GATORS IN THE 80s

Some Called Them Champs; NCAA Said They Cheated

By ANDY STAPLES The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jul 16, 2006

GAINESVILLE - Gary Rolle had only a few minutes to talk.

The former University of Florida receiver and current orthopedic surgeon would need to see another patient soon, but he wanted to answer the question his caller asked.

Was the 1984 team the best Florida has ever put on the field?

"Definitely," said Rolle, who practices in Tallahassee. "Is that all you need to know? As far as I'm concerned, it probably was the best team."

Auburn coach Pat Dye called some of the 1984 Gators "professionals." NCAA officials called their coach a cheater. Florida State coach Bobby Bowden called the screeching halt to Florida's season "justice."

The Gators called themselves Southeastern Conference champions, though the SEC eventually would strip their title. The New York Times poll called Florida something else: The best team in the country.

"I played with a group of great guys," offensive lineman Crawford Ker said. "I've taken those lessons and tried to put them in the business that I do."

Ker, the Dunedin native who founded the Ker's Wing House restaurant chain, and his teammates probably learned a new lesson every day of that season. They learned they couldn't worry about issues beyond their control. They learned that no one - not even the coach who assembled all that talent by hook or by crook - was bigger than the program. They also learned that bashing opponents on the field proved great therapy for off-field problems.

The Gators knew in the months before the season that the NCAA eventually would drop its hammer after a 20-month investigation into alleged violations by Florida's chain-smoking taskmaster of a coach, Charley Pell. On Aug. 26, Pell resigned, effective at season's end.

"By this action, I want to make certain to the NCAA and the University of Florida that I am responsible for any infractions of NCAA legislation by the staff or deliberate infractions by representatives of the university," Pell wrote in his resignation letter.

That statement would doom Pell, who was dismissed by Florida president Marshall Criser three games into the season - after the NCAA sent Florida a list of 107 alleged violations that included paying players, holding illegal practices and spying on opponents' practices. Pell never got another college coaching job. He tried and failed to commit suicide in 1994. Pell died of cancer in 2001 at age 60.

"Coach Pell took the brunt of everyone's pain," Ker said.

Offensive coordinator Galen Hall took over a 1-1-1 team that included eventual NFL first-rounders Lomas Brown, Lorenzo Hampton, Neal Anderson, John L. Williams, Ricky Nattiel and Clifford Charlton. Even after Pell's abrupt exit, his presence remained.

"Coach Pell was the coach even after he was gone," Rolle said.

Nattiel, who now sells real estate and coaches high school football in Ocala, said the Gators, thoroughly seasoned by Pell's intensity, hit their stride playing for the laid-back Hall. The unranked Gators whipped Tulane, Mississippi State and Syracuse, then pounded No. 18 Tennessee, 43-30, in Knoxville. After beating Cincinnati - future Gators coach Urban Meyer played in the Bearcats' secondary - Florida faced Dye and his 11th-ranked Tigers.

After Florida's 24-3 win, Dye said the Gators "simply manhandled us."

Next came eighth-ranked Georgia, which had beaten Florida six consecutive years. After the Gators stuffed the Bulldogs at the goal line late in the third quarter, Florida freshman quarterback Kerwin Bell opened the fourth with a 96-yard touchdown pass to Nattiel. The Gators rolled to a 27-0 win.

"The best part," Nattiel said, "was catching that pass right in front of the Georgia bench."

That only left Kentucky between Florida and the first SEC title in school history. Rolle said he could feel an energy in the huddle that day in Lexington. He said none of the Gators knew exactly how they'd win. They only knew they would.

"It didn't matter," Rolle said. "It didn't matter if the refs were cheating. It didn't matter if it was raining. It didn't matter."

Safety Adrian White's interception of Bill Ransdell deep in Gators territory clinched the win for Florida. On the way home, the Gators flew directly over Florida Field. They looked down to see thousands waiting to celebrate their return.

"If you didn't have fun that night," Ker said, "there was something wrong with you."

The week of Florida's season-ending win at Florida State, the SEC banned the Gators from playing in a bowl game. Months later, the league stripped Florida of its conference title, though the Gators never did give back the trophy.

Brigham Young is almost universally recognized as the 1984 national champion, though The New York Times and several other organizations voted Florida No. 1. The NCAA eventually found Florida guilty of 59 violations. The Gators were slapped with probation, a television ban and scholarship reductions that would hamper the program even after Hall's late-1980s transgressions brought a new wave of sanctions.

But despite the turmoil, the members on the 1984 team never doubted their place in Florida football history.

"I have a ring that says No. 1," Ker said.

And if the SEC or NCAA wants to take away those rings, Nattiel said, they're welcome to try.

"If they take those rings off our fingers, then they really stripped us," Nattiel said. "We did it where it counts - on the field."

Reporter Andy Staples can be contacted at (352) 262-3719 or astaples@tampatrib.com.