Ray Graves

Samuel Ray Graves was an American professional football player and college football coach. He was a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he was the starting center and team captain for the Volunteers under head coach Robert Neyland. After playing in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, he returned to Tennessee to serve as an assistant football coach, then left for a longer stint as an assistant at Georgia Tech under head coach Bobby Dodd. He was the head football coach at the University of Florida from 1960 until 1969, where he led the Gators to their most successful decade in program history up to that point. While at Florida, he recruited and coached Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Steve Spurrier, who often praised Graves as a role model and mentor during his own successful coaching career. Graves also served as Florida's athletic director from 1960 until his retirement in 1979.

31 December 1918

Born on the same birth day (31 December): Arima Yoriyuki • Cameron Carter-Vickers • Cliff Richey • Craig Gordon • Eric Robson • George C. Marshall • Gottfried August Bürger • Halina Czerny-Stefańska • Joseph S. Cullinan • Lyudmila Pakhomova • Matt Cross (wrestler) • Nigel Rudd • Paul McGregor (rugby league) • Paul O'Neill (racing driver) • Pius Ncube • Robert Grant Aitken • Tess Jaray • The Rocket Summer

Born in the same month (December 1918): Abdul Haris Nasution • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn • Anatoly Tarasov • Anne Gwynne • Anwar Sadat • Chihiro Iwasaki • Clinton Adams • Dave Bartholomew • Donald Regan • Georgios Rallis • James T. Aubrey • Jean Marchand • Jeff Chandler • Joe Williams (jazz singer) • John Celardo • Lee Rich • Professor Longhair • Tauba Biterman