Florida Gators athletics director [autotag]Scott Stricklin[/autotag] was the subject of many rumors this week following the job opening at Texas A&M.
Despite being connected to the vacancy, Stricklin confirmed with Gators Online that he’s here for the long haul with the Gators.
“The University of Florida is the best job in the country for college athletics,” Stricklin said. “It’s the best location. It’s the best school. We’ve got an awesome fanbase. I love being a Gator and I have no interest in working somewhere else at this time.”
Stricklin’s stint at Florida has certainly been a success, with 11 total national championships across seven different sports, including 37 SEC championships. The athletic director joined the University of Florida staff in 2016 after his six-year stint with Mississippi State.
Throughout his eight years at UF, Stricklin has overseen many projects, hoping to improve the campus and athletics department one renovation at a time. His latest success was the new James W. Bill Heavener Football Training Center, which opened its doors in August 2022.
Although most of the training center is utilized for football purposes, the rest of the building is accessible for all student-athletes at Florida. It was a project to help the recruiting process, something that Stricklin takes seriously.
“The recruiting piece, to me, the most important thing,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin noted.
“There’s a reason why a bank lobby is really nice and why churches build really nice facilities. It’s because that’s a representation of the quality of what’s going on at those institutions. The facility says a lot about what is important to this enterprise.”
It sounds like Stricklin enjoys his current position at UF, and is putting a lot of thought into his next move as the current athletic director. He’s currently working on renovating Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
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