breaking news: the head coach of Florida Gators has divorced his wife with.
breaking news: the head coach of Florida Gators has divorced his wife with.
The man you see now was not the man who walked through the door. Kevin O’Sullivan had no prior head coaching experience, one Golden Retriever puppy, no wife, and no kids. Even as the whirlwind swirled around him, he was a novice about to take off.
The man known as “Sully” currently holds 120 SEC games under his belt, along with a wife, a five-month-old daughter, two Goldens, two SEC titles, four NCAA appearances, and a College World Series trip.
His Florida baseball team will host an NCAA Regional at McKethan Stadium beginning today for the third consecutive year.
Is he a different man now?
“Many things in my life have changed, but it remained the same in others,” he claimed. “My daily routine remains largely unchanged. I continue to work with the pitchers and remain heavily involved in the recruiting process. I haven’t changed who I am or how I approach my work, and that’s one of the reasons we have succeeded.
But once he gets home, things are different. His wife, B.J., and their happy little five-month-old son, Payton, are waiting for him. Payton doesn’t seem to mind that his father’s shortstop kicked a ground ball in the eighth inning.
He remarked, “I still don’t like losing; it’s not any less painful; the anguish of failure is still ingrained in my identity. But now that I have a wife, I see things differently.
and a newborn daughter at home.
When O’Sullivan was appointed Florida’s head coach to succeed Pat McMahon, it seemed like yesterday. In order to hire seasoned head coaches like Andy Lopez and McMahon, UF athletic director Jeremy Foley had reached out to successful programs. However, in 2007, he made a bold move by hiring an assistant from Clemson.
Foley had witnessed his baseball teams hit incredible highs and then plummet to pitiful lows. Foley wanted things to be consistent.
One of our objectives, according to Foley, is to be in the hunt each year. “Sully has given the Gators newfound relevance. However, we don’t want to stick with it for four years. Like Florida State and Miami, we want to participate and be present.
The Gators aspire to be that in ten, fifteen, and more years.
O’Sullivan realizes that in spite of all of his achievements.
He remarked, “We’ve had a good run, but I’m a realist.” “What matters is what you do going forward, not what you’ve done in the past. Being here for the next 25, 30, years is my aim. Florida should rank among the top programs in the nation, in my opinion.
A rising star
Tim Corbin first observed O’Sullivan while attending Clemson. In 1996, the former Virginia catcher was brought on as pitching coach at Virginia. Leading the way was Seth Greisenger, as Virginia surprised everyone to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Respectfully, Virginia, but that wasn’t a team you concerned about competing for one of the conference’s top eight spots,” said Corbin, the head coach of Vanderbilt at the moment. However, it was evident how much his presence valued his team. Those kids had confidence from the minute he arrived. Virginia made significant progress.
Before working with Minnesota as a minor league coach in 1998, O’Sullivan taught for two years at Virginia. But his coaching swagger was shaped during that time at Virginia.
He remarked, “I was young, very aggressive, and demanded a lot.” “I had a group of enthusiastic players with talent.” They had faith in an assertive young coach.
Clemson had a position available for an assistant in 1999.
“I told Jack, the head coach of Clemson,Leggett that we only had to focus on one man,” Corbin remarked. “And Sully was that.”
During his nine years at Clemson, O’Sullivan contributed to the development of one of the nation’s most reliable and productive pitching staffs.
“He thought highly of Clemson,” Leggett remarked. “A unique location would be necessary to persuade him to depart.”
One reason was that O’Sullivan put a lot of effort into the work he was doing rather than obsessing over possible future employment.
He declared, “I never looked for the next job.” It’s a mistake that certain coaches commit. They’re never satisfied with where they are. However, let’s be honest: openings in the SEC are not very common.
Since I was raised in Florida, it was It seems obvious to me. O’Sullivan remarked, “I still pinch myself.” “I didn’t have any prior head coaching experience, so to be given this opportunity in a state like Florida? Something like that doesn’t happen very often.
