Former Gators running back, assistant coach Kendrick passes away
Monday, March 23, 2015 | Football, Men's Swimming & Diving, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida football family lost a member over the weekend when former UF fullback Vince Kendrick died. Kendrick turned 63 on March 18.
He passed away Saturday morning after a battle with cancer.
#RIP to former #Gators RB and assistant coach Vince Kendrick, who passed away over weekend. He was 63... pic.twitter.com/fgbBEA9RWY
— Scott Carter (@GatorZoneScott) March 23, 2015
Kendrick, one of UF's first African-American players, played for the Gators from 1971-73 and later returned as an assistant coach, serving as running backs coach on Charley Pell's staff from 1979-83.
As a player, Kendrick might be best remembered for an apparent game-winning catch in the final seconds of a 28-24 loss to North Carolina in Jacksonville.
“I knew where I was on the field,'' Kendrick told reporters afterward. “I purposely tried to time my jump and land with both feet in bounds. I thought I did.”
The fourth-and-goal play from North Carolina's 9-yard line ended with Florida quarterback David Bowden hitting Kendrick for the go-ahead score with 17 seconds left at the Gator Bowl.
However, the game ended in controversy when field judge Mark Kane – news accounts from the day like to point out Kane was from Charlotte, N.C. – ruled that Kendrick was out of bounds.
The Gators finished the regular season 5-5-1 and North Carolina finished 10-1 and advanced to the Sun Bowl.
Kendrick spent a brief time in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Bucs and Atlanta Falcons before returning to UF as an assistant coach.
In the Bucs' inaugural season of 1976, Kendrick scored the first touchdown in franchise history in a 10-6 preseason loss against Green Bay at old County Stadium in Milwaukee.
He retired from football due to bad knees but recalled his time on the winless Bucs of '76 with fondness in 2003 as Tampa Bay prepared to face Oakland in the Super Bowl.
“When I left it forced me into coaching,'' he told the Gainesville Sun. "It was a blessing in disguise. But that year, losing every game, it was not fun.”
Kendrick lived in Deerfield Beach, Fla., where he retired as the city's longtime parks and recreation director.
A viewing will be held on Friday at Brown's Funeral Home in Lantana, Fla., located at 1004 S. Dixie Highway from 5-6 p.m. (family) and 6-8 p.m. (community and friends).
Funeral services for Kendrick will be held Saturday at 11 a.m., at Westside Park, 445 SW 2nd St. in Deerfield Beach.
Thoughts and prayers are with the Kendrick family.
