History of the football program at University of Florida – the Gators.

The modern University of Florida was created in 1905 when Florida passed the Buckman Act.  This act abolished the state’s existing publicly supported educational institutions and consolidated them all into the all male “University of the State of Florida.” 

Jack Forsythe coached the new Florida team for three winning seasons which included a 6-0 over the Gainesville Athletic club in their first game between the two rivals.  The official name of the university was shortened to the “University of Florida” in 1909, and the coaching changed to George Pyle’s command at this time.  During this same period of time, the Gators adopted their orange and blue team colors which represented a combination of the blue and white of the old Florida Agricultural College and the orange and black of the old East Florida Seminar, which were the university’s predecessors before the consolidation.

The 1910 season had the Gators see many of their rivals for the first time.  The 1911 Gators ended up defeating The Citadel, Clemson and the College of Charleston.  They finished the 1911 season 5-0-1, which is the only undefeated football seasons in Gator history.  The Gators joined the Southern Conference in 1922.

The 1923 and 1924 seasons were coached by James Van Fleet and let the team to its first national notoriety.  In 1923, Florida shocked the nation when they beat the heavily favored Alabama 16-6 in one of the biggest upsets of the year.  The 1924 Gators tied Georgia Tech and Texas which were heralded as powerhouse teams. 

Coach Charlie Bachman led the team to even greater national recognition in 1928, and in 1929.  He helped lead the Gator team to finish with the highest season win totals for 32 years.  1928 also gave the Gators their first All-American, Dale Van Sickel, who later became Florida’s first member of the College Football Hall of Fame.  He was inducted in 1975.

The Gators joined the Southeastern Conference in December of 1932 along with Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and Georgia Tech.  Dutch Stanley replaced Bachman as the head coach in 1933, which was the first SEC football season for the Gators.  Stanley was only 26 years old at the time and had been a player for the Gators in 1928.  This coach later resigned under fan pressure in 1935 and was replaced by Josh Cody.  Tom Lieb replaced Cody in 1940.  During World War II, many of the top players went to serve in the war, and as a result the team suffered.  There was one highlight during this dark time as the Gators produced their second All-American, Fergie Ferguson in 1941.