GCMB Poll: Most influential Florida football coach

[78]

This isn't simply about wins and losses, or necessarily even titles, but in terms of what did the coach do to positively change and influence the program and move it forward. So if you were going to sarcastically drop a vote for Muschamp over "influence," you can forget it.

The goal here is to make you think long and hard before answering.

BTW, Forsythe became Florida's first football coach in 1906. Per Wiki:

In 1905 the Florida Legislature passed the Buckman Act, which reorganized higher education in Florida. The University of Florida in Lake City was merged with three other institutions to form the new "University of the State of Florida", a school for white men. Florida State College became the Florida Female College, a school for white women, and a number of its former male students transferred to the new university.

Galen Hall probably doesn't belong on the list, but I put him in there anyway. A very good coach, esp considering the awful circumstances under which he took over in '84, but probably not what you would term influential. Same even more for Dickey and yet it was an influential period. Pell I view as more influential than either of the aforementioned for what he did to turn around a moribund program and personally sell the overhaul of Florida Field. That's pretty big in my view.

I've about run out of poll subjects other than worst poster, which would give me a leg up on the competition.

 

[NavetG8r]

SOS. Period.

/thread




Meyer was never more than a mercenary and never cared about UF no matter how much BS came out of his mouth. Still appreciate the NCs tho.

 

[78]

Pretty obvious answer. It'll be interesting to see opinions on how Pell and Meyer changed the program. You can't deny their efforts. But for the longest time, the goal, the seemingly unattainable goal, was winning the SEC.

Spurrier didn't just attain it, he made us own the SEC, and in a manner that was over-the-top arrogant. We didn't just tell you we were gonna beat you. We'd hang 35 in the first half and coast the rest of the day.

 

[Double Gator Dad]

Seriously?
This is a question?

 

[stephenPE]

Ray Graves changed the culture. Brought SOS to the program. 1st New Years Day Bowl games.
He beat the Bear at his place. SOS and the super sophs were his glory teams.
Pell got the Bullgators to donate much needed money and upgrade the facilities. I will say his upside almost negated the downside but the NCAA just hammered the sh#t out of us for doing what all those other ckcsckers were doing in the SEC.
SOS made us a household name and ended the misery. He made all the previous misery worth it with his style and wins.

 

[gardnerwebbgator]

Pell was a ****ing crook. SOS came in and showed you didn't have to cheat like Clemson to win at UF.

 

[78]

Seriously?
This is a question?

The question is whether SOS can hang 30 before anyone else gets a single vote.

 

[78]

Pell was a ****ing crook. SOS came in and showed you didn't have to cheat like Clemson to win at UF.

Paranoia and time spent in Tuscaloosa under the Bear convinced him of the need to cheat. He didn't need to. He was a great recruiter and he assembled a great coaching staff. I'm convinced he'd have won a title here had he not cheated.

 

[MJMGator]

I voted for Ray Graves even though he was before my time. He's the one responsible for bringing SOS to Gainesville, so without him SOS isn't even in the conversation and it's possible we still have the rich tradition of UK in football.

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

There's no Gator brand without Spurrier, and I wouldn't have the pleasure of knowing you knuckleheads.

 

[Bernardo de la Paz]

I voted for Ray Graves even though he was before my time. He's the one responsible for bringing SOS to Gainesville, so without him SOS isn't even in the conversation and it's possible we still have the rich tradition of UK in football.

What about the guy that hired Graves? Without him there is no Graves and no Spurrier...

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

SPURRIER! He showed us just how powerful and dominant a program UF COULD and SHOULD be, showed us how big we could win, brought us our first SEC title, first NC and set the standard for all coaches thereafter.

 

[78]

What about the guy that hired Graves? Without him there is no Graves and no Spurrier...

That would be J. Wayne Reitz. The problem is most people here are gonna remember Reitz for lunch and ping pong. So our most influential football guy hosted lunch and ping pong.

 

[78]

BTW, Reitz got his BA from Colorado State. Cue the Twilight Zone music.

 

[Gator Fever]

Pell did put us on the map but we saw how that ended. It does surprise me how many people in FL that aren't Gator fans don't realize the good years we had under Pell and think we never hardly did anything until Spurrier arrived.

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

BTW, Reitz got his BA from Colorado State. Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Oh shat, that means when we do this poll again from our assisted living facilities in 35 years we're gonna have to vote for McElwain? Damn, if he wins that big, I'm all for it!

 

[78]

Oh shat, that means when we do this poll again from our assisted living facilities in 35 years we're gonna have to vote for McElwain? Damn, if he wins that big, I'm all for it!

 

[GR8 2B]

Ray Graves changed the culture. Brought SOS to the program. 1st New Years Day Bowl games.
He beat the Bear at his place. SOS and the super sophs were his glory teams.
Pell got the Bullgators to donate much needed money and upgrade the facilities. I will say his upside almost negated the downside but the NCAA just hammered the sh#t out of us for doing what all those other ckcsckers were doing in the SEC.
SOS made us a household name and ended the misery. He made all the previous misery worth it with his style and wins.

SOS may seem, at first blush, to be the obvious answer, but Ray Graves absolutely must be in the conversation. I almost want to call this a tie.

 

[LagoonGator68]

Pell did put us on the map but we saw how that ended. It does surprise me how many people in FL that aren't Gator fans don't realize the good years we had under Pell and think we never hardly did anything until Spurrier arrived.

And you don't even realize that Graves did far more to put Gator football on the map than cheating Charlie did. Pell was only here a very few years, one of which was winless.

Pell also singlehandedly saved the girls school place at the football table by getting us put on tv and cumulative scholarship probation for years. The girls school would have dropped football had Jim Smith not personally given them a financial guarantee is how bad their finances were after Jones and Mudra.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Had to give it to Pell. For putting us on the map, for all the fun we had, because he was the coach while I was at Florida, and because his team won our first (and 2nd) SEC championship. But mostly, and this is the real reason, because goon does't like Pell.