Gator Redemption 84

Thanks and Brandon Spikes for repping our 1984 SEC Champs on ! The legacy continues.
https://x.com/gatorsfb/status/1996199105601970237?s=46

The 1984 Florida Gator football team had an amazing event at Spurrier's Gridiron Grill Friday night. Thanks to Crawford Ker for putting this together. The Voice of the Gators Sean Kelly dropped by as well.
After 41 years still a tight family.

'84 team! Billy Hinson wants to let you know that they have one room left for next weekend at the host hotel. 2 Queen Bed Studio at TownePlace Suites Marriott. 2 nights next Friday and Saturday for $250 a night in Gainesville total $500.
If interested, call 904-813-9982 ASAP!

In Case You Missed It: '84 Gators Weekend Updates -

In Case You Missed It: '84 Gators Weekend Updates We’re gearing up to celebrate 41 years of our 1984 SEC Championship with a weekend full of fellowship, golf, basketball, and Gator football vs. Tennessee! If you can’t make it to everything, make sure you join us on Friday — as we said 41 years ago, “It’s about us and this team.” That ha...

1984 Reunion Updates-It’s About Us and This Team! -

1984 Reunion Updates-It’s About Us and This Team! We’re gearing up to celebrate 41 years of our 1984 SEC Championship with a weekend full of fellowship, golf, basketball, and Gator football vs. Tennessee! If you can’t make it to everything, make sure you join us on Friday — as we said 41 years ago, “It’s about us and this team.” That ha...

They called it “just a trophy.”
But for the 1984 Florida Gators and ufalumni, the first team to ever win the SEC on the field, it was so much more.

This article from 1984 reminds us why this team’s legacy still matters. They earned that title and no ruling could erase what happened on the field.

As plans for stadium renovations take shape, it would be fitting that the stories of the teams who built Florida Football’s legacy are remembered.

While today’s fans still enjoy the contributions of the 84 team through their children and grandchildren playing on the team, let’s hope 84’s legacy finds its rightful place in the stadium and trophy room.

It is with great sadness to announce the passing of Henry Brown, a great defensive lineman on these mid 80s Gator teams. Henry was a consummate team player who played wherever asked, knowing it would benefit the team. We'll share more details as we get them and keep his family in your prayers.

It’s that time again !!!

Get ready for an incredible opportunity to play alongside members of the legendary 1984 Florida Southeastern Conference team and other Gator greats, coached by Charlie Pell and Galen Hall. https://www.argba.org/

We forget Coach Hall was a quarterback.

August 14, 1940 – Galen Hall Born

Happy 85th Birthday to Galen Hall who was born on this day in 1940 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Several months after his birth, Hall’s father passed away and he moved in with grandparents and was raised in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania.

Hall played collegiately at Penn State University under head coach Rip Engle and assistant coach Joe Paterno and was the team’s starting quarterback for the 1960 and 1961 seasons, both ending with bowl victories. In the 1961 Gator Bowl, Hall threw for three touchdowns in a 30-15 win over Georgia Tech.

Despite being named the Most Outstanding Player in the only playing of the U.S. Bowl, a college all-star game that was played in Washington, DC, Hall went undrafted. He would sign as a rookie free agent with the NFL’s Washington Redskins where he would play in three games before being released. In 1963, Hall appeared in 13 games and made two starts for the AFL’s New York Jets. His 73-yard touchdown pass to Don Maynard on December 14, 1963, was the last touchdown pass thrown in the Polo Grounds and would be his lone passing touchdown as a pro quarterback.

After two years of professional football, Hall became a college coach starting at the West Virginia University in 1964 for two seasons before joining Jim Mackenzie’s staff at the University of Oklahoma in 1966. Hall would stay at Oklahoma through the 1983 season and rise to the rank of offensive coordinator when Barry Switzer was promoted to head coach, replacing Chuck Fairbanks who replaced Mackenzie after Mackenzie’s death following a heart attack.

In 1984, Hall was hired as the new offensive coordinator at the University of Florida replacing Mike Shanahan who left to become an assistant coach with the Denver Broncos and who had previously been on staff with Hall at Oklahoma. Hall installed the I formation offense for Charley Pell who was heading into his sixth season as head coach at Florida.

However, after a 63-21 win over Tulane, Pell was fired and Hall was promoted to head coach amid an investigation by the NCAA over rules violations. Hall led the Gators to eight wins including a perfect 5-0 mark in Southeastern Conference play after being promoted. Despite being on probation for two years, Hall led the Gators to a 9-1-1 record in 1985 and a 6-5 mark in 1986.

With probation having passed, Hall led the Gators to back-to-back bowl appearances including a 14-10 win over Illinois in the 1988 All-American Bowl. The MVP of the All-American Bowl that year was running back and future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Emmitt Smith who had two rushing touchdowns.

Following a 4-1 start in 1989, Hall was relieved of duties as another NCAA investigation came to Gainesville. Two years of probation would follow and, after the Gators finished the season 7-5 with a loss to Washington in the Freedom Bowl, former Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier was brought on as the new head football coach. Joe Paterno said of Hall that he was “a good coach who got screwed.”

In 1991, Hall returned to coaching football as the offensive coorindator of the Orlando Thunder win the World League of American Football. The following season, he took over as the team’s head coach and led them to an 8-2 record and a berth in World Bowl II where they lost to the Sacramento Surge. Though he was named WLAF Coach of the Year, the WLAF would fold after the season.

Following a one-year stint coaching the Charlotte Rage in the Arena Football League, Hall became the head coach of the Rhine Fire in NFL Europe. He would lead the Fire to three World Bowl berths and to victory in two of them. Twice he was named NFL Europe Coach of the Year. He would also win Coach of the Year honors in the XFL during their 2001 season having led the Orlando Rage to an 8-2 record and the Eastern Division title.

Hall became the running backs coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2002, leading to a reunion with Smith. It would be in that season where Smith would break the career rushing record of Walter Payton. Hall was dismissed by incoming head coach Bill Parcells following the season.

After sitting out the 2003 football season, Hall was reunited with Paterno as the team’s new offensive coordinator and running backs coach in 2004. In just his second season back at his alma mater, Hall’s offense helped lead Penn State to an 11-1 record, a tie for the Big Ten championship, and a win in the Orange Bowl over Florida State.

From 2005 to 2009, the Nittany Lions won no fewer than nine games, shared two Big Ten titles, and went 4-1 in bowl games. At home against Northwestern on November 6, 2010, Penn State helped deliver Paterno his 400th career win as head coach despite a down year in which they finished 7-6.

Following an 8-1 start in 2011, scandal rocked the Penn State football program as former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was indicted on November 4, 2011, for 40 separate counts of s*xually abusing young boys. Five days later, Paterno was dismissed as the school’s head coach and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley served as the interim head coach for the rest of the season as the Nittany Lions went 1-3 and lost the Cotton Bowl to Houston.

Prior to the 2012 season, Bill O’Brien was hired as the new head football coach at Penn State and Hall was dismissed from the coaching staff despite having no connection to the child s*x abuse scandal. At age 71, Hall retired and made Groveland, Florida, his home. He and several other coaches would file a lawsuit against Penn State in 2015 over allegations of failing to pay the totality of severance packages that were due to them.

On3 says the greatest player to ever wear #60 is 1984 SEC Champion Billy Hinson and we agree!!

The greatest Gators ever by number: Nos. 56-60 Gators Online is taking a deep dive into UF history and offering our thoughts. Today, we look at Nos. 56 through 60.