List of Florida Gators head football coaches

Jim McElwain, coach of the Florida Gators since 2015

This list of Florida Gators head football coaches includes those coaches who have led the Florida Gators football team that represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators currently compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Twenty-four men have served as the Gators' head coach, including three who served as interim head coach, since the Gators began play in the fall of 1906.^[1] In December 2014, Jim McElwain was hired as the Gators' latest head coach after his predecessor, Will Muschamp, coached the Gators in their final regular season game of 2014.^[2]

The Gators have fielded a team every season since 1906, with the exception of 1943, and have played more than 1,000 games during 105 seasons.^[1] During that time, twelve coaches have led the Gators in postseason bowl games: George E. Pyle, Bob Woodruff, Ray Graves, Doug Dickey, Charley Pell, Galen Hall, Gary Darnell, Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook, Charlie Strong, Urban Meyer, and Will Muschamp.^[1] Two Gators coaches have also won SEC championships: Spurrier won six, and Meyer won two.^[1] During their tenures, Spurrier won one and Meyer won two national championships with the Gators.^[1][3]

Spurrier is the leader in seasons coached, games won and winning percentage, with 122 victories and a winning percentage of .817 during his twelve years leading the program.^[1] Raymond Wolf has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .359.^[1] Of the twenty-five head coaches who have led the Gators, Charlie Bachman, Graves and Dickey have been inducted as head coaches into the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.^[4][5][6]

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list

General		Overall		Conference		Postseason[A 1]
#	Order of coaches[A 2]	GC	Games coached	CW	Conference wins	PW	Postseason wins
DC	Division championships	OW	Overall wins	CL	Conference losses	PL	Postseason losses
CC	Conference championships	OL	Overall losses	CT	Conference ties	PT	Postseason ties
NC	National championships	OT	Overall ties[A 3]	C%	Conference winning percentage
	Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame	O%	Overall winning percentage[A 4]

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards^{[A 5]}

#	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	DC [A 6]	CC	NC	Awards
1	Forsythe, JackJack Forsythe	1906–1908	22	14	6	2	.682	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
2	Pyle, George E.George E. Pyle	1909–1913	36	26	7	3	.764	3	5	0	.375	1	0	0	—	0	0	—
3	McCoy, C. J.C. J. McCoy	1914–1916	19	9	10	0	.474	4	9	0	.308	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
4	Buser, Alfred L.Alfred L. Buser	1917–1919	15	7	8	0	.467	3	7	0	.300	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
5	Kline, William G.William G. Kline	1920–1922	29	19	8	2	.690	7	4	2	.615	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
6	Van Fleet, JamesJames Van Fleet	1923–1924	19	12	3	4	.737	3	0	3	.750	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
7	Sebring, HaroldHarold Sebring	1925–1927	30	17	11	2	.600	9	7	1	.559	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
8	Bachman, CharlieCharlie Bachman	1928–1932	48	27	18	3	.594	19	14	3	.569	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
9	Stanley, Dennis K.Dennis K. Stanley	1933–1935	29	14	13	2	.517	5	11	1	.324	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
10	Cody, JoshJosh Cody	1936–1939	43	17	24	2	.419	6	14	2	.318	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
11	Lieb, TomTom Lieb	1940–1942 1944–1945	47	20	26	1	.436	5	15	1	.262	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
12	Wolf, RaymondRaymond Wolf	1946–1949	39	13	24	2	.359	2	17	2	.143	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
13	Woodruff, BobBob Woodruff	1950–1959	101	53	42	6	.554	29	32	4	.477	1	1	0	—	0	0	—
14	Graves, RayRay Graves	1960–1969	105	70	31	4	.686	38	19	3	.658	4	1	0	—	0	0	SEC Coach of the Year (1960)
15	Dickey, DougDoug Dickey	1970–1978	103	58	43	2	.573	28	28	1	.500	0	4	0	—	0	0	—
16	Pell, CharleyCharley Pell	1979–1984	62	33	26	3	.556	14	16	1	.468	2	2	0	—	0	0	SEC Coach of the Year (1980)[1]
17	Hall, GalenGalen Hall	1984–1989	59	40	18	1	.686	21	12	0	.636	1	1	0	—	0	0	SEC Coach of the Year (1984)[1]
18	Darnell, GaryGary Darnell	1989	7	3	4	0	.429	2	2	0	.500	0	1	0	—	0	0	—
19	Spurrier, SteveSteve Spurrier	1990–2001	150	122	27	1	.817	87	12	0	.879	6	5	0	7	6	1 – 1996	SEC Coach of the Year (1990, 1995, 1996)[1]
20	Zook, RonRon Zook	2002–2004	37	23	14	—	.622	16	8	—	.667	0	2	—	1	0	0	—
21	Strong, CharlieCharlie Strong	2004	1	0	1	—	.000	0	0	—	.000	0	1	—	0	0	0	—
22	Meyer, UrbanUrban Meyer	2005–2010	80	65	15	—	.813	36	13	—	.735	5	1	—	3	2	2 – 2006, 2008	National Coach of the Decade (2009)
23	Muschamp, WillWill Muschamp	2011–2014	49	28	21	—	.571	17	15	—	.531	1	1	—	1	0	0	—
24	Durkin, D. J.D. J. Durkin	2014	1	1	0	—	1.000	0	0	—		0	0	—	0	0	0	—
25	McElwain, JimJim McElwain	2015–	13	10	3	—	.769	7	1	—	.875	0	0	—	0	0	0	—

See also

• Florida Gators
• History of the University of Florida
• List of College Football Hall of Fame inductees (coaches)
• List of Florida Gators football players in the NFL
• List of Florida Gators football seasons
• List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
• University Athletic Association

Notes

1. Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.^[7]
2. A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
3. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.^[8]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[9]
5. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
6. The SEC reorganized itself into two six-team divisions in 1992, following the admission of new members Arkansas and South Carolina to the conference. Since that time, Florida has competed as a member of the SEC Eastern Division, together with Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt; the SEC Western Division includes Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. Under the SEC's format, the two divisional champions advance to the SEC Championship Game to determine the conference champion. In the event two or more divisional teams finish with identical records, all such teams are recognized by the SEC as "divisional champions," but a series of tie-breakers, including head-to-head competition, determine which team will represent the division in the championship game.^[10]

References

1. 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 74–76, 77–81, 101–102, 116–125 (2011). Retrieved August 25, 2011.
2. Chris Low, "Jim McElwain to coach Florida," ESPN.com (December 4, 2014). Retrieved December 4, 2014.
3. 2010 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Records, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, pp. 68–77 (2010). Retrieved August 25, 2011.
4. College Football Hall of Fame, Hall of Famers, Charlie Bachman. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
5. College Football Hall of Fame, Hall of Famers, Ray Graves. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
6. College Football Hall of Fame, Hall of Famers, Doug Dickey. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
7. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
8. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
9. Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
10. Harwell, Hoyt (November 30, 1990). "SEC sets division lineups". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. p. 1C. Retrieved August 10, 2012.

Bibliography

• 2009 Southern Conference Football Media Guide, Year-by-Year Standings, Southern Conference, Spartanburg, South Carolina, pp. 74–77 (2009).
• 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 116–125 (2011).
• Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
• Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
• Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
• Johnson, Bob, Interviewee Dennis Keith "Dutch" Stanley, University of Florida Oral History Project, George A. Smathers Libraries, Digital Collections, Gainesville, Florida (July 25, 1974).
• Kabat, Ric A., "Before the Seminoles: Football at Florida State College, 1902–1904, Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. LXX, no. 1 (July 1991).
• McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
• McEwen, Tom, The Gators: A Story of Florida Football, The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). ISBN 0-87397-025-X.
• Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN 1-57167-196-X.
• Proctor, Samuel, & Wright Langley, Gator History: A Pictorial History of the University of Florida, South Star Publishing Company, Gainesville, Florida (1986). ISBN 0-938637-00-2.
• Saylor, Roger, "Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association," College Football Historical Society, The LA84 Foundation (1993).

External links

• Florida Coaching Records – Win-loss records of Florida Gators head coaches at College Football Data Warehouse