Samuel Ray Graves was head coach of the University of Florida football team from 1960 to 1969, and athletic director from 1960 to 1979. Coach Graves is widely credited with creating the modern alignment of the free safety and strong safety in the defensive backfield. When Coach Graves was hired, the Gators were coming off a 5-4-1 season that had them 9th in the SEC. He transformed the Gators from a team that typically ranked 6th to 9th in the conference to a team that competed well against nationally ranked teams and wound up 3rd to 6th in the conference. With Ray Graves as head coach, players such as Steve Spurrier, Larry Smith, and Jack Youngblood flourished and the Gators improved their record from 53-42-6 in the 1950s to 70-31-4 in the 1960s. His Gator winning record was not broken until his former QB Steve Spurrier surpassed him thirty years later. He was also responsible for allowing Dr. Robert Cade conduct sports medicine testing on his athletes, which led to the highly successful Gatorade beverage. Ray Graves' endorsement of Gatorade and his friendship with Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram helped forge the partnership between the NFL and Gatorade that continues to this day.
Ray Graves elected to step down as football coach in 1969 to make room for incoming Gator alumnus, Doug Dickey, but he did not step down without first upsetting Dickey's Tennessee Volunteers 14-13 in the 1969 Gator Bowl. Coach Graves left the head football position with a 68.6% win record and an 80% bowl win record. He also had the Gators ranked in four different years--1960, 1965, 1966, and 1969. His teams were renowned for being tight-knit--the Graves' Silver Sixties Gators still gather for an annual reunion. His teams also enjoyed unprecedented academic success, with 93% of his players graduating and over 50% earning law or medical degrees. Ray Graves remained in Gainesville as the athletic director until 1979, where he helped build up the women's athletic programs in a perennial top-ten performer.
Ray Graves was inducted in the Florida Sports Hall of Fame ('72), the University of Florida Athletic Association Hall of Fame ('81), the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame ('90), and College Football Hall of Fame ('90). Coach Graves had such a profound impact on the team that when Steve Spurrier returned to coach the Gators, he created the Ray Graves team MVP trophy. In 2005, the athletic office was named after him. Ray currently is happily retired in Tampa, Florida.
Ray Graves elected to step down as football coach in 1969 to make room for incoming Gator alumnus, Doug Dickey, but he did not step down without first upsetting Dickey's Tennessee Volunteers 14-13 in the 1969 Gator Bowl. Coach Graves left the head football position with a 68.6% win record and an 80% bowl win record. He also had the Gators ranked in four different years--1960, 1965, 1966, and 1969. His teams were renowned for being tight-knit--the Graves' Silver Sixties Gators still gather for an annual reunion. His teams also enjoyed unprecedented academic success, with 93% of his players graduating and over 50% earning law or medical degrees. Ray Graves remained in Gainesville as the athletic director until 1979, where he helped build up the women's athletic programs in a perennial top-ten performer.
Ray Graves was inducted in the Florida Sports Hall of Fame ('72), the University of Florida Athletic Association Hall of Fame ('81), the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame ('90), and College Football Hall of Fame ('90). Coach Graves had such a profound impact on the team that when Steve Spurrier returned to coach the Gators, he created the Ray Graves team MVP trophy. In 2005, the athletic office was named after him. Ray currently is happily retired in Tampa, Florida.