Florida AD retiring after 25 years
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, one of the most successful college sports leaders in the country the last 25 years, is retiring.
Foley, 63, informed his staff and head coaches of the move Monday, calling it quits after 40 years at Florida. He started as an intern in the ticket office in 1976 and took over as AD in 1992.
Foley will officially step down Oct. 1. He will remain at Florida as emeritus athletic director for the duration of his contract.
“I want to do what’s right for Florida,” Foley said in a statement. “That’s why I have spent a lot of time thinking it through. And I want to make sure everyone understands this is my decision. I’m not sick. I’m not dissatisfied. I’m not getting pushed. It happens to all of us. The time comes.”
Although Foley didn’t hire football coach Steve Spurrier, he brought a distinguished list of coaches to Gainesville while building one of the top programs in the Southeastern Conference and the country. Basketball coach Billy Donovan and football coach Urban Meyer were among his best hires. Each won a pair of national championships.
With Foley at the helm, the Gators won 27 national titles in 13 sports. They had won nine championships in five sports before he took over. He is the only sitting AD in the country to have won at least one national title in each of the last seven years. His streak continued when the men’s track and field team won the NCAA outdoor crown last week.
Foley also is the only AD in Division 1 history to lead a program that won multiple national championships in football (1996, 2006, 2008) and men’s basketball (2006, 2007).
DEVELOPMENTS
Vandy player on trial: Prosecutors say a former Vanderbilt football player encouraged his teammates to have sex with an unconscious woman whom he had been dating.
During opening statements Monday in the retrial of Brandon Vandenburg, a prosecutor said the former player even passed out condoms to three teammates.
One of Vandenburg’s attorneys blamed the three other players, saying that maybe Vandenburg could have stopped the June 2013 attack but he shouldn’t be held responsible for what others did to the woman.
The defense attorney said Vandenburg had been drinking all day, and the 19-year-old new recruit had asked players he didn’t know to help him carry the unconscious woman to his dorm. He said the others were on her as soon as they got her in the room.
The jury for the retrial was selected in Memphis last week.
Briefly: Former Middle Tennessee basketball player Joshua Phillips transferred to Chattanooga and will play defensive end on the Mocs’ football team . ... Notre Dame cornerback Devin Butler will miss the beginning of the season with a broken left foot and could be out until October.