Dooley’s Dozen: 12 best receiver rooms in Florida football history
It has been a while since Florida could brag about being DBU. That happens when you have a three-year run of historically bad defenses.
But this was also known as Wide Receiver University for a long stretch, especially when Steve Spurrier was the coach.
Much of it was because Florida had great quarterbacks during those years including three Heisman Trophy winners. But you have to have multiple receivers who can make plays to build up gaudy statistics.
For the Dooley’s Dozen today we look at the 12 best receiving rooms in Florida history. Of course, the game has changed with the passing game becoming such a prominent part of the offenses since Spurrier came here as a quarterback, so all of the best rooms were here in the last six decades.
The most famous one
Andy Lyons /Allsport
That would have been in 1996 when Florida won its first national title with [autotag]Danny Wuerffel[/autotag] winning the Heisman. They even have hats with the three receivers on them. [autotag]Reidel Anthony[/autotag] led the way with 72 catches and Reidel, [autotag]Ike Hilliard[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacquez Green[/autotag] combined for 37 touchdown catches that season.
The COVID year
Brad McClenny-USA TODAY NETWORK
There were a lot of things that weren’t pleasant about the 2020 season, but Florida’s offense was a breath of fresh air with [autotag]Kyle Trask[/autotag] at the controls. [autotag]Kadarius Toney[/autotag] led the way with 70 catches, but you also had Trevon Grimes and his nine touchdown catches and Jacob Copeland, not to mention Kyle Pitts, who lined up at wide receiver plenty and had 12 touchdowns.
Rex should have won it
Brian Bahr/ALLSPORT
Hey, we will never let it go that [autotag]Rex Grossman[/autotag] should have won the Heisman in 2001. He had an incredible receiving room with both [autotag]Reche Caldwell[/autotag] and [autotag]Jabar Gaffney[/autotag] going over 65 catches with [autotag]Taylor Jacobs[/autotag] adding 38 and seven scores. There was also Carlos Perez and Kelvin Kight ready for duty.
Doering’s got a record
Stephen Dunn/ALLSPORT
[autotag]Chris Doering[/autotag] set the SEC record for touchdown catches in 1995 (since broken) with 17 and 70 catches. Wuerffel had plenty of help with Ike and Reidel and Quez and [autotag]Travis McGriff[/autotag] and [autotag]Nafis Karim[/autotag]. There is a reason this team played for the national championship.
The room was loaded
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Where do we start? Florida turned to Trask after [autotag]Feleipe Franks[/autotag] went down and the offense took off. Pitts led the way with 54 catches, but there were also [autotag]Van Jefferson[/autotag], [autotag]Freddie Swain[/autotag], [autotag]Tyrie Cleveland[/autotag], [autotag]Josh Hammond[/autotag], Grimes, Toney and [autotag]Jacob Copeland[/autotag]. Together they caught 237 passes and 27 touchdowns. Whew.
The Super Sophs
Foster Marshall, Jr./Florida Times-Union
[autotag]Carlos Alvarez[/autotag] set a record that still stands with his 88 catches including a memorable one on the third play against Houston in 1969. [autotag]John Reaves[/autotag] had plenty of other targets including the tailbacks, but Andy Cheney and Paul Maliska combined for 57 catches as well.
Tebow gets his Heisman
Doug Benc/Getty Images
Certainly, [autotag]Tim Tebow[/autotag] won the big award in 2007 because he became the first player to run and pass for more than 20 touchdowns. His receivers were awesome with [autotag]Percy Harvin[/autotag] grabbing 59 catches and [autotag]Andre Caldwell[/autotag] 56. Throw in [autotag]Louis Murphy[/autotag] and it was an awesome offense to watch.
The championship season
Scott Halleran /Allsport
Florida won its first official SEC title in 1991 with [autotag]Shane Matthews[/autotag] at the helm. He had plenty of targets (including tailback [autotag]Errict Rhett[/autotag]) and the receivers came up big with [autotag]Willie Jackson[/autotag] catching 51 passes and 10 touchdowns and Harrison Houston, Tre Everett and Alonzo Sullivan making play after play.
How good was this room?
USA TODAY Sports
In 1994, Florida had these players in the same meeting room – [autotag]Jack Jackson[/autotag], who led the team with 57 catches, Reidel, Ike, Doering and [autotag]Aubrey Hill[/autotag]. They all had at least 22 catches in Spurrier’s pass-happy offense and won the SEC.
The second title
Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports
Florida win it all again in 2006 with [autotag]Chris Leak[/autotag] at quarterback except when Tebow came in. Leak put up incredible numbers with [autotag]Dallas Baker[/autotag] coming into his own with 60 catches and [autotag]Andre Caldwell[/autotag] getting 57. He also had Harvin and underrated Jemalle Cornelius.
Spurrier, the quarterback
AP Photo/Horace Cort
In his Heisman year, Florida didn’t pass as much as it did with Spurrier as a coach. But he had Richard Trapp, an All-SEC performer who had 63 catches, Paul Ewaldsen and Jack Coons.
The first-rounders
RVR Photos-USA TODAY Network
In 1999 with [autotag]Doug Johnson[/autotag] at quarterback, Florida had to deal with an injury to [autotag]Travis Taylor[/autotag], but he still managed 34 catches and had a memorable Citrus Bowl. The leader that year was another first-round pick in [autotag]Darrell Jackson[/autotag] with 67 catches and nine touchdowns plus [autotag]Reche Caldwell[/autotag] and Alex Willis.
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