When you think about Florida Gators football, you think about The Swamp, Tom Petty, the Ol’ Ball Coach, and fast-paced offense.
Over the last few decades, Florida’s football program has become one of the most successful in the SEC and the country. However, before Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer took them to new heights, they were already a major brand in the sport.
The program has produced several All-Americans, national champions and of course, Heisman Trophy winners, but only 10 men can call themselves the greatest Florida Gators of all time.
10. Dale Van Sickel, end
Dale Van Sickel isn’t a name many modern college football fans might be familiar with. That’s because he played for the Gators during the 1920s and 1930s. Van Sickel was Florida’s first All-American in 1929. During his time with the squad, in which he played right end, they had a 23-6 record. Regarded as one of the “100 Greatest Players of the First 100 Years” of Florida high school football, he would be added to the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in honor of his career. After his football career ended, he became a Hollywood stuntman.
9. Chris Doering, wide receiver
Chris Doering isn’t talked about enough when we discuss great Gator players. In fact, Doering has unfortunately become something of a forgotten star. Initially a walk-on for Steve Spurrier’s Gators, Doering ended his college career with 149 receptions (No. 6 in school history) for 2,107 yards (No. 10 in school history) and thirty-one touchdowns (No. 1 in school history). Doering was an All-American and All-SEC player in 1995, and a three-time SEC champion. The wide receiver played a huge part in those great Gator teams of the 1990s and deserves more recognition.
8. Jack Youngblood, defensive end
Many football fans remember Jack Youngblood for his NFL career but he was a pretty amazing college football player too. Youngblood set a Gators’ record with 14 sacks in a season in 1969, including five against rival Florida State. In 1970, he garnered First-team All-SEC and First-team All-American honors after finishing with 58 tackles and 10 sacks. Youngblood would go on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Rams for 13 years. Still considered one of the best players to ever come out of Florida, Youngblood is now a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and one of just six players named to the Gator Football Ring of Honor.
7. Wilber Marshall, linebacker
Jack Youngblood kicked the door open for great Florida linebackers and Marshall became the standard by which all Gators linebackers would be measured in the 1980s. Before he became a Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins great, Marshall put up gaudy numbers for the Gators. The three-time first-team All-SEC and two-time consensus All-American player remains the school’s all-time leader in total tackles (343) and solo tackles (210). A member of the College Football Hall of Fame and Gator Football Ring of Honor, Marshall would win two Super Bowls during his 12-year NFL career.
6. Kyle Pitts, tight end
Kyle Pitts was the second Gator in history to win the prestigious John Mackey Award, given to the nation’s best tight end. Pitts finished with 100 career receptions, which ranks second all-time in school history among tight ends. Meanwhile, his 1,492 receiving yards are the most of any Gator to play the position. The 2020 All-American recorded 12 touchdown catches that year. Pitts would go on to be the first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons and has become the top receiver on the team.
5. Carlos Alvarez, wide receiver
Carlos Alvarez is not only a Flordia Gators legend but an SEC legend as well. The first Cuban-American athlete to become an All-American at Florida in 1969, the “Cuban Comet” still maintains several Florida records, including receptions in a game (15), receptions in a season (88), and career receiving yards (2,563). He still ranks second in school history in career receptions (176) and receiving yards in a season (1,329 yards). The first-team All-SEC receiver is now a member of the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame and the Florida Gators All-Century Team.
The SEC Network recently broadcast The All-American Cuban Comet, a documentary about Alvarez and how he rose to the top of the Gators receiving list despite facing backlash and racism during his time in Gainesville. Alvarez went on to have a successful career after leaving Gainesville.
4. Danny Wuerffel, quarterback
Florida has become known for producing great quarterbacks but one of the greatest of all time has to be Danny Wuerffel. The combination of Steve Spurrier’s offensive genius and Wuerffel’s arm made for a nearly unstoppable force in the mid-1990s. A two-time SEC Player of the Year and two-time First-team All-American, the quarterback set various SEC and NCAA records during his career, which he concluded with 10,875 passing yards (second-most in school history), 114 touchdowns (school record) and 163.6 passer rating. He also claimed the Unitas and Maxwell awards, the Heisman Trophy, and a national championship in 1996. While his NFL career sputtered out, Wuerffel remains a legend to Florida Gators fans.
3. Emmitt Smith, running back
Emmitt Smith was a star even before he arrived on Florida’s campus. The running back out of Pensacola broke all kinds of high school records and he went on to break many more as a Gator. Smith was an All-American in 1989 and a three-time first-team All-SEC player. He broke the school record for rushing yards in a season as a freshman (1,341) and then topped his own record as a junior (1,599). His 316 rushing-yard performance against New Mexico in 1989 remains a school single-game best, and his 126.7 career average yards per game are also still No. 1. Florida as a program wasn’t quite at the elite level it would be in the 1990s, so Smith wasn’t able to get into the Heisman conversation. Smith made up for that in the NFL where he won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys as part of his Hall of Fame career.
2. Tim Tebow, quarterback
Many would consider Tim Tebow the greatest Florida Gator of all time. Tebow left the school having been named to three-time All-SEC teams and two first-team All-American squads. In his freshman season, he played a pivotal role in Florida’s national championship game victory, throwing for one touchdown and rushing for another. After he took over as the starting quarterback as a sophomore, he broke several school records, including SEC rushing touchdown in a season (20), en route to winning the Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award, and Heisman Trophy. Tebow then returned as a junior and led Florida to another national title under head coach Urban Meyer.
By the time his college career was over, Tebow owned five NCAA, 14 SEC, and 28 Florida records. The all-time SEC leader in passing efficiency (170.8) and completion percentage (67.1%), he was responsible for 145 total touchdowns while with the Gators.
1. Steve Spurrier, quarterback
Before Florida fans have a tizzy, let’s explain how Spurrier ended up atop this list. First, before he was the Ol’ Ball Coach, Spurrier became the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 1966, leading the Gators to a 9-2 record. A two-time All-American, the quarterback finished his college career with 4,848 passing yards and 37 touchdowns.
Spurrier’s tenure as head coach has to be considered as well, and that’s how he ended up here. When Spurrier became the head coach of the Gators, he changed the way college football was played, especially in the SEC. He brought high-powered offenses to a league that was used to playing “three yards and a cloud of dust” football. Spurrier threw the ball a lot and forced other schools to change their style of play. His brash and cocky style rubbed a lot of his rivals the wrong way, but he didn’t care because his team could back up the talk. They put up video game-type numbers at times, which scared SEC defenses.
Spurrier led the Gators to two national title games, winning the school’s first in 1996. Along with that, his Florida teams won six SEC championships and eight SEC East titles. He was named SEC Coach of the Year five times and his teams averaged over ten wins in a season, which is saying something since he coached them for 12 years. Spurrier’s name belongs right up there with Bryant and Saban as one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.
