Gator Football Legend Making Mark In High School Coaching
ALACHUA — University of Florida legend, NFL pro, high school football coach and father of yet another Gator star, Earnest Graham is one who gives back and shares his experience with the youth.
Graham was an accomplished running back during his time at Florida when he played from 1998-2002 under coach Steve Spurrier. He was inducted into the Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame for setting records during a career that produced 3,065 rushing yards, 33 touchdowns and was named All-SEC twice.
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Greatest Play #240 : Week 6 2007
Earnest Graham puts a filthy move on Nick Harper pic.twitter.com/Kvv5AN62sV
Graham then made it to the NFL as an undrafted free agent when he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003. He became a fan favorite during his nine seasons with the Bucs.
After his retirement from the NFL in 2011, Graham started coaching in high school beginning at North Fort Myers in 2013. Fort Myers was winless in the 2012 season, but Graham transformed the team by leading it to the playoffs for the first time in 20 years and reaching the regional semifinals in 2017 with a 9-1 record.
Graham continued making his mark at other high school programs, including Evangelical Christian in Fort Myers where he coached his son, Myles, in 2021. In 2022 Graham moved his family to Georgia where Myles competed at Woodward Academy before coming back to Gainesville where he played at Buchholz until he was recruited by UF to follow his father’s legacy.
Now, Graham, who was the offensive coordinator last year at Gainesville High, is the coach at Santa Fe High School. Following is a candid conversation with the Raiders coach.
A: “Confidence, always play with confidence. Steve Spurrier was someone who was a brilliant play caller, but with that he carried a certain moxie that was infectious. So all of our teams during our time played with the highest of confidence, we expected to win, we expected to be dynamic playmakers and that was our mentality during that time so we fed off of that energy that he had.”
Q: What inspired you to start coaching? Did your experience at North Fort Myers help you realize that you could really coach?
A: “I thought about what I could do in the life of young men who are 14 to 19 years old, I thought it was something I wanted to do and it’s been a goal for me since.”
Q: How was your experience coaching Myles at Evangelical Christian?
A: “It was phenomenal coaching him. I think as a dad you gotta be careful when you’re coaching your son, because you also want him to hear from other voices. But Myle’s personality, he is very coachable, I learned so much from him, coaching him and watching him lead and watching him be out in front.
“While I had a hand in training him, he’s really helped make me the coach that I am, and we’ve been with some great teams and some competitive teams, because he was on the football team. So while we were there at Evangelical Christian, it didn’t show in the win column, but we competed at a higher level than we did previously, and after that we went up to Woodward Academy because the way he was growing he needed a different experience.
“But man it was a phenomenal journey and I just thank God to have been on that ride with him.”
Q: Could you shed some light on why all the movement to different high schools, was it strictly for Myle’s development?
A: “Yeah, just for his development, when he was at ECS (Evangelical Christian School) he needed to play a higher level of football. One of my former coaches was at Woodward Academy so that’s the reason we trekked up to Georgia and Georgia has highly competitive, physical football. We thought it would mirror the college game to some degree, and then he could not graduate early at Woodward Academy so it was a goal of his to graduate early so that’s what prompted the move other than that we would have stayed at Woodward Academy and I’d probably still be there. But it led us here, so we were happy about it.”
Q: Do you help your athletes with recruiting the same way you facilitated Myles in his journey?
A: “I do, I try to treat them all like my sons cause they all are. I’m an extension of their parents, so my experience with Myles helped my experience with them, so for me it’s a community, and it takes a village.”
Q: What does your future hold in coaching, are you going to coach as long as Myles is with the Gators?
A: “No, I’m gonna coach. I love it here, I love it here in Alachua, it’s a fantastic community so I hope I can coach and retire.”
Graham has helped the Raiders to a 4-2 record this season, the program’s best start since 2014. The Raiders play at Keystone Heights (0-6) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Category: Former Gators, High School Sports, Santa Fe High School
