The Florida Gators family lost a former head coach and athletics director Friday. Ray Graves, who coached football for the gators and recruited Steve Spurrier to Gainesville, passed away at the age of 96 years old overnight. The school announced the passing Friday.
“A tremendous influence on my life,’’ Spurrier said Friday in a released statement. “After my mother and dad, Coach Graves had the biggest influence on my life. I am so thankful for him. I had a chance yesterday to tell him I love him and I sincerely thank him for the influence he had on me.”
Graves was the head coach of the Gators from 1960 through 1969. In that time Graves accumulated a record of 70-31-4, which may not blow you away at first. But Graves took over a Florida program that was looking to take the next steps forward in program development, from a top 20 program to possible national title contender. Graves coached Florida, with Spurrier at quarterback, into the top 10 rankings at various points before taking over a job as athletics director. Spurrier was Florida’s first Heisman Trophy winner and Graves took the Gators to the school’s first trips to the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl. To say Graves was influential in the development of the Florida athletics program, not just the football program, would be an understatement.
“We are truly saddened to hear of the passing of Ray Graves,’' Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley said. “You can’t put into words what he has meant to the Gator Nation and the countless lives he has touched from his players, coaches, friends and family. Like many others I was fortunate to have a personal relationship with him and will be forever grateful for our time together. God bless him and his family.”