Florida Coaching History

Florida football has seen 29 head coaches since its first season back in 1906. This squad was led by player-coach Jack Forsythe, who played under John Heisman at Clemson from 1901-1903.

Florida’s coaching history is a little peculiar because there has only been one head coach — Steve Spurrier — to remain in Gainesville for over 10 seasons. And Spurrier was only there from 1990-2001. Some coaches saw 10-year stints in Gainesville, such as Bob Woodruff and Ray Graves.

But it’s not about how long a coach stayed at Florida, it’s what they accomplished. Only 5 head coaches in Florida’s history have finished their stint with the Gators under .500, not including those who coached for just 1 season. Even better, all 5 of those coaches were active before 1950. Billy Napier currently holds a .486 winning percentage, but his Florida career still has a few chapters remaining.

Below, you can find a complete coaching history for the Gators, including years active and win-loss record at Florida.

Florida Coaching History

We’ll include a few sections for the more notable coaches in Florida football history, but as you can see above there are some that stand out.

Bob Woodruff, Ray Graves and Doug Dickey each coached about 10 years, back-to-back-to-back. Woodruff’s coaching tenure marked the first extended stay in Gainesville, though he finished with a fairly poor .554 winning percentage when all was said and done. Of the group, Graves saw the most success.

Graves, a future member of the College Football Hall of Fame, won SEC Coach of the Year in 1960 and led the Gators to a 9-1-1 record in his final year, culminating with a Gator Bowl victory over Tennessee, his alma mater.

Most notably, Graves coached a certain QB named Steve Spurrier, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1966.

Steve Spurrier (1990-2001)

Ah yes, The Head Ball Coach himself.

Spurrier is the winningest head coach in Florida history and brought the Gators their first national title in 1996. The former Heisman winner at Florida, as mentioned above, finished with a final record of 122-27-1 across his 12 years as head coach of the Gators.

Florida was not the Florida it became until Spurrier took over in 1990. The former Gators QB turned Florida from intermittent success into a full-blown national power in just a few seasons. By many respects, the Gators were the SEC team to beat in the 90s thanks to Spurrier.

Florida’s real dominance under Spurrier began in 1993 when the Gators won the SEC title, though he and the Gators also won the conference in 1991 and had excellent passing numbers with Shane Matthews. Florida went on to win 4 straight SEC titles from 1993-1996, culminating with a national title in 1996 as mentioned above. Spurrier’s Fun ‘n’ Gun system regularly gave the Gators the best passing offense in the conference, if not the nation during this time – especially in the early part of the decade.

Spurrier shocked many Florida fans in 2002 when he accepted a position as head coach of the Washington Redskins. He returned to the college ranks in 2005 with a job at South Carolina.

Urban Meyer (2005-2010)

Urban Meyer is probably the most controversial head coach in Florida football history. But for all that controversy, there’s one thing you can’t knock him for: Meyer coached winning football teams.

Meyer won a pair of national titles for the Gators in 2006 and 2008, both thanks in part to Tim Tebow — winner of the Heisman trophy in 2007. Tebow was the starter for the Gators’ 2008 title and played a crucial role in the 2006 title victory over Ohio State. Tebow is considered to be among the greatest Florida football players of all time.

When all was said and done, Meyer amassed a 65-10 (.813) record as the Gators’ head coach, the 2nd best winning percentage across school history behind only Spurrier.

When talking about Meyer, we unfortunately have to mention both the good and the bad. Across his 6-year tenure as Florida’s head coach a shocking 31 players were arrested, which drew criticism from many in the national media and around the program. He also earned a reputation for being dishonest and a leader of a toxic culture, extending past his time at Florida when he “retired” from coaching in 2010 following a leave of absence the previous season, citing health concerns.

Soon after leaving Florida, Meyer was back in coaching at Ohio State.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.