ellenson's Letter - Florida Gators



Please do yourself a favor and read the whole article. You won't regret it. Just watch out, it can get a little dusty towards the end.



Ellenson was asked to address players even after his coaching career ended. From Wikipedia:





I wish Coach Ellenson had lived two more years so he could have seen his beloved Gators finally win it all.

A couple more articles about the greatest motivational speaker in UF history:

Former Gator Ellenson Always Has Been Fighter

Spurrier Plays His Hand - And It Delivers Spades




Alex.
Gene was the coach the players wanted. Dickey seemed like a good choice at the time but.........
 

Zambo

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I'll just leave this here...a powerful counterpoint to the OP and it seems especially perfect for Veterans Day.

Norm Carlson Looks Back.. - Gene Ellenson's Letter - Florida Gators



Please do yourself a favor and read the whole article. You won't regret it. Just watch out, it can get a little dusty towards the end.



Ellenson was asked to address players even after his coaching career ended. From Wikipedia:





I wish Coach Ellenson had lived two more years so he could have seen his beloved Gators finally win it all.

A couple more articles about the greatest motivational speaker in UF history:

Former Gator Ellenson Always Has Been Fighter

Spurrier Plays His Hand - And It Delivers Spades




Alex.
Fantastic. Man, one more weekend to endure without college football. This letter has given me the strength to make it through to August 24th!
 

5-Star Finger

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Fantastic. Man, one more weekend to endure without college football. This letter has given me the strength to make it through to August 24th!

Seriously. I can't imagine anyone looking that guy in the eye when they said they couldn't go another rep.
 

Gator By Marriage

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Fantastic. Man, one more weekend to endure without college football. This letter has given me the strength to make it through to August 24th!
Taking my son to UF this weekend - will take up Saturday and Sunday - so I figure I'll barely even notice that it is the weekend. He's going to be on one of the upper floors in Trusler and it will be hotter than Hades, as well as complete chaos. I can't wait........
 

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