Tag: Scott Stricklin

Sports Illustrated gives Todd Golden hire great grade, same as Mike White

Somewhat surprisingly, both the Golden and White hires received the same colorful grade.

Florida basketball saw some significant turnover on its bench after the conclusion of a disappointing 2021-22 season, with [autotag]Mike White[/autotag] departing to Athens to take the reins of the Georgia Bulldog‘s program while the Gators grabbed San Francisco Dons head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] to lead its team. Despite a mutual decision to split, the former departed UF with great acrimony while the latter was welcomed by the Gator Nation with much fanfare.

Kevin Sweeney from Sports Illustrated took a look at the many recent head coaching hires throughout the college basketball landscape and graded each acquisition accordingly. The top grade (A) was earned by three schools: Seton Hall, Mississippi State and Xavier, who added Shaheen Holloway, Chris Jans and Sean Miller, respectively. It is in the next tier where the Gators get a strong mention.

In the A-minus class are four hires, two of which are Bulter’s Thad Matta and Kansas State’s Jerome Tang. The other two are a pair of schools that are very familiar with each other — and share even more familiarity on the sidelines as well — are Florida’s Todd Golden and Georgia’s Mike White. Here is what Sweeney had to say about the Golden hire.

There’s certainly some risk involved here for AD [autotag]Scott Stricklin[/autotag], who handed a top-20 program with national championship history to a 36-year-old with three years of head coaching experience and a 23–22 career record in the WCC. But Golden is universally lauded among industry insiders as a rising star in the profession, and what he was able to accomplish at San Francisco is far more impressive than his record indicates. He’s the first coach in two decades to bring a WCC team not named Gonzaga, BYU or Saint Mary’s to an at-large NCAA tournament berth, using an analytically savvy approach to build a winner at an under-resourced program.

The big question here is whether Golden can navigate the tricky recruiting waters of the SEC against powerhouses like John Calipari, Eric Musselman, Rick Barnes, Bruce Pearl and Nate Oats. Early transfer signings of Will Richard (Belmont) and Alex Fudge (LSU) are a somewhat encouraging sign on that front.

In regards to the other guy, Sweeney blames White’s woes at Florida on the large shadow cast by Gator great [autotag]Billy Donovan[/autotag], who took the team to stratospheric heights during his tenure in Gainesville. Perhaps some new scenery will benefit Florida’s ex-coach, but given the weakness of UGA’s men’s basketball program overall, he is unlikely to see much more success than he did with the Gators.

All in all, an A- grade seems pretty fair (Editor’s note: this is the grade I gave the hire in our Gators Wire roundtable), especially if Golden can live up to the lofty expectations. With his modern brand of analytics-driven basketball coming to town, there is a lot for Gators fans to be excited about in the coming seasons.

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How important is name, image and likeness for Florida?

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin knows the Gators need to keep up with NIL to be successful.

College sports have changed a lot over the last decade, and one of the biggest recent additions has been the introduction of name, image and likeness opportunities for student-athletes.

Players are now able to use their star power to sign deals with companies and earn money. Florida quarterbacks Anthony Richardson and Emory Jones both signed with Outback Steakhouse in 2021 and had signature meals at local restaurants. Richardson also inked a deal with Gainesville Dodge that gives him a new Durango R/T each year until 2023.

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin spoke about the importance of staying at the forefront of NIL developments on the Gator Talk radio show Thursday evening. He called it the most dramatic change the sport has seen since the NCAA’s formation and recognizes that it adds another layer to the recruiting game.

“It’s a fascinating, really dynamic time and space,” Stricklin said. “I do know one thing. Whatever it is, the University of Florida has a chance to be really good at it. We want the best. We want a championship experience with integrity for our athletes. We want to do things the right way.”

To make that vision a reality, Stricklin is looking for people who are able to adapt to the new world of college sports. The Gators’ new football coach Billy Napier is a prime example of the kind of what he’s looking for. Napier is one of the best recruiters in the south, and it’s largely because he’s willing to add anything to his arsenal to land what he considers championship-caliber talent. The includes hiring staff specifically to focus on the players’ NIL opportunities.

Stricklin also bragged about the Gator Collective, which he believes to be the first formalized fan interaction group that utilizes NIL. Led by former Gator Eddie Rojas, the Gator Collective offers members direct access to student-athletes through arranged interviews and live Twitter Spaces. The group has grown to almost 1700 members and is bringing in $210,000 in recurring revenue for NIL deals.

This is only just the beginning of NIL in college sports, but the Gators are off to a running start compared to most programs. It’ll take some serious winning to step up to the very top of the list, but Stricklin seems determined to get it done.

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Florida AD Scott Stricklin agrees to extension through 2027

Scott Stricklin will be around for a while as Florida’s athletic director.

A Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) records request revealed that Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin has agreed to an extension with the university through 2027, according to a report from Thomas Goldkamp of 247Sports.

Originally set to make $1.151 million per year, Stricklin’s new deal has him earning $1.725 million annually after a $545,900 base salary pay bump. He’ll also get a $250,000 retention bonus, an $110,000 longevity incentive and a $95,000 expense account each year. If Florida decides to fire Stricklin without cause, the university will owe him his base salary ($1 million) plus his retention incentive for the remainder of the contract.

Stricklin has been at Florida since 2016 and is on his third head football coach already. Although the early years of the Dan Mullen era were promising and filled with New Year’s Six bowl appearances, the end was an absolute disaster. Current head coach Billy Napier is left rebuilding what was once a mighty recruiting empire.

The soon-to-open James W. Heavener Football Training Center has been one of Stricklin’s biggest projects and should get Florida up to speed with some of the other top programs in the country when it comes to recruiting. There are also plans to renovate parts of the football stadium and add upgrades to modernize the stadium.

Aside from football, Stricklin has spent time handling the departure of former Florida women’s basketball coach Cameron Newbauer, who was accused of abuse by several former players. An investigation was led by former Gators Wire writer Zachary Huber with The Independent Florida Alligator, Florida’s student newspaper, who first reported the news in September after Newbauer resigned in July.

It hasn’t all been great for Stricklin since signing the extension, but Florida seems to have its guy for the next six years. Bringing Napier on board has brought some excitement and hope for the university moving forward.

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What Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin had to say after firing Dan Mullen

Scott Stricklin woke up knowing Dan Mullen wasn’t the right coach for Florida.

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin woke up knowing Dan Mullen wasn’t the right coach for Florida on Sunday.

Stricklin met with Mullen before noon on Sunday and told him he felt like they needed to go in a different direction for the program. Mullen was given an opportunity to coach the game against FSU but chose to step away before the game in hopes of not being a distraction.

Stricklin named running backs coach and special teams coordinator Greg Knox as the interim coach going forward and said that he, Mullen and Knox met with the team before the press conference. No particular players were addressed by Stricklin, but he said that he shared a brief moment of reassurance with Anthony Richardson among others.

The challenge for Stricklin will be finding a coach able to sustain the level of excellence expected at Florida. He doesn’t appear to be in a rush to hire a new coach as long as he can find the right one.

“There’s no timetable,” Stricklin said. “We want to take the time we need to get the right coach. We’d love to have one tomorrow but that’s probably not realistic. But we’re going to move as quickly as we can and we’re going to use every available resource at our disposal.”

Mullen will receive $6 million of his $12 million buyout in the next 60 days and will be paid $1 million a year for the next six years. Stricklin indicated that the university would be able to afford the right coach while paying off Mullen’s contract without issue.

Although it wasn’t outright said, it’s clear that Mullen wasn’t inspiring much confidence when it came to the future of Florida football. Stricklin praised Mullen’s ability to coach, especially on offense, but he also made it clear that Mullen wasn’t setting the program up for success.

The right coach for Florida will be able to lead, coach and recruit, according to Stricklin. Finding him will be the task of Stricklin’s career, but it’s one he says he’s capable of and that the board has backed him on.

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OPINION: It’s a terribly tough time to be a Florida Gator

Is Dan Mullen’s apparent lack of leadership a sign of deeper issues at the University of Florida?

Let me preface this with a disclaimer: I am 100% Florida Gator through and through. My paternal lineage goes through the University of Florida stretching back four generations; I was born in Gainesville; my first spoken phrase was “Go Gators!” I have been through many highs and lows over the past four-plus decades, from the depths of the scandal-soured 1980s to the peak during the mid-aughts. I bleed orange and blue.

But lately, it has been getting harder and harder to appreciate my undergraduate alma mater. First and foremost, three (possibly four) university professors were recently prohibited by the school from providing expert testimony in a voters rights lawsuit, which does not sit well with me. Then there is the medical school’s involvement in the hiring of anti-vaxxer Dr. Joseph Landopo as the state’s surgeon general, which has roots that stretch all the way to Criser Hall.

Those travesties overshadow the women’s basketball abuse scandal involving its former head coach. There have also been moments during the COVID pandemic when I found myself concerned about who was running the show at my beloved university. Things are not great, Bob!

The latest issue is one with far less gravity than the aforementioned topics but gets far more attention from the fanbase, and that is the state of affairs with the football team — specifically, head coach Dan Mullen and his staff. Coming into a season with mixed expectations and an incredibly difficult schedule, it might not be unfair to suggest that the fourth-year skipper had something of a Sisyphean task ahead of him.

But what concerns me is not the results we have seen, but how the games have played out, in addition to some rumblings from current and former players on social media as well as Mullen’s mum approach to questions about recruiting. The issues have been quickly piling up.

To me, this is not just about Dapper Dan’s reluctance to give Todd Grantham the boot or to adopt a more flexible approach in his game plan or even his penchant for sticking his foot in his mouth in the face of fair questioning. This feels like it runs even deeper than the field in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, into the heart of the entire athletic program — and possibly beyond.

I spoke with Pat Dooley, who has been covering the Gators for longer than many of our readers have been alive, about the difference between former athletic director Jeremy Foley, who was responsible for the golden age of Gators sports, and current AD Scott Stricklin. His simple answer was that the former focused on the personnel themselves while the latter is all about infrastructure first and foremost.

Dooley’s observation struck a nerve with me, as I had noticed a significant change in the overall philosophy of the athletic department since the Stricklin era began. To be fair, Foley’s train had run its course by the time he retired in 2016, but he had already established Gainesville as a premier destination for student-athletes — even if some of the facilities were a step behind.

Mind you, that infrastructure gap in football and other sports has been narrowed thanks to the efforts of the current AD, but with faith in Mullen and his staff rapidly deteriorating, does that leave the athletic department in any better shape than before? Especially considering that football’s grandiose training grounds are designed explicitly to attract top-level high school talent, the head coach’s recent response to a press corps question regarding recruiting leaves one wondering if the reins are in the right hands.

Circling back to my earlier point, the Stricklin era has not exactly been smooth sailing, especially more recently. He deserves little credit for the baseball national championship in 2017 as his predecessor assembled that program, and really, the same can be said for most of the other sports as well. The former Mississippi State AD inherited a job that had an immense amount of inertia behind it which gave him a great deal of leeway to work with.

Now five years later, Florida’s bread-and-butter sport is severely lagging behind in recruiting despite sitting in the national hotbed for talent because of personnel issues on the Swamp’s sidelines. Then when you consider the fact that legendary soccer coach Becky Burleigh left what was essentially a tenure position in Gainesville for the pros, it raises yet another eyebrow, especially considering how poorly incoming coach Tony Amato’s squad performed this season. And let us be honest — Mike White has not lived up to expectations on the parquet with the men’s basketball program either.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Back in September, former Gators Wire contributor Zachary Huber broke the story on women’s basketball’s ex-head coach Cameron Neubauer’s alleged abuse of players while in Gainesville. It was later reported that Stricklin was aware of some allegations during the coach’s tenure but did not directly address them. Further, the official statements made in the wake of the breaking story were unsatisfactory given the severity of the situation.

Sure, Florida continues to rack up the SEC and national championships in sports like men’s tennis. But be honest, are you really watching those matches and spending your money because of them? Sadly, what matters are the sports that pay for themselves and the others — specifically football and men’s basketball. And when those two are floundering the way they have been, it is not a good sign.

When I take in the gestalt of all these pieces, I get the feeling that we are just scratching on the surface of what could be a much bigger institutional issue. Maybe this does not even stop at Stricklin, but goes all the way up to president Kent Fuchs? The sixth-year head of UF began his Gainesville stint in 2015 and was responsible for Stricklin’s hire, which inevitably trickles down. Even considering a grace period of a few years for his influence to set in… well, there is still a bit to be desired from the university’s 12th president’s time at the helm of the state’s flagship university so far as well as one of his most important hires.

Hence my reference to the freedom of speech issue that has been a severe black eye on the institution this past month: where there is smoke there is usually fire. And right now, that smoke is coming from the corner of University Avenue and 13th Street.

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WATCH: Scott Stricklin gives update on Florida football and COVID-19

University of Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin put out a statement addressing the COVID-19 outbreak on the school’s football team.

As Florida football operations have now been paused for 10 days due to an outbreak of COVID-19 that has seen 25 players test positive since Oct. 12, Athletic Director Scott Stricklin put out a statement addressing the situation.

Stricklin said that several players were suffering from mild symptoms but traveled to College Station, Tex., with the team for its game against Texas A&M on Oct. 10. Several of those players apparently tested positive on Sunday after the team returned to Gainesville.

“Following our last road trip, we have evaluated all phases of team travel to better understand how we can enhance the safety and health protocols,” he said. “It’s believed that a couple of individuals who just a day before the trip had tested negative for COVID through the SEC testing protocol, developed mild symptoms that they attributed to allergies or the common cold, and then boarded the team plane on that Friday. Those same individuals subsequently tested positive for COVID that Sunday of that week.”

Stricklin said that as a result, the team began testing daily. After officially reporting five new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, multiple reports confirmed that the actual number of positive tests at that time was 19. That day, the UAA suspended all football activities.

“Of course, our staff immediately began testing daily, and as more positive cases developed, all team activities were paused, effective Oct. 13,” Stricklin said. “All staff and players on the Texas A&M trip were instructed to quarantine and participate in daily testing through Oct. 26, and that continues.”

The most recent testing update, released on Tuesday with information as of Monday, showed that a total of 25 players have tested positive since the UAA initially announced five last week. Stricklin said that before any of these players return, they will undergo extensive health screenings, including a cardiac evaluation.

There is some evidence that COVID-19 can lead to long-term heart problems, including diseases such as myocarditis, which factored into the Big Ten’s decision to postpone the start of the season.

“Before our student-athletes who are infected return to activity, they will complete a cardiac evaluation that includes a troponin level test, an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram,” Stricklin said. “The student-athletes will also have a complete medical evaluation by UF Health physicians.”

In spite of the last week’s events, Stricklin said he’s confident that the program is prepared to take care of student-athletes and that they are in a safe environment.

“The Gators sports health staff continues with telehealth with our players and staff, and our nutrition staff has been delivering food as well to student-athletes,” he said. “Likewise, our academic advising unit continues to assist our student-athletes virtually… We remain hopeful that through our experts at UF Health and our sports health staff, along with the guidance from the SEC medical task force, Gators student-athletes are in the safest environment possible as they pursue their academic and athletic goals.”

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BREAKING: Gators football game against LSU this Saturday postponed

The Gators have postponed their game against LSU this weekend according to athletic director Scott Stricklin after a team COVID-19 outbreak.

Florida’s fourth game of the season against LSU has been postponed following an increase in positive tests over the last few days, UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin told the media on Wednesday.

Stricklin said there are now 21 positive cases on the team, 18 of which are scholarship players. This puts the team at below 50 scholarship players available, and the SEC requires 53 in order to play.

The game is tentatively rescheduled for Saturday, Dec. 12.

He said that the program suspects that the root of the outbreak was last weekend’s trip to College Station, Tex. However, he mentioned that several players also failed to report symptoms last week, though he said he didn’t believe the lack of reporting was done intentionally to cover-up COVID symptoms.

He said the team’s head trainer reached out to him Monday morning to let him know that a number of players had called him the night before to report symptoms, though the team was still awaiting test results on those players at the time.

There is currently no timetable for the team to resume football operations. Stricklin said the pause will be “indefinite.”

However, he also said the SEC was prepared for this possibility, and the league set up its schedule with accommodating these situations in mind.

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Florida’s Scott Stricklin named Athletic Director of the Year

Stricklin was one of five nominees for the award which recognizes work done during the period from March 1, 2019 to Feb. 28, 2020.

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Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin has been named the 2020 Athletic Director of the Year at the Sports Business Awards, which were held virtually Wednesday night.

Stricklin was one of five nominees for the award, joining  Boise State’s Curt Apsey, Texas Tech’s Kirby Hocutt, Oregon’s Rob Mullens and Baylor’s Mack Rhoades.

The award recognizes work done during the period from March 1, 2019 to Feb. 28, 2020. During that span, UF’s athletics programs captured six conference titles.

The program has also seen success academically, as 10 teams within the athletic department saw a Graduation Success Rate above the national average.

UF President Kent Fuchs gave a statement on Stricklin, who he hired to replace the retiring Jeremy Foley in 2016, winning the award.

“I can’t imagine a more deserving recipient of this award than Scott Stricklin,” said UF President Kent Fuchs. “He is an exceptional athletic director who has guided UF’s student-athletes to new heights athletically and academically, significantly strengthened our athletic program and is proving remarkably adept at leading the Gators in overcoming all the difficult challenges of COVID.”

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Gators football gets in on the fun with Florida’s stadium fire

UF fans got a bit of a scare on Saturday when a video was posted of a large cloud of smoke that was rising out of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

The Gator Nation got a bit of a scare on Saturday afternoon when a Twitter user posted a video of a large cloud of smoke that appeared to be rising out of the south end of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

As it turned out, it was a maintenance tractor fire that caused the blaze, which took about an hour for Gainesville Fire and Rescue to fully extinguish. No injuries or structural damage were initially reported, though the incident is still pending further investigation.

Throughout the ordeal, members of Florida’s athletics department have engaged in a humorous commentary of the situation beginning with redshirt junior defensive lineman Zachary Carter, who tweeted the following not long after the initial tweet was posted.

“We got something cooking in the swamp”

Head coach Dan Mullen got in on the fun shortly after, offering this nugget of encouragement for Florida Gators fans.

You know the Gators are gonna be on fire this year. But we still have 2 weeks til kickoff.

Not to be outdone by his head coach, athletic director Scott Stricklin also got in on the fun, offering up this dad joke that any UF alumn can appreciate.

September Saturdays in #TheSwamp are always hot, so nothing new here.

Wrapping things up, Mullen simply posted the following GIF that seems perfectly fitting for 2020.

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BREAKING: Florida Gators announce attendance policies for 2020 fall football

The University of Florida issued a press release on Thursday outlining its attendance policies for the 2020 fall SEC football season.

The University of Florida issued a press release on Thursday outlining its attendance policies for the 2020 fall football season at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Included in the announcement is the banning of tailgating on campus as well as plans for reduced fan capacity ahead of the Gators’ home opener against South Carolina scheduled for Oct. 3.

The press release included the following.

To comply with physical distancing requirements, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium will host approximately 20 percent of its listed capacity of 88,548 in the bowl and club levels, putting the capacity right at 17,000.

In accordance with campus guidelines, face coverings (over the nose and mouth) will be required for all fans throughout the entire game. This includes when fans are entering and exiting the stadium. Fans may only remove face coverings while eating or drinking. Failure to comply with this important health guideline could result in loss of ticket privileges.

Additionally, the following activities will not be permitted.

  • Tailgating will not be permitted on the UF campus
  • Gator Walk will not occur in 2020
  • Gator Walk Village will not be set up for 2020
  • No Gators Fan Fest
  • No Spirit teams on the sidelines

Athletics Director Scott Stricklin also offered the following comment in the release.

“As we have throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked hand in hand with UF Health, the SEC and its Medical Guidance Task Force, and campus officials to create the safest environment possible for the student-athletes, staff and fans.”

Read the full press release for more details on mobile ticketing, parking and other aspects of the fan experience.

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