Florida Gators football, 1970–1979

The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The University of Florida fielded its first official varsity football team in the fall of 1906, and has fielded a team every season since then, with the exception of 1943. During the 1970s, the Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Florida Field on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.

This article includes a game-by-game list of the Florida Gators' ten football seasons from 1970 to 1979. During the 1970s, the Gators were coached by Douglas A. "Doug" Dickey (1970–1978) and Charles B. "Charley" Pell (1979–1984). Dickey and Pell compiled an overall record of 58–53–3 (.522) during the decade.

Season overview
The 1970 college football season was Florida alumnus Doug Dickey's first of ten as the new head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey had been the starting quarterback for the Gators under coach Bob Woodruff in 1952 and 1953, and had previously served as the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers before returning to his alma mater in 1970. Dickey's 1970 Florida Gators finished with a 7–4 overall record and a 3–3 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), tying for third among ten SEC teams.

Season overview
The 1971 college football season was Doug Dickey's second as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1971 Florida Gators finished with a 4–7 overall record and a 1–6 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), tying for eighth among ten SEC teams.

The season ended on a controversial note. With the Gators leading the Miami Hurricanes 45–8 late in the fourth quarter, Dickey agreed to permit the Gators defense to allow the Hurricanes to score, thus returning the ball to the Gators offense. Dubbed the "Florida Flop" or "Gator Flop," the move enabled senior quarterback John Reaves to break the NCAA career passing yardage record in his last college game. After the game, Miami coach Fran Curci was so angry that he refused to shake Dickey's hand, and several Gators jumped in the pool at the Orange Bowl's east end zone used by the Miami Dolphins' live mascot, Flipper.

Schedule and results


Season overview
The 1972 college football season was the third for Doug Dickey as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1972 Florida Gators finished with a 5–5–1 overall record and a 3–3–1 Southeastern Conference (SEC) record, tying for sixth among ten SEC teams.

Season overview
The 1973 college football season was Doug Dickey's fourth as the Florida Gators football team's head coach. Dickey's 1973 Florida Gators finished with a 7–5 overall record and a 3–4 Southeastern Conference (SEC) record, tying for fifth among ten SEC teams.

The Tangerine Bowl was moved up the Turnpike from Orlando to Gainesville as the then 17,000-seat Citrus Bowl was too small to accommodate the Florida crowd. The fans were greeted by a record cold snap, with gametime temperatures at 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 degrees Celsius); the cold weather benefited the visiting Miami (Ohio) team which won 16-7.

Season overview
The 1974 college football season was Doug Dickey's fifth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1974 Florida Gators finished with an 8–4 overall record and a 3–3 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), tying for fourth among ten SEC teams. Powered by a strong backfield that included Tony Green and Jimmy DuBose, Dickey employed the wishbone offense for the first season in the Gators' history.

Season overview
The 1975 college football season was Doug Dickey's sixth and most successful season as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1975 Florida Gators finished with a 9–3 overall record and a 5–1 Southeastern Conference (SEC) record, tying for second among ten SEC teams.

Season overview
The 1976 college football season was the seventh for Doug Dickey as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1976 Florida Gators finished with an 8–4 overall record and a 4–2 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing fourth among ten SEC teams.

Season overview
The 1977 college football season was Doug Dickey's eighth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1977 Florida Gators finished with a 6–4–1 overall record and a 3–3 Southeastern Conference (SEC) record, placing fifth among ten SEC teams.

Season overview
The 1978 college football season was Doug Dickey's ninth and last year as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1978 Florida Gators finished with a 4–7 overall record and a 3–3 Southeastern Conference (SEC) record, tying for fourth among ten SEC teams. After leaving Florida, Doug Dickey later became the long-time athletic director of the University of Tennessee's Volunteers sports program, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2003.

Season overview
The 1979 college football season was Charles B. "Charley" Pell's first of six as the new head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Pell arrived in Gainesville with a new plan for building the Gators football program&mdash;new offensive and defensive schemes, new assistant coaches, a new attitude and new boosters fund-raising model to support the program and improve the stadium and training facilities. Pell's plan would produce many on-the-field victories over the next five years, but his first campaign as the Gators coach produced the most losses in any single season in Gators football history, ending with a winless 0–10–1 overall record and a 0–6 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and placing dead last among ten SEC teams.