Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Alonzo Mitz hasn't seen Florida Field in 40 years. He last walked the turf in 1984, when he was a take-no-prisoners defensive tackle for the University of Florida Gators.

"The very first time I got on that field as a young guy, I had butterflies," Mitz said. "I have a funny feeling those butterflies are coming back."

Four decades later, the 1984 Gators are coming home. The team that won the program's first SEC football championship — only to have it officially stripped away six months later due to NCAA rules violations — will be recognized and honored during Saturday night's homecoming game against Kentucky.

Some would call that justice.

"Long, long, long overdue justice," offensive lineman Crawford Ker said.

After being largely forgotten or systematically marginalized, this group of grandfatherly 60-somethings will hear cheers from veteran UF supporters who remember what it meant and young Gators who maybe never knew this accomplished team even existed. Really, it's a massive family reunion.

Some would call that healing.

"We're finally getting our due," linebacker Leon Pennington said. "We're finally getting our respect. It's like being pulled out of the darkness into the sunshine."

Mitz has a different word for the weekend's proceedings, which include a golf tournament, an appearance at Gator Growl and Saturday's GatorWalk and game-day experience.

"It's a blessing," said Mitz, one of 23 members of the 1984 Gators to be drafted into the NFL. "An absolute blessing."

For years, wide receiver Ricky Nattiel said he felt angry when attending a practice or a Gator game. There was no visual reference to UF's 1984 SEC championship and a short-lived "First In The SEC" display (along with 1985 and 1990) was removed from The Swamp's walls a few decades ago.

"I promise you the 1984 season actually happened," Nattiel said. "I was there. I saw Gator people celebrating like wild and they said it was the greatest moment of their lives. We made history. Obviously, after that, we got swept under the rug. It's difficult because you get to the point where you think nobody even cares.

"The NCAA knocking you down? That's one thing. But your own school? Not even a mention? Acting like we were never there? That's why guys from our team stopped coming around. Now here's something different. Now we see about what's really going on inside everybody's hearts and minds. I hope we can all get together and move forward."

Galen Hall, the offensive coordinator-turned-interim head coach following the dismissal of Charley Pell three games into the 1984 season, recently turned 84. He plays a lot of golf near his Central Florida home in Groveland and still gets recognized at the grocery store. He can't wait to interact with his former players, including some he hasn't seen in four decades.

Before joining the Gators, Hall spent 18 seasons on the staff at the University of Oklahoma, which had 13 top 10-ranked teams, two Heisman Trophy winners and back-to-back national champions during that span.

With respect to the Sooners, Hall said the 1984 Gators were the best team he ever coached. The Gators (9-1-1), prohibited from participating in a bowl game by the SEC just three days after winning the conference title, were ranked No. 1 by the New York Times, the Sporting News and two computer services that later helped determine the Bowl Championship Series standings.

"There's a stigma that has followed around our team for decades and it's time to get past that," Hall said. "The 1984 Florida Gators were about greatness. That should be appreciated."
 

The Building Process

To fully appreciate the 1984 Gators, you must understand UF's star-crossed football history. In the first half-century of SEC football (1933-83), only two of the existing members had failed to capture a conference title.

Vanderbilt … and Florida.

Even Georgia Tech and Tulane, no longer in the league, had claimed SEC football championships.

"Wait 'Til Next Year!"

At Florida, that weary outlook was a way of life.

Pell, hired from Clemson in 1979, intended to change all of that. After an inglorious 0-10-1 debut, when Gator football was practically gutted, the building process began. No detail was too small, whether it was recruiting the state's best players, improving facilities, organizing a fundraising army or mobilizing the Gator Clubs from Pensacola to Key West. From 1980-83, Pell's Gators were 32-15-1 with four bowl-game appearances and a program-record No. 6 finish in the final 1983 Associated Press poll.

"Everybody talks about Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer — justifiably so — but Charley Pell was actually the guy who turned Florida football into a winner," said wide receiver Gary Rolle, who is now an orthopedic surgeon in Tallahassee. "Charley Pell was (Nick) Saban before Saban."

But one week before opening the 1984 season against the defending national champion Miami Hurricanes at the neutral site of Tampa Stadium, Pell handed in his resignation on the heels of an exhaustive NCAA investigation that was nearing its end. Pell, after his hastily arranged peace offering, asked to finish coaching the season.

UF had on-field problems as well. Injuries, defections and a career-ending knee injury to first-string Dale Dorminey just four days before kickoff in Tampa made for an unfathomable situation at quarterback. The unknown Kerwin Bell, a walk-on from Mayo Lafayette High School, was elevated to starter.

"He had no experience and we couldn't have thrown him into a bigger fire," Hall said. "But there was something about Kerwin. We had confidence in him."

Sure enough, trailing the Hurricanes 19-13 in the late going, Bell led a pressure-packed, go-ahead touchdown drive. He tucked it away and gained 7 yards on a fourth-and-5 situation, then found Frankie Neal on a 5-yard score with 41 seconds to play, putting the Gators up 20-19.

"We were up in the Tampa Stadium press box and Joe Kines, our defensive coordinator, looked over at me," Hall said. "Joe said, 'You might have scored too quickly.' I just stared at him. Joe Kines was proven to be right."

Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar needed just five plays to take the Hurricanes 73 yards, finishing with a 12-yard touchdown toss to Eddie Brown. On the game's final play, Miami returned an interception for touchdown, making the final a deceptive-sounding 32-20.

The Gators began the SEC schedule with a 21-21 tie against LSU — when Pell chose the safe extra-point after a touchdown with 4:55 remaining — and steamrolled Tulane 63-21 to make the Gators 1-1-1.

One day after defeating Tulane, Pell was fired by UF president Marshall Criser following the formal uncovering of 107 NCAA violations for recruiting irregularities, spying on opponents and extra player benefits.

It seemed like a bitter end.

Yet UF's historic season was really just beginning.
 

A Season of Highlights

Mild-mannered, low-key Galen Hall was selected as interim head coach to replace the tightly wound Pell. Amid the front-page NCAA headlines and what seemed like potential chaos, very few people predicted a serious run toward UF's first SEC championship.

With a few monotone sentences, Hall changed the mood.

"He said we were talented and capable and he was going to let us be men," Ker said. "We appreciated that. And we responded."

"Coach Hall cut back the practices, which I personally loved, and trusted us," offensive lineman Billy Hinson said. "He said, 'Let's just go out and win games. Decide what kind of season you want and let's make it happen. We are capable of winning every game on our schedule.' And he was right. We were one heck of a talented team."

The offensive line, known as "The Great Wall of Florida," was massive for its era — left tackle Lomas Brown (6-foot-5, 277 pounds), left guard Hinson (6-1, 278), center Phil Bromley (6-2, 256), right guard Jeff Zimmerman (6-4, 298) and right tackle Ker (6-3, 288).

The backfield, which ranked among the SEC's all-time best groups, included three future NFL first-round draft picks — Neal Anderson, Lorenzo Hampton and John L. Williams. Meanwhile, Bell became a Hollywood story — from walk-on to SEC Player of the Year — and he had a fleet of talented targets, led by Nattiel, Rolle, Neal and Ray McDonald.

UF led the SEC in scoring defense (15.5 points per game), rushing defense (121.5, only three touchdowns) and total defense (302.3, 17 touchdowns). Linebacker Alonzo Johnson (team-leading 90 tackles, 11 sacks) was the obvious star, but he was ably supported by nose tackle Tim Newton, linebackers Scott Armstrong and Mark Korff, and a rangy, hard-hitting secondary that featured Ricky Easmon (team-leading four interceptions), Adrian White, Vernell Brown, Jarvis Williams and Roger Sibbald.

It was a season of riveting highlights. There was an eye-opening 16-0 blanking of Syracuse, which was coming off a victory against No. 1-ranked Nebraska. UF held the Orange to just 148 total yards. There was a 24-3 spanking of No. 13-ranked Auburn, when future Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson (five carries, 16 yards) was no factor after returning from an early season shoulder separation.

Then there was the Georgia game in Jacksonville.

"To me, that was the moment," Nattiel said. "Back then, Georgia owned the Gators."

Not this time.

The Gators slammed the No. 8-ranked Bulldogs 27-0, exorcising demons and sending a formidable message to the nation.

Strange things had a way of happening (see: Scott, Lindsay) in six straight defeats against Georgia. Although Florida led 17-0 in the third quarter this time, the Bulldogs were on the move with first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. The Gator Bowl began to rumble.

"Gator fans were probably thinking, 'Is Georgia going to do it to us again?' "Mitz said. "We were not going to let it happen."

On third down from the 1, Johnson dropped Tony Mangham for a 1-yard loss. And on fourth down, Easmon corralled Andre Smith, who was tackled by Sibbald. An epic goal-line stand was complete.

Three plays later, with Bell throwing from his end zone, Nattiel sprung open on a go-route and sprinted home with a 96-yard touchdown. Game over.

"One of the biggest moments of my career and life," Nattiel said. "I can still hear the crowd roaring. At long last, the Gators were going to get this thing done."

UF then registered a tense 25-17 road victory at Kentucky. Bobby Raymond connected on six field goals, while White clinched the win on an interception deep in Gator territory. Afterward in the locker room, Criser appointed Hall as the permanent head coach, a position he held until 1989.

On the trip home to Gainesville, where the charter-plane pilot did a flyover at Florida Field so Gator players could see the 30,000 fans that gathered to welcome them home, it was learned that No. 9 LSU was upset by Mississippi State 16-14.

The Gators were unquestioned SEC champions.

But if you survey the list of SEC football champions in the conference's record book, here's what you'll find: 1984 — Vacated.


 

Coming Together Again

Pennington remembers the sense of dread when the Gators were called into a team meeting, just a few days after the historic win at Kentucky. Coaches and administrators dropped the bad news. There would be no Sugar Bowl. UF's run ended with a 27-17 victory in the regular-season finale at Florida State.

Following the New Year's Day bowl games, unbeaten Brigham Young was recognized as the consensus national champion. The Cougars defeated Michigan in an off-Broadway Holiday Bowl, then swept the AP and United Press International polls. The Gators finished No. 3 in AP (with six first-place votes) and No. 7 in UPI (with a solo first-place vote).

"It was all very upsetting," Pennington said. "When they told us there was no bowl, everybody's faces just dropped. Our hearts were broken. At the same time, we knew what kind of team we had. And people who understand football, they knew that too. We weren't just going to lay down and die. We were going to carry ourselves with respect because we knew we were the best team in the country."

And maybe even greater than that in the eyes of some UF players.

"A lot of Gator people think that time began with the Steve Spurrier coaching era (beginning in 1990) — and that absolutely drives all of our guys crazy — but I would put our 1984 team against any team he had and be fully confident that we would win," Nattiel said.

It's an interesting debate — and nobody has the correct answer — but many of the 1984 Gators are done with arguments.

"You can say our team never got invited to the party, but you've got to understand one thing," Rolle said. "We were the party. We were the party."

"Forty years later, are we really still talking about SEC trophies and SEC championship rings and why we went on probation and the decision to take things away from our team?" Ker said. "Are we talking about jewelry? I just went through Hurricane Helene (in Pinellas County) and a lot of my stuff was destroyed. But nothing can destroy my memories and relationships. Those things will live forever. I'm completely at peace with what our team was all about."

Last February, Hinson attended the funeral of Alonzo Johnson in the Panhandle. It hit him hard. He had lost touch with his old teammate, who had fallen on rough times, and wondered if maybe he could've helped. One month later, Jeff Zimmerman died. There were others. Jarvis Williams died in 2010 at age 45. Mark Korff was killed in a 1998 motorcycle accident.

"I took those things personally and started to think that, man, we've got to do something to get our team back together … or else many of us won't even be here," Hinson said. "It's a humbling thought. It should also be a catalyst toward making sure we have more reunions, maybe one every year.

"Reconnection is so important. I've come to realize that we worked hard to achieve things that were taken away from us. It affects people in different ways. But it shouldn't create bitterness that keeps us separated. A lot of guys who said they'd never come back, well, they're coming back now. I don't care if we were wronged. I don't care who's to blame. I'm just grateful we'll all be together again."

For Mitz — and so many others — the memories are bound to come flowing back.

"I remember coming home that night after beating Kentucky and that was probably one of the last times I was in that stadium," Mitz said. "Seeing the happiness of all those fans, hearing them sing 'We Are The Champions' … I had tears in my eyes. It had never happened at Florida and I was so proud to be part of it.

"We're still a fraternity of brothers and I thank God that we get this opportunity to get back together. For years, a lot of us had anger and bitterness. It's time to wash that away. We were part of something really special and historic. Nothing will ever change that. It's a bond we will share forever."