With Georgia and Florida set to battle tomorrow in Jacksonville, I’m reminded of the “Cocktail Party” tale of why the greatest Gator of them all, Steve Spurrier, presumably despises the Bulldogs. Why all the snide and ridiculing comments about Georgia and its coaches over the years? What was the reason for the called flea-flickers and end-arounds when a number of Bulldogs-Gators games of the 1990s were already well decided?
Most of us have always heard and/or assumed Spurrier’s beef with the Bulldogs was simply because of the defeats he suffered to Georgia as Florida’s quarterback in 1964, and particularly in 1966. However, according to, I’ll just say, an individual rather close to the situation from nearly 50 years ago, the truth of the Head Ball Coach’s hatred goes much further than that.
Gene Ellenson was an All-SEC tackle at Georgia, a member of its 1942 national championship team, and a Battle of the Bulge hero from World War II. After an assistant coaching stint at Miami of Florida, he became the Bulldogs’ top candidate to fill the head coaching position left by Wally Butts in 1961. In fact, UGA President Dr. O.C. Aderhold reportedly went as far as informing Ellenson the job was his to lose—but lose it he would.
Before his hiring became official, Ellenson, who was known for his motivational speeches, spoke a little too much to a Jacksonville newspaper, indicating several abrupt changes he would make if he became the Bulldogs’ head coach. With that, it was reported, “Ellenson had talked himself out of one of the most sought after jobs in football.”
Instead, it was off to the University of Florida for Ellenson, where he would serve as a defensive assistant for the entire—well, most of it—Coach Ray Graves era from 1960 to 1969. The exception: Against Georgia in 1968, in an attempt to shake things up with a struggling team, Graves had the ingenious idea of swapping coordinators—defensive coordinator Ellenson suddenly was the offensive coordinator. Graves’ move more than backfired as the Gators were trounced by the Bulldogs, 51-0.
In that game, the Bulldogs comfortably led 48-0 with more than five minutes to play. Georgia had reached Florida’s 5-yard line, where it faced fourth down. Coach Vince Dooley decided to call upon reserve Peter Rajecki—a German-born, barefooted kicker, and the school’s first soccer-style placekicker—to attempt his first-ever field goal as a Bulldog. Rajecki made the 22-yard attempt.
As the story goes, the successful field goal meant much more to the Gators, Ellenson, and eventually Steve Spurrier, than simply another three points for the Bulldogs. Spurrier, who was playing in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers at the time, was informed by Ellenson during a phone conversation of Georgia’s “running-up-the-score” maneuver. Spurrier was furious and vowed then if he ever got the chance, he’d run the score up on the Bulldogs just like they had done to his Gators.
Almost 20 years later, during his first season as Florida’s head coach in 1990, Spurrier brought in Ellenson to deliver a motivational message during a team meeting the Friday night before the Georgia game. The Bulldog-turned-Gator speaker stressed taking charge of one’s own fate and not letting outsiders control it. The motivated Gators responded with an easy victory over the Dogs, where Spurrier got an opportunity to rub the win in Georgia’s face, and sure enough, he did. With Florida leading by 31 points late in the game, the Gator head coach sent his first-team defense back onto the field to prevent the Bulldog offense from merely picking up a first down.
A year later in 1991, it was the same as the season before: Ellenson spoke to the team on Friday, urging them to go to “another level.” The Gators would hold a late, comfortable lead over the Bulldogs the next day. Yet, it was not quite comfortable enough for Spurrier, who wouldn’t let up. With a four-touchdown lead, standout quarterback Shane Matthews wasn’t replaced until Florida's next-to-last offensive series. When the starter was finally sidelined, backup Brian Fox passed for a 24-yard touchdown with less than two minutes to play in an eventual 45-13 decision.
Hence, more or less, that is supposedly the reasoning behind Spurrier’s hate for Georgia while at Florida. However, for the Gators who are aware of the story, there is a bit of information they tend to leave out when giving their account. Let’s just say that for many attending the Georgia-Florida game on that rainy day in 1968, it was rather obvious the Gators collectively did not put forth their best towards the end of the game.
Dooley was not one to run up the score during his 25 seasons as the Bulldogs’ head coach. Further, he certainly hardly questioned an opponent’s effort, if ever, besides this instance. Dooley said after the game, “I really believe Florida’s effort was not at its maximum…I believe you had a [Georgia] football team after the third quarter that was really keyed, against a team that was giving less than maximum effort.”
Therefore, it appears that an assistant’s hard feelings for his alma mater and a head coach’s vengeance against the same rival results from not necessarily Georgia trying to run up a score, but perhaps something else, namely the Gators simply not playing to “another level” in the 1968 game.
Besides, what would the Head Ball Coach and the Gator faithful have preferred for Dooley to do on fourth down at the opposing 5-yard line and with more than five minutes remaining in the game? Call for a Spurrier-like end-around with a wide receiver?
Patrick Garbin of UGASports.com has written 10 books, eight of which relate to UGA football, including one on the Georgia-Florida rivalry, I Love Georgia/I Hate Florida, and his latest release, DAWGS GONE WILD: The Scandalous ‘70s of UGA Football. He can be reached at patrick@patrickgarbin.com or on Twitter at PatrickGarbin.
