University of Florida - Tower / Seminole Yearbook (Gainesville, FL)

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days a year

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coaching around the clock 365 The most successful five-year football reign by any coach in Florida football history was completed this season under Ray Graves, the Gators ' dynamic and colorful Bull Gator. With four winning seasons and two major bowl victories under his belt, Graves is also the popular athletic director. He led the team to the finest season in Gator history in 1960 with a 9-2 record and his overall record of 33 victories, 17 defeats and two ties is a truly remarkable accomplishment the calibre of the rugged Conference opposition the Gators face each season. With ten starting offensive players returning next year, plus most of the defensive line back, the Gators should be bigger and stronger in ' 65 . Two of the most important reasons for pre-season hopefulness are the to the Gator coaching staff made prior to the end of last season. They are Billy Kinard, defensive backfield coach responsible for one of the nation ' s best pass defensive records, and Ed Kensler, offensive line coach, who led one of the best offensive (and youngest) lines in Gator history. Kinard was a regular right halfback at Ole Miss for four football seasons from 1952 to 1955 and All-SEC. He has played in three bowl games and as a regular defensive back for the Cleveland Browns. For three seasons he was the defensive backfield coach at Auburn before acquiring his current position with the Gators. Kensler played tackle, guard, center and linebacker for the great Jim Tatum coached Maryland squads. He All- Atlantic Coast Conference in 1951 and was voted Maryland ' s outstanding lineman. He was a line coach at the University of Miami before joining the Gator team. 126

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Before the 1964 football season began, a poll was taken of Southeastern Conference sportswriters, publicity men, and radio announcers, to determine which of the league ' s eleven teams faced the toughest schedule in the upcoming campaign. It was almost the unanimous decision of these experts that the Florida Gators would face the roughest list of opponents of any of the conference squads. Found on the Gator list of opponents included national powers Alabama, L.S.U., Auburn, and Mississippi State, which had all played in bowl games the previous season. Along with rival Georgia, they were the six top ranking teams in pre-season S.E.C. polls. Add to the schedule arch-rivals Florida State and Miami, another bowl team, S.M.U., one possible breather in South Carolina and the reason for the poll ' s results can be easily seen. youthful Gator team preparing to face the upcoming battles. Certainly a great challenge faced the How well the Gators met that challenge cannot be merely recognized simply by the fact that the team produced a winning season, the fourth in five years under the tutelage of Ray Graves. Nor, can it alone be measured by the 151 points the team produced in one of its finest offensive showings in recent years. The fact that, for a good part of the season, the Gators ranked Number 1 nationally in pass defense may also contribute to the answer. But more than anything else, the challenge to the Saturday-after-Saturday grueling schedule was met by hard work, teamwork, desire and unity, all qualities 128