The Boys from Old Florida: Inside Gator Nation

by Martin, Buddy

• ISBN13: 9781582611730
• ISBN10: 1582611734
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-30
• Publisher: Ingram Pub Services

Summary

In The Boys From Old Florida, Buddy Martin takes the reader beneath the surface of Florida football as, without bias or sugar coating, he skillfully excavates the truths behind "The Gator Nation."In this book, Martin, a Florida native, has chronicled the real stories of Gator coaches and players through their own eyes and in their words over a 55-year period since 1950-and not all are valentines. All but one of the coaches interviewed were asked to leave or move up by the school. Some players became estranged or never really felt appreciated. Yet, others are forever grateful for their experience as Gator players and feel a sense of brotherhood.Liberating moments such as the arrival of Ray Graves come to life through the words of some-body who experienced it firsthand. Martin's fresh investigations have bolstered his sharp memory of those moments as they unfolded, including Graves' firing after a fairy-tale season with his "Super Sophs."

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	xvii
1: The Bermuda Triangle of Coaches	1	(14)
2: The Mount Rushmore of Gators	15	(10)
Preface II: Over the Decades with "The Boys"	25	(186)
3: The Bob Woodruff Era (1950-1959)	29	(20)
4: The Ray Graves Era (1960-1969)	49	(34)
5: The Doug Dickey Era (1970-1919)	83	(32)
6: The Charley Pell Era (1979-1984)	115	(28)
7: The Galen Hall Era (1984-1989)	143	(14)
8: The Steve Spurrier Era (1990-2001)	157	(34)
9: The Ron Zook Era (2002-2004)	191	(20)
10: The Urban Meyer Era (2005-?)	211