A top 12 of what if moments in Gator sports history

What ifs on a Friday:

The history of Florida sports is a living, breathing testament that nobody, but nobody in college sports does what if as well as the Gators. Don’t believe me? Follow along with a top 12 incidents and events followed by the subsequent what if.

1. 1924, Major James Van Fleet assigned to the Panama Canal Zone: A member of the legendary class of 1915 at West Point, a class that included Ike, Omar Bradley, Joe McNarney, Thomas Larkin and 64 others who became generals (Bob Neyland was in the next class), Van Fleet was assigned to head the ROTC program at UF in 1922 where he assisted head coach William G. Kline. Taking over in 1923 as the head coach, the Gators went 12-3-4 the next two years. In 1923 the Gators only loss was on the road to Army but ended with a win on the road at Alabama. The Gators went 6 -2-2 in 1924, losing to Army on the road and tying Texas in Austin. The Gators were on the verge of becoming a real national power, but Van Fleet was assigned to the Panama Canal. He went on to become a 4-star general, a hero at the Battle of the Bulge and a legend in Greece and Korea. But what if he had resigned to remain at UF?

2. 1928, Colonel Robert Neyland turns the Tennessee stadium into a quagmire: Charlie Bachman, an All-American at Notre Dame and teammate of Knute Rockne, was the first year coach of the Gators who went into the final game of the season (December 8) at Tennessee with an 8-0 record and believing that a win over the Vols would earn a Rose Bowl invitation. The Gators were the highest scoring team in the country and featured the legendary Dale Van Sickle and quarterback Clyde Crabtree. A several months drought had engulfed eastern Tennessee, but amazingly, on the night of December 7, it rained … only on the football field, turning it into a quagmire. UF had no mud cleats, Colonel Neyland said he was sorry but didn’t have any to spare. All the Knoxville sporting goods stores were closed. The Gators slipped and slid all over the field. Tennessee got the win 13-12 when Bobby Dodd blocked the extra point. Georgia Tech got the Rose Bowl bid. Had the Gators won, they would have tied Georgia Tech for the Southern Conference championship. It would be 63 years later before the Gators won a conference championship that counted. What if the Gators had won a championship? Would that have changed the trajectory of the UF football program?

3. 1959, Ara Parseghian believes the lies, stays at Northwestern: Dr. J. Wayne Reitz told Bob Woodruff prior to the season that 1959 would be his final as the UF head football coach. Dr. Reitz had Northwestern’s Ara Parseghian ready to take the job, but the Northwestern president promised he would upgrade the facilities, relax the academic standards a tad so Ara could get better players and give everybody big raises. Ara stayed and Florida hired Ray Graves instead. Ara finally figured out that Northwestern wasn’t going to live up to his promises and left for Notre Dame in 1964. Graves, meanwhile, left Georgia Tech where he was the defensive coordinator and the inventor of the 4-3 defense to become Florida’s head coach, leading the Gators to the most successful decade in school history. What if Florida had hired Ara? Maybe he would have taken the Gators to prominence, but one thing for certain, because Ray Graves was the coach the Gators got Steve Spurrier to play football at UF.

4. 1966, Norm Sloan leaves UF for North Carolina State at the insistence of Ray Graves: When Press Maravich left North Carolina State for LSU after the 1966 season, NC State turned to native son Norm Sloan, who was the head coach at UF. NC State offered more money, but Sloan had a team he believed capable of winning the SEC, which had never been done before, and playing in the NCAA Tournament, also something that had never been done before. The front line would be 6-11 Jeff Ramsey, 6-9 Gary Keller and 6-10 Neal Walk. Norm told UF athletic director Ray Graves he would stay if he could get new furniture and carpet for his office, which was pretty shabby. Coach Graves, who didn’t want basketball to win an SEC before football, refused to meet Sloan’s demand and even suggested he should take the job at NC State. Coach Graves hired Tommy Bartlett, an assistant for Ray Mears at Tennessee, at the insistence of UF athletic director Bob Woodruff. Yes, the same Bob Woodruff who was the former UF football coach, also Graves’ O-line coach when he played at UT. The Gators went 21-4 in 1967, but they didn’t win the SEC. Bartlett was a nice guy but not the kind of coach who could win big and sustain the program. Sloan went on to win the NCAA championship at NC State in 1973. What if Norm Sloan had stayed? The talent was there and Sloan was a great recruiter.

5. 1969, Dr. Stephen C. O’Connell hires Douglas Adair Dickey in August: In August of 1969, Dr. Stephen C. O’Connell told Ray Graves he would be out as football coach after the season but could stay on as the AD. Dr. O’Connell then made an agreement to hire Florida native son Douglas Adair Dickey, the ultra-successful coach at Tennessee. BEFORE the season. The Super Sophs, led by John Reaves and Carlos Alvarez, went 8-1-1 and were one of the nation’s most exciting teams. Florida played Tennessee in the Gator Bowl. Days before the game, Jack Hairston and Buddy Martin broke the story that Graves was out and Dickey had already been hired. The players were stunned that Graves was out and that Gene Ellenson wouldn’t be the successor. They threatened to strike but were convinced to play. Florida beat the Vols, 14-13, in the Gator Bowl. Dickey won 58 games in nine years at UF before he was fired. What if Gene Ellenson had succeeded Coach Graves and Dickey had remained at Tennessee? Could the Super Sophs have won the SEC the next year? Could Ellenson have done what Graves couldn’t do by winning the SEC?

6. 1978, Lou Holtz won’t give a positive answer, Charley Pell is hired: Lou Holtz had been flirting with the idea of becoming the Florida coach for several years, so when Douglas Adair Dickey was fired at the end of the 1978 season there was no question that Holtz would emerge as the top choice as the replacement. Ron Meyer, the coach at SMU publicly stated he would crawl backward from Dallas for the UF job, but he was just a blip on the radar as was Texas coach Fred Akers.  Holtz was coming off a 9-2-1 season at Arkansas that concluded with a win over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. When pressed for a commitment, Holtz wouldn’t give a positive answer. Meanwhile UF president Robert Marston and Warren Cason met with Charley Pell at the Greenville-Spartanburg airport clandestinely. They were impressed and decided not to wait on a Holtz answer. Pell became the UF coach, but what would have happened if Lou Holtz had taken the UF job?

7. 1984, Marshall Criser fires Charley Pell while other SEC presidents stand by their coach: When Florida went on probation for recruiting violations under Pell three games into the 1984 season, UF president Marshall Criser went back on a couple of promises, one of which was firing Pell. There was precedent to stand by coaches whose programs went on probation. Barry Switzer at Oklahoma comes to mind perhaps as the most famous. Pell had assembled what amounted to an NFL team that included three first round draft pick running backs (Lorenzo Hampton, Neal Anderson, John L. Williams), the best O-line in the country and a nasty defense filled with future NFL players. Would Florida have weathered the NCAA probation? The Gators won the SEC on the field but in the spring, the SEC athletic directors and presidents voted to strip UF of its SEC title. Had he survived, would the Gators have won multiple SEC titles and a national title?

8. 1989, Bill Arnsparger does his best to hire Mike Archer: When Galen Hall was fired during the 1989 season, all eyes turned to Duke University where Steve Spurrier was leading Duke to a most improbable ACC championship. At the end of the season, UF athletic director Bill Arnsparger was determined to hire Mike Archer, the man who he had hand picked to succeed him as the LSU football coach in 1986, even though the Tigers went 4-7 in 1989. Legend has it that Ben Hill Griffin sat in Arnsparger’s office and after hearing the case made for Archer, said, “Bill, Steve Spurrier is going to be the head coach here next year. You don’t have to be the athletic director.” Just how far would the Florida football program have slipped under Archer? Would Florida have ever gotten a chance to hire Spurrier, who was a hot coaching property?  

9. 2002, Steve Spurrier retires, Ron Zook hired: On the Monday after the Gators crushed Maryland in the Orange Bowl, Steve Spurrier abruptly retired. Speculation immediately focused on two coaches, both former UF assistants – Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan (former OC under Charley Pell) and Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops (former DC under Steve Spurrier). Jeremy Foley flew out to Denver but Shanahan wasn’t hired. Then the UF plane went to Norman and for two days it seemed Stoops was going to be the head coach, but no announcement. Seven days after the Orange Bowl win, Foley announced Ron Zook as the new head coach despite the fact Zook had zero head coaching experience and had never been on anyone’s head coaching short list. Zook was a brilliant recruiter the next three years, bringing in 20 of Urban Meyer’s starters when he won the 2006 national championship. But go back to 2002. What would have happened if Foley had hired Stoops? He was 31-7 after three years at OU, then 160-41 in the 15 years after the alleged near hire at UF.  Would he have been as successful at UF as he was at OU? He’s only 64 years old. Would he still be the Florida football coach?

10. 2010, Urban Meyer resigns, Will Muschamp hired: When Urban Meyer retired after the 2010 season, the Gators hired Will Muschamp, the head coach in waiting at Texas. It seemed like a great fit since Muschamp grew up in Gainesville and was considered as hot a young coach as there was in the country. Charlie Weis was hired as the offensive coordinator, supposedly over Muschamp’s objections. Then came Brent Peas for two years including a 4-7 losing season in 2013 that included a loss to D1AA Georgia Southern. When the UF offense finally caught up with the defense it was 2014 when Kurt Roper led the Gators to 30.2 points per game. Blowout losses to Alabama and Missouri and an overtime loss to South Carolina doomed Muschamp, who was fired by AD Jeremy Foley. What would have happened if Muschamp had been given one more year? He left behind an NFL defense and a roster that would win 10 games for  Jim McElwain in 2015.

11. 2017, Old Yeller fired: Jim McElwain was paid $4 million a year to coach football at UF but never saw the need to have his teeth whitened, hence the nickname Old Yeller. He won 19 games and the SEC East in 2015-16 but when the Muschamp defensive players went to the NFL, the Gators struggled to stop people in 2017. UF was 3-3 after consecutive close call losses to LSU and Texas A&M when McElwain claimed Florida players as well as his family had been victimized by death threats. It was the Monday prior to the Georgia game. McElwain offered no proof that any such thing had happened. During the week McElwain was given opportunity by the UF administration to prove the death threats were real, but he never did. After losing to Georgia 42-7, McElwain was fired. UF never said it was because he had lied about the death threats but there is no doubt that was the reason. What would have happened if McElwain had enough integrity to simply own up to his lie and apologize?

12. 2020, What if the Gators had knocked off Alabama in the SEC Championship Game?: Alabama came into the SEC Championship Game unbeaten, having steamrolled 10 straight opponents by at least 15 points. Alabama won this game, 52-46, but it’s a game the Gators should have won by a couple of touchdowns if they hadn’t shot themselves in both feet multiple times. Tied at 7-7, Trey Dean intercepted a pass and ran it back 17 yards but fumbled when tackled, giving the ball back to Bama, which scored on the next play. Trailing 14-10, the Gators got a third down stop that would have forced a Bama punt but Zach Carter was flagged for a personal foul to extend the drive. Alabama went on to drive for a TD and a 21-10 lead. Trailing 21-10, the Gators would have forced another punt, except a substitution infraction when a player loafed to get off the field. Bama went on to score for a 28-10 lead. There were certain other mistakes, but Florida’s offense was so good that the Gators could have taken a big lead instead of trailing 35-17 at the half. Eliminate those mistakes and it’s entirely possible the Gators would have been in the College Football Playoff. What if the Gators win that game? Could they have won the national championship? If they had, Mullen would probably still be the head coach.