Gary Earl Huff (born April 27, 1951 in
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...
) is a former professional football player. He graduated from
Leto Senior High School
A. P. Leto High School is a public high school within the Hillsborough County Public Schools system and is located at 4409 W Sligh Avenue in Tampa, Florida, U.S.. In addition to the four high school grades, Leto also hosts adult night services. La ...
in Tampa, Florida and played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
and
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
at
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
before becoming a professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
and coach. Huff's jersey number while playing football for Florida State University was "19."
He was an All-American at
FSU, leading the nation in touchdown passes in 1971 and 1972. Huff played in the first annual Fiesta Bowl in 1971, passed for three touchdowns, and for the first time in college history had three receivers catch over 100 yards in the same game (Barry Smith 8 for 143 yards, Rhett Dawson 8 for 108 yards, and Kent Gaydos 5 for 101 yards).
Huff was
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
ed with the 7th pick in the second round (33rd pick overall) by the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
in the
1973 NFL Draft. He played with the Bears for four years (1973–1976), two years with
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
(1977–1978), and one year with the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
(1980).
He quarterbacked the first win in Buccaneers history in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
. He finished his 13-year playing career in 1985 as a player-coach for the
USFL
The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...
.
Business career
During the NFL offseasons, Huff worked as a certified public accountant with local and national CPA firms in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, before going into coaching. His coaching career included Indiana University (1983) as offensive coordinator, the
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...
(1984–1985) as passing coordinator, the
Houston Oilers
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
(1986) as quarterbacks coach, and the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
(1987) as offensive coordinator. In 1987, he became the CFO of the
Los Angeles Raiders
The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...
, where he served for six years (1987–1993). He was one of only three people during that time to have played, coached, and worked in administration in professional football. (
Jim Finks
James Edward Finks (August 31, 1927 – May 8, 1994) was an American football and Canadian football player, coach, and executive.
Early life and playing career
Finks was born in St. Louis, Missouri, attended high school in Salem, Illinois, and a ...
and
George Young were the other two.)
Huff left football for a position with cellular telephone company C Spire, formerly Cellular South, in Ridgeland, MS as VP of Operations for eight years (1993–2001) and also worked as the CFO for the largest
IBMinternational reseller in the world for four years (2002–2005).
Huff currently is the senior associate athletic director at
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
where he was the first Academic Football All-America in school history.
Florida State University Gary Huff profile
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See also
* List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
The list of college football yearly passing and total offense leaders identifies the major college passing leaders for each season from 1937 to the present. It includes yearly leaders in three statistical categories: (1) passing yardage; (2) pass ...
*
References
External links
*bearshistory.co
*Gary Huff at databasefootball.co
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huff, Gary
1951 births
Florida State University alumni
Living people
Sportspeople from Natchez, Mississippi
American football quarterbacks
Florida State Seminoles football players
Chicago Bears players
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
San Francisco 49ers players
A.P. Leto High School alumni