Florida Gators Football
"Sports Noses"
With the state of Florida being home to an estimated million alligators, the American Alligator, often just called a "Gator" for short, was chosen by the Florida gators football program as the mascot to represent the University of Florida in 1911. The official costumed mascots of the Florida Gators are Albert (Albert E. Gator) and Alberta.Florida first fielded an official football team in 1906. Since then, the Gators have played in 34 bowl games, won seven Southeastern Conference titles, produced 135 All-Americans coming into the 2006 season, 35 NFL first round draft choices and three Heisman Trophy winners. Florida plays an eight-game conference schedule, headlined by annual SEC Eastern division showdowns against Tennessee and Georgia, the latter being held in Jacksonville, Florida every year (see schedules below). The Gators' most prominent current rivals are SEC Eastern Division foes, the Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers, and the ACC's Florida State Seminoles. Florida has also shared past rivalries with the Auburn Tigers and Miami Hurricanes which have lessened in intensity in recent years.
On December 11, 2010, Florida named Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp as Urban Meyer's replacement. Muschamp previously served as the defensive coordinator for the LSU Tigers, Auburn Tigers and Texas Longhorns, and was designated as the Longhorns' "head coach-in-waiting." On January 3, 2011, Muschamp announced the hiring of Charlie Weis, former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, as the Gators' new offensive coordinator. Weis is a four-time Super Bowl champion and a former head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish team Urban Meyer was announced as Florida Football's new head coach in December 2004. His first season in 2005 was an improvement at 9–3, including an Outback Bowl win against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Although the Gators managed to defeat their three biggest rivals (Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida State) for only the fourth time in school history, they missed out on a chance to play in the SEC title game after a late-season upset loss to Spurrier's new team, South Carolina. In 2006, the Gators completed a 13–1 season during which their sole loss was to the Auburn Tigers 17–27. In their final regular season SEC game, the Gators' managed a slender 17–16 victory when Jarvis Moss blocked a fourth quarter field goal by the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gators defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC Championship Game, winning their first SEC title since 2000. The Gators played in the 2007 BCS Championship Game on January 8, 2007, and, led by quarterback Chris Leak, beat the No. 1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, 41–14, for the Gators' second national football championship. The Gators played the nation's toughest schedule in 2006.[44] Tim Tebow became the full-time starting quarterback for the 2007 season. The Gators started the season 4–0 and were ranked as high as Number 3 in the various media polls. However, a midseason stretch in which the team lost three of four games to conference foes ended any hopes of a repeat national championship. While the Gators finished with a relatively disappointing 9–4 record and Number 13 final ranking, Tim Tebow's record-setting season earned him many post-season awards, including the Heisman Trophy. Tebow was the first sophomore to receive the Heisman.
2011 Florida Gators Football Schedule09/03/11 Florida 41 vs Florida Atlantic Owls 3 (H) 2010 Florida Gators Football Season09/04/10 Florida 34 Miami (OH) Redhawks 12 2009 Florida Gators Football Season09/05/09 Florida 62 Charleston Southern Buccaneers 3 2008 Florida Gators Football Season08/30/08 Florida 56 Hawaii Warriors 10 Return from Florida Gators Football to Sports Noses
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They play home games in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field (dubbed The Swamp) located in Gainesville, Florida.