The lyrics of the battle song were written by student Doug Alley as a poem, which originally appeared in the Florida Flambeau. Professor of music Thomas Wright noticed the poem in the newspaper and was moved by the outpouring of school spirit to write a tune to it. The song quickly became popular with students at the university and is said to have inspired similar songs at other schools across the country. Alley later wrote additional lyrics for the song's chorus. These words are often misattributed to Harry Caray, who performed them after hearing them sung by students on campus during football games. However, there is no evidence that either man had any involvement with the song before it was recorded by Terry Cashman and His University of Florida Band in 1969. In fact, the only reason we know anything about the song or its writer is because Doug Alley decided to go public with his identity years after graduating from UF. He did this in a letter to the editor of the Florida Flambeau in which he thanked professors Wright and John Kennedy for helping him develop into a musician. In the letter, he also revealed that he had written some new lyrics for the battle song that he wanted to include in a future edition of the newspaper. He ended the letter by saying that if anyone knew of any open positions in schools across the country where he could work as a teacher, they should let him know through the newspaper.