Dave Fuller

Dave Fuller (1915 – September 15, 2009) was an American college baseball coach who led the Florida Gators baseball team of the University of Florida for twenty-eight seasons.

Early life and education

Fuller attended Wake Forest University in Wake Forest, North Carolina, where he played for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football, Demon Deacons basketball and Demon Deacons baseball teams. He was a three-year letterman in all three sports,

Transition from player to coach

After graduating from Wake Forest, Fuller played minor league baseball in the Dixie League and Coastal Plain League.

Major college coaching career

Fuller was the head coach of the Florida Gators baseball team from 1948 to 1975, serving longer and winning more games than any other coach in the history of the Florida Gators intercollegiate sports program. His Gators baseball teams compiled an overall win–loss–tie record of 557–354–6 (.611), won four Southeastern Conference (SEC) Eastern Division titles and three SEC championships (1952, 1956, 1962), and made three appearances in the NCAA baseball tournament (1958, 1960, 1962). He died in Gainesville in 2009; he was 94 years old. Fuller and his wife Patricia had a daughter and three sons; all four of their children graduated from the University of Florida. One son played football and another was a two-time All-SEC baseball player for the Gators. Fuller's 557 career wins as the Gators head baseball coach remained the most in the history of the Florida Gators baseball program until Kevin O'Sullivan surpassed that total in 2021.