Florida Gators football, 1980–1989

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 1980s, the Gators competed in Division I-A 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 1980 to 1989. During the 1980s, the Gators were coached by Charles B. "Charley" Pell (1979–1984), Galen S. Hall (1984–1989) and Gary B. Darnell (1989). Pell, Hall and Darnell compiled an overall record of 76–38–3 (.662) during the decade.

Season overview
The 1980 college football season was the Florida Gators football team's second season under new head coach Charles B. "Charley" Pell, and marked a remarkable one-year turnaround for the Gators from their 0–10–1 record in 1979. The winless 1979 season was the worst season in Gators history, and it was Pell's first campaign as the new head coach of the Gators, after the Gators' previous head coach, Doug Dickey, was fired in the aftermath of a 4–7 season in 1978. Pell's 1980 Florida Gators posted an 8–4 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–2, tying for fourth place in the ten-team SEC. The Gators capped their season with a 35–20 bowl victory over the Maryland Terrapins in the Tangerine Bowl, marking the first time in the history of major college football that a winless team received a bowl bid the following season.

Season overview
The 1981 college football season was Charley Pell's third year as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Pell's 1981 Florida Gators posted an overall record of 7–5 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 3–3, and tying for fourth place among ten SEC teams.

Season overview
The 1982 college football season was the fourth for Charley Pell as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Pell's 1982 Florida Gators posted an 8–4 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 3–3, tying for sixth place in the ten-team SEC.

Season overview
The 1983 college football season was Charley Pell's fifth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Pell's 1983 Florida Gators posted a 9–2–1 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–2, placing third among ten SEC teams. The 1983 season was the first in which Florida was ranked among the top ten teams in the final Associated Press (AP) poll and was only the second time that the Gators were ranked in every weekly AP Poll throughout the season (1975 being the first).

Season overview
The 1984 college football season was Charley Pell's sixth and last as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team; after the third game of the season, Pell was replaced as the Gators' head coach by his new offensive coordinator, Galen Hall. After the Gators began the season as a 1–1–1 team under Pell, Hall's 1984 Florida Gators posted a 9–1–1 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 5–0–1 (8–0–0 and 4–0–0, respectively, under Hall), finishing first among ten SEC teams, and were recognized as the SEC champions. The Gators finished third in both the Associated Press Poll and Coaches Poll, and were also named national champions by twenty-two publications including The New York Times and The Sporting News.

On May 30, 1985, the presidents of the ten SEC-member universities voted 6–4 to vacate the Gators' 1984 SEC title and declared the team ineligible for the SEC championship during the upcoming 1985 and 1986 seasons because of the rule violations committed under Pell. The retroactive vacating of the 1984 championship, six months after the 1984 football season ended, drew an angry response from University of Florida president Marshall Criser, as well as Gators coaches, players and fans due to the retroactive nature of the decision and its perceived unfairness.

Season overview
The 1985 college football season was the second for Galen Hall as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team, having coached the 1984 Gators' final eight games as their interim coach. Hall's 1985 Florida Gators, while ineligible to win the Southeastern Conference (SEC) title or receive a bowl bid because of NCAA probation, finished with a 9–1–1 overall record and an SEC record of 5–1, tying for first place in the ten-team SEC.

Season overview
The 1986 college football season was Galen Hall's third as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Hall's 1986 Florida Gators compiled a 6–5 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 2–4, tying for seventh place among the ten SEC teams.

Schedule and results


Season overview
The 1987 college football season was the fourth for Galen Hall as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Hall's 1987 Florida Gators posted a 6–6 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 3–3, placing sixth among ten SEC teams.

Season overview
The 1988 college football season was Galen Hall's fifth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Hall's 1988 Florida Gators finished with a 7–5 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–3, tying for fourth place among the ten SEC teams.

Season overview
The 1989 college football season was Galen Hall's sixth and final season as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team; Hall was replaced as the Gators head coach after five games by his defensive coordinator, Gary Darnell. Hall and Darnell's 1989 Florida Gators posted an overall record of 7–5 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–3, tying for fourth place in the ten-team SEC.