Ray Graves

Samuel Ray Graves (December 31, 1918 – April 10, 2015) was an American college and professional football player and college football coach. He was a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he played college football. Graves was best known as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida, and served twenty years as the athletic director of the university.

Early life and education

Graves was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on December 31, 1918. He was the son of a Methodist minister, and he realized that his best (and perhaps only) opportunity to attend college would be to earn an athletic scholarship.Tennessee Wesleyan College, a small Methodist-affiliated college located in Athens, Tennessee, recognized his athletic talent and offered him a full scholarship. Coach Robert Neyland of the University of Tennessee recognized his stand-out play and arranged for Graves to transfer to Tennessee. After he graduated from Tennessee in 1942, he attempted to volunteer for the U.S. Navy following the United States' entry into World War II, but he was rejected when he failed his physical because he was deaf in one ear. He would have been accepted only in a grave emergency.