Raymond Wolf Raymond Bernard Wolf ( July 15 , 1904 – October 6 , 1979 ) , nicknamed " Bear " Wolf , was an American football and baseball player and coach . Wolf was a native of Illinois and an alumnus of Texas Christian University ( TCU ) , where he played college football and college baseball . He played professional baseball for two seasons , and appeared in one Major League Baseball game for the Cincinnati Reds in 1927 . Wolf served as the head football coach at the University of North Carolina ( 1936 – 1941 ) , the University of Florida ( 1946 – 1949 ) and Tulane University ( 1952 – 1953 ) , compiling a career college football coaching record of 57 – 54 – 6 . He was also the head baseball coach at his alma mater , TCU , from 1935 to 1936 and the athletic director at Florida from 1946 to 1949 . Early years . Wolf was born in Chicago , Illinois in 1904 . He attended Texas Christian University ( TCU ) in Fort Worth , Texas , where he played tackle for the Texas Christian Horned Frogs football team from 1924 to 1926 . He played professional baseball for the Cincinnati Reds organization for a single season in 1927 , but returned to TCU to graduate in 1928 . Thereafter , Wolf got his start in coaching , working with the TCU linemen from 1929 to 1935 . Coaching career . From 1936 to 1941 , Wolf was employed by the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill , North Carolina to coach the North Carolina Tar Heels football team , and compiled a 38 – 17 – 3 record in six seasons . The university board of trustees renewed his contract at an increased salary in 1941 for an additional five years , but his war - time service prevented him from coaching during World War II . Wolf served as an officer in the U . S . Navy Reserve during World War II , and worked as a football coach at two of the service ' s naval aviation training stations , including the Navy ' s Pre - Flight School in Athens , Georgia and Flight Preparatory School in Austin , Texas . He was eventually promoted to lieutenant commander , and after the war ended in September 1945 , the Navy released Wolf to inactive duty . In 1946 , Wolf was hired by the University of Florida in Gainesville , Florida to be the new head football coach of the Florida Gators football team , replacing coach Tom Lieb . Wolf coached the Gators for four seasons from 1946 to 1949 and posted a 13 – 24 – 2 record , but his Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) record was 2 – 17 – 2 . The Florida Board of Control balked at renewing his contract when his initial three - year term expired after the 1948 season , but offered him a two - year contract extension in the aftermath of widespread public demonstrations of support by the football team and the Florida student body . Wolf was fired after the 1949 season , but nevertheless managed to leave Florida on a high note when his 1949 Gators upset the rival Georgia Bulldogs 28 – 7 for the first and only time during his tenure . In retrospect , Wolf ' s loyal Gators football players ironically dubbed his tenure as the " Golden Era , " and many of his returning players formed the nucleus of Bob Woodruff ' s improving Gators football teams of the early 1950s . In 1950 , Wolf was hired by head coach Henry Frnka of Tulane University in New Orleans , Louisiana , to be a senior assistant coach for the Tulane Green Wave football team . When Frnka unexpectedly resigned in March 1952 , Wolf became the head coach and led the Green Wave during the 1952 and 1953 seasons , finishing with a 6 – 13 – 1 overall record and 3 – 12 in the SEC . Later years . After retiring from coaching after the 1953 season , Wolf became an administrative officer at TCU , his alma mater . He was honored as a member of the TCU Lettermen ' s Association Hall of Fame . Wolf died of cancer in Fort Worth , Texas in 1979 .