Florida football: 15 greatest quarterbacks in Gators history
By John Buhler
Danny Wuerffel was the most successful quarterback to have played for Steve Spurrier. The Fort Walton Beach native would come to Gainesville in 1993 as one of the most sought after recruits in his high school graduating class. He would then proceed to put together one of the greatest college quarterback careers the sport has ever seen.
Wuerffel might have been more talented, but he had to split reps at the starting quarterback job with Terry Dean in both 1993 and 1994. But once Dean graduated, Wuerffel was unleashed in the “Fun ‘n’ Gun” and Florida became an absolute juggernaut.
He was named First-Team All-SEC, First-Team All-American, SEC Player of the Year and the Davey O’Brien Award winner as a junior in 1995. Wuerffel completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 3,266 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Florida would make it to the national championship game, but would lose to Tommie Frazier’s Nebraska Cornhuskers. Wuerrfel had one more year left to lift Florida to a national title.
He would do just that as a senior in 1996. Florida would win the national championship by dismantling the rival Florida State Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl, 52-20. Wuerffel would win every major award he was eligible for as the Gators’ star quarterback, including the 1996 Heisman Trophy. He completed 57.5 percent of his passes for 3,625 yards, 39 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Wuerffel was the first quarterback to have back-to-back seasons of a passing efficiency rating higher the 170.
In the 1997 NFL Draft, Wuerffel would be selected in the fourth round by the New Orleans Saints. He spent six years in the NFL primarily as a backup, ending with the 2002 Washington Redskins to play for Spurrier one last time. He retired in 2004 after spending the 2003 NFL season out of football.
Overall, Wuerffel completed 60.5 percent of his passes at Florida for 10,875 yards, 114 touchdowns and 42 interceptions. His yards per attempt at Florida was 9.3 and his passing efficiency rating in school was a ridiculous 163.6. In 2013, Wuerffel would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He remains the school leader in touchdown passes and second all time in yardage behind only Chris Leak.