10 Greatest Upcoming Gators From Gainesville
In college towns across America, the dream of many young men is to play for their hometown school. Other high school students want to get away from home to spread their wings (some too close to the sun).
Certainly in Florida there is a rich history of Gainesville Gators, players who were in high school in the city and signed up a few miles down the road to college.
With the recent signing of Creed Whittemore, a Buchholz, Florida product, we started thinking about the players who grew up in Gainesville playing football for the Gators.
Creed’s brother, Trent, should play a big role in the 2022 Florida football season if he can avoid injury and nothing like playing on a college football team with your brother.
Sometimes it’s easy to convince the local kid to get involved. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort. Still other times, you don’t know what’s going on down the road until he slaps you.
Here’s one man’s opinion on Gainesville’s 10 best to play for the Gators.
Chris Doing
Stephen Dunn/ALLSPORT
The story of Doering, who played at PK Yonge, goes something like this. He was considering Florida State but went to a Florida-FSU baseball game and knew he couldn’t stand the Seminoles.
So he walked in Florida, caught a pretty significant touchdown pass in Kentucky, and then set the record for most touchdowns by an SEC player until Heisman winner DeVonta Smith, the recently broken.
Dale van Sickel
AP Photo
His family moved to Gainesville when he was young and he attended Gainesville High. In Florida, he was the do-it-all good end and was also a member of the Gator basketball and baseball teams.
Van Sickel is Florida’s first-ever All-American, earning the honor in 1928 on a team that went 8-1 and led the nation in scoring. He went on to become an actor and stuntman in Hollywood, and in 2007 was named one of the 100 Greatest Players in Florida High School History.
Willie Jackson Jr.
Scott Halleran/Allsport
The son of a former Gator great (who was also the first black player ever signed by UF), Willie Jr. was a physical receiver at PK Yonge who played an important role in Steve Spurrier’s early seasons in Florida.
He finished his Florida career with 161 catches, 2,172 yards and 24 touchdowns. By the time he left Florida, he was second all-time in receptions and yards.
He then played nine seasons in the NFL.
Ian Scott
Scott Halleran/ALLSPORT
Scott went to Gainesville High and was a beast in the middle for Florida after deciding to attend UF. He was a two-time SEC second-team interpreter for Steve Spurrier and then Ron Zook.
Scott played six years in the NFL for two teams and had 40 starts.
Terry Jackson
Andy Lyons/Allsport
Willie’s younger brother was a tough tailback in PK Yonge who could do it all. In Florida, he was part of the three-headed backfield that led Florida to the 1996 national title.
In four seasons – one cut short by a knee injury – Jackson rushed for 1,794 yards and 17 touchdowns and caught four more, including a big block. Tennessee in ’96. He also put the exclamation mark on the national title game with a 42-yard run to clinch it.
Doug Johnson
Andy Lyons/Allsport
It wasn’t easy for Johnson to replace Danny Wuerffel, but he had a somewhat underrated career.
After a stellar career at Buccholz that included signing a pro baseball contract, Johnson finished in Florida with 7,144 passing yards and 62 touchdowns and went on to go the final seven seasons in the NFL.
Bill Carr
AP Photo/File
Although Carr grew up in Pensacola, he was born in Gainesville, so we’ve included him on this list.
Carr was the center of those great Spurrier teams and was named a first-team All-American during Spurrier’s Heisman year in 1966.
He coached for three years before going into administration and becoming athletic director in Florida and later in Houston.
Travis McGriff
Andy Lyons/Allsport
McGriff was the son of another former Gator great Lee McGriff and played several positions at PK Yonge before following in his father’s footsteps and attending UF.
He was a big part of Florida’s success under Spurrier before he exploded in his senior year when he caught 70 passes for 1,357 yards in 1998. The yardage mark is still the UF record.
Bernie Parrish
Malcolm Emmons – USA TODAY Sports
Born in Long Beach, California, Parrish grew up in Gainesville and dated PK Yonge. He chose Florida to play both football and baseball and was an excellent running back and defensive back for the Gators.
He was named National Guard of the Week after Florida beat Vanderbilt in 1957 when he ran for 111 yards and stopped the Commodores near the goal line with a crushing tackle.
Parish played eight years in the NFL and fought for NFL player rights until his death in 2019.
Santa Fe guys
Scott Halleran/Allsport
Just a few clicks away and still in Alachua County, we have to include players like Mike Peterson, Dwayne Dixon, and Zac Zedalis on this list.
Peterson was the heart and soul of Florida’s defense after leading Santa Fe High to the state championship as a quarterback.
Dixon was an incredible wide receiver who had 92 catches in his final two seasons, leading Florida in receptions in 1982 and 1983.
Zedalis was an All-SEC center in 2001.
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