Coaching battles through the years add spice to Florida-FSU rivalry

Jim McElwain and Jimbo Fisher meet for the first time as coaching counterparts this weekend in Gainesville when Florida and Florida State get together for the 60th time. It’s a matchup that fans on both sides of the rivalry are looking forward to for many years to come.

Or will they?

McElwain and Fisher are the 16th pair to oppose each other in this storied neighborhood brawl but only two pairs have ever met more than five times. Turnover is routine here, with only Steve Spurrier and Bobby Bowden (14 times from 1990 to 2001) and Ray Graves and Bill Peterson (10 times from 1960 to 1969) meeting more than five times.

Here are some interesting nuggets comparing coaching matchups in the series, which Florida leads 34-23-2:

Steve Spurrier, for all his greatness, struggled in this rivalry.

The Head Ball Coach certainly had his share of magical moments at Florida, but against FSU he only won five of 14 games, posting a 5-8-1 record, all against Bowden. He caught the Seminoles at a tough time, of course, because FSU was the most consistent program in America during Spurrier’s 12 years at Florida. Florida State finished in the top 5 in the AP poll for 14 years in a row from 1987 to 2000. Of course, all of those eight losses likely have been forgiven thanks to the most important win, a 52-20 beating of FSU in the Sugar Bowl, giving UF the 1996 national championship, the school’s first.

Every Florida State coach has lost his final game in this rivalry.

All six FSU coaches in this rivalry before Jimbo Fisher have lost their last game to Florida. That includes Tom Nugent in the inaugural game in 1958, Perry Moss in 1959, Bill Peterson in 1970, Larry Jones in 1973, Darrell Mudra in 1975 and Bowden in 2009. All six were fired or gently nudged out the door, including Bowden. Losing to Florida probably had something to do with the pushes, as well.

Bowden hung around just long enough to have a losing record, too.

The Hall of Famer coached until he was 80, which many Florida State fans will tell you was probably too long. For all the great things he did, he just couldn’t beat Florida at the end, losing his last six UF-FSU battles to finish with a 17-18-1 record. None of the six FSU coaches before Fisher wound up posting a winning record in this rivalry.

Everyone who coached at least five games for Florida has a winning record … except Spurrier.

The guys who dominated this series early, Ray Graves and Doug Dickey, went 7-2-1 and 7-2 respectively against FSU. Urban Meyer actually had the best winning percentage, going 5-1 (.833) before losing the last time to Fisher in 2010 and retiring from football because of health issues. (How’d that turn out?) Charley Pell and Galen Hall also had winning records, going 3-2 each. It’s only Spurrier who lost more than they won.

Only Ron Zook ever got fired and still won this rivalry game.

Zook was a disaster replacing Spurrier in 2002. He was only 23-14 in his three years at Florida and lost two bowl games as well. But on his way out the door in 2004, having already been told he would be replaced, he beat Florida State 20-13. We mentioned earlier how every FSU coach has lost his last game in this series. It’s not the same with Florida. Bob Woodruff (1959), Ray Graves (1969), Charley Pell (1983) and Spurrier (2001) all won their final game in the series and what they did vs. FSU had little to do with their employment changes.

BY THE NUMBERS

Florida coaching records through the years: Bob Woodruff (2-0), Ray Graves (7-2-1), Doug Dickey (7-2), Charley Pell (3-2), Galen Hall (3-2), Gary Darnell (0-1), Steve Spurrier (5-8-1), Ron Zook (1-2), Urban Meyer (5-1), Will Muschamp (1-3).

Florida State coaching records through the years: Tom Nugent (0-1), Perry Moss (0-1), Bill Peterson (2-8-1), Larry Jones (0-3), Darrell Mudra (0-2), Bobby Bowden (17-18-1), Jimbo Fisher (4-1).

Head-to-head matchups: Woodruff vs. Nugent (1-0); Woodruff vs. Moss (1-0); Graves vs. Peterson (7-2-1); Dickey vs. Peterson (1-0); Dickey vs. Jones (3-0); Dickey vs. Mudra (2-0); Dickey vs. Bowden (1-2), Pell vs. Bowden (3-2); Hall vs. Bowden (3-2); Darnell vs. Bowden (0-1). Spurrier vs. Bowden (5-8-1); Zook vs. Bowden (1-2); Meyer vs. Bowden (5-0); Meyer vs. Fisher (0-1); Muschamp vs. Fisher (1-3).

Tom Brew

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist and author who is covering SEC football for Saturday Down South.