# 2: 1984 Florida Gators

This team has been sadly forgotten by the annals of history. Steve Spurrier's time in Gainesville led many to believe he invented Gator Football as a coach and that his time as a player was spent on poor Florida teams.. Try and tell Jack Youngblood, Wes Chandler or Nat Moore that. Try telling the 1929 Gators who had a shot at a national title until a loss to Harvard or the 1966 Gators whose loss to Ted Hendricks' Miami team cost them a shot at the National title. Or how about the 1969 Gators who almost gave Ray Graves an SEC title. The same misconception exists with Miami whom people assume were never good before Jim Kelly stepped on campus. The fact that Miami was ranked as high as # 8 during the 1950 season and finished 1956 ranked #6 after spending most of the season in the topn 10, had George Mira on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the 1961 season preview and began 1967 as a national title contender after several consecutive years of being ranked has been lost on generations of fans in this state. Only when the Dolphins came to life in the early 1970s did fan support wane for the Hurricanes and the localized recruiting base they long had was raided from outside. (Miami did not have black players until 1965, but long split the cream of white players in the state with Florida and Alabama who did not integrate their teams until 1968 in Bama's case and 1971 in Florida's case)

The 1984 Gator team, which was put on probation during the season and did not participate in a bowl game is in my humble opinion, easily the best Gator team ever. How can I make such a claim? It really is simple. For starters, in 1984, the SEC was easily the best league in America. In the 1990s it was hardly ever the best league. (These days with the resurgence of LSU, and Georgia the SEC once again rides high) Secondly, the 1984 Florida produced more impact NFL players than any other Florida team in history. Thirdly, this team has been robbed of its rightful place in history by the arrogant SEC elite who stripped Florida of the league title after the season. The University Presidents who committed the heinous act broke with precedence to strip Florida of its first ever SEC title.

The 1984 season started with high expectations after the Gators had been a few blown calls against Auburn the previous year away from winning the SEC. Charley Pell was the toast of the state as the Gators were ready to compete for a conference and perhaps a national title. But the week of the game in Tampa versus Miami revelations broke that Pell had broken numerous NCAA rules and he agreed to resign at season's end. After a heartbreaking loss to the defending national champions, who were then ranked # 1 in the nation (but who would have a rough season trying to defend the title starting the following week in Ann Arbor), Pell's team tied a good LSU team at Florida Field. Two weeks later, after the NCAA placed sanctioned the Gators for a record 106 rules violations, Pell was fired and Galen Hall became the interim head coach and led the team on an undefeated run that concluded with an SEC title and included a very rare win over Georgia. Hall was given the full time job at season's end, though his Florida career would end midseason much like Pell's did a few years later when he too broke NCAA rules and landed the Gators on probation.

The offense was led by superb Freshman Kerwin Bell, a former walk on who began his UF career 9th on the depth chart. The backfield was loaded with John L. Williams possibly the nation's best fullback catching passes and blocking for the great Neal Anderson and Lorenzo Hampton. Rick Nattiel was a great WR and Punt Returner, and Lomas Brown anchored an outstanding offensive line.

Tim Newton led a great front seven that also featured Freshman extraordinaire Clifford Charlton. The secondary was nothing short of awesome thanks to the leadership of Vito McEver and Ivory Curry. Jarvis Williams also played a major role as a Freshman.

1984 Florida

# 1 Miami 20-32 (Tampa)
#18 LSU 21-21
Tulane 63-21
Miss State 27-12
# 19 Syracuse 16-0
@ Tennessee 43-30
Cincinnati 48-17
# 11 Auburn 24-3
#8 Georgia 27-0 (Jacksonville)
@ Kentucky 25-17
@ #12 Florida St. 27-17