I think the most under - rated Gator figure is Ray Graves - as coach, he recruited in Steve Spurrier and let him throw in an era when there was not a lot of throwing…which led to SOS’s Heisman … he then had a decent team with Larry Smith at RB and then recruited in John Reaves and Carlos Alvarez and let them throw and catch. That team was 9-1-1 and those guys were just sophomores. He led the Gators to 5 bowl games when there were only a few bowls games overall and it was a true honor to be in one.
What if they didn’t replace him after that Reaves/Alvarez super sophomore year with Mr. triple option Doug Dickey … and we kept throwing the ball (and BTW it wasn’t like we had bad defenses with the likes of Jack Youngblood) …
Anyway - IMO he was one of the great Gators, very under-rated by Gator fans and one of my big what-ifs is what would Gator history have looked like if they let him keeping coaching …maybe we should ask Wes Chandler who got stuck in that triple option !!!
What if they didn’t replace him after that Reaves/Alvarez super sophomore year with Mr. triple option Doug Dickey … and we kept throwing the ball (and BTW it wasn’t like we had bad defenses with the likes of Jack Youngblood) …
Anyway - IMO he was one of the great Gators, very under-rated by Gator fans and one of my big what-ifs is what would Gator history have looked like if they let him keeping coaching …maybe we should ask Wes Chandler who got stuck in that triple option !!!
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