The University of Florida athletics department has undergone three head coaching changes in the past six months, forcing athletics director Jeremy Foley to search the country for the latest coaches to lead the Gators.
With the gymnastics, football and basketball programs transitioning into the future, Foley looks ahead while reflecting upon the personnel decisions that have shaped his tenure.
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When Rhonda Faehn took the reins of UF gymnastics in May 2002, she inherited a program capable of contending with low expectations.
Over the decade before Faehn's hire, the Gators had made the Super Six four times, finishing as high as second in 1998. But they were never considered a true powerhouse and continually lived in the shadow of nearby championship-caliber schools such as Georgia and Alabama.
In other words, it was only a good job.
Faehn made it great.
The former U.S. Olympian came to Florida after being an associate head coach at the University of Nebraska, a program she helped take to multiple Super Sixes and had garnered the honor of Assistant Coach of the Year in 2001.
Despite having no prior head coaching experience, Faehn quickly turned Florida into one of the top women’s gymnastics schools in the country, winning UF’s first Southeastern Conference title since 1989 in only her fifth season and making three Super Sixes in that time span.
And that success only continued to snowball.
From 2007-2015, she amassed seven more Super Six berths, three more SEC titles, five No. 1 recruiting classes in the last six years and the program’s first national title in 2013, followed by two more — becoming just the third program to ever win three or more titles consecutively.
After 13 years of climbing to the pinnacle of collegiate gymnastics, there was nowhere to go but down for both Faehn and Florida.
And that is why when Faehn dropped the metaphorical microphone and exited stage left to become the senior vice president of USA Gymnastics after the school’s third title, it made so much sense for her and left Florida in such a precarious position.
Faehn had reached her ceiling on this level. Now, she has the opportunity to reach new heights.
But even with Faehn, dealing with the outrageous expectations was going to be an unenviable task for Florida moving forward. Without her, it’s almost a no-win situation.
Enter Jenny Rowland, the woman tasked with picking up the colossal weight of Faehn’s microphone and ensuring the show goes on with the same level of success.
Her credentials are not unlike Faehn’s back in 2002: she has experience as an associate head coach at Auburn, won Co-Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 and helped Auburn to its first Super Six in 22 years.
But she takes over a program that is similar only in name to the one Faehn took control of in 2002.
It’s a good problem to have when you inherit the talent of the three-time national champions, but no coach in the country will have to deal with more pressure than Rowland next season.
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For the first time in 25 years, the Gators had to replace a basketball coach and a football coach within a one-year span.
Foley hired Mike White to replace men's basketball coaching legend Billy Donovan and selected Jim McElwain to replace football coach Will Muschamp.
White and McElwain will carry Florida’s most prominent programs into new eras.
McElwain is hoping to turn around a football program that’s been mediocre at best the past two seasons. Muschamp wasn’t the answer to continue the success Urban Meyer brought to the program.
Muschamp didn’t win any SEC titles in his tenure as coach and was let go during the middle of another disappointing season. McElwain was hired on Dec. 4 and immediately got to work to fill the rest of his coaching staff.
McElwain hired eight assistants to the team including offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, defensive coordinator Geoff Collins and co-defensive coordinator Randy Shannon.
McElwain and Nussmeier are installing their version of the pro-style offense, an offense in which quarterbacks Will Grier and Treon Harris started to learn during Spring practice.
Barring any transfers coming into the program, Grier or Harris will likely be the starting quarterback when the season begins on Sept. 5 against New Mexico State.
Neither quarterback looked overly impressive during the Spring game. McElwain will have to make sure one of them is ready for a 2015 schedule that includes road games against Kentucky, Missouri, LSU and South Carolina.
White will face the daunting task of replacing Donovan, the winningest coach in Gator basketball history with 467 wins and two national titles during 19 seasons with the Gators.
But White wants to carve out his own path.
The 38-year-old coach went 101-40 in his four seasons coaching the Bulldogs and reached the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament the previous two seasons. White was also named the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2013 after leading Louisiana Tech to a 27-7 record.
While the Gators return their leading scorer from last year’s team in Dorian Finney-Smith, they will have to replace the production of Michael Frazier II, who declared for the NBA Draft along with Chris Walker, and Eli Carter, who decided to transfer.
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Foley is running with the transition, even if the past year has been unlike anything UF’s athletics director has ever seen.
He remembers hiring Donovan from Marshall 19 years ago — arguably the biggest hire of his tenure — like it was yesterday, and he must have known Donovan would get that itch one day to move on from Gainesville.
When Donovan announced he was leaving in 2007, before a last-second change of heart, he had just hit the peak of his career.
The Gators were coming off back-to-back National Championships, and the NBA’s Orlando Magic badly wanted him.
It was the perfect opportunity, but there were people who kept Donovan a Gator.
Gainesville had become not just the home of William John "Billy" Donovan Jr., but also the home of his wife, Christine, their four children and his parents.
And then there was Foley, who became like family to Donovan.
"I don’t want to get emotional here either, but I don’t think people understand the relationship that he and I had," Donovan said during his farewell press conference on May 4.
"Do we agree on everything? No. But there is a lot of love between he and I and a lot of care. "
That seems to be a consistent thing said about Foley: He cares.
In the 23 years that Foley has directed UF athletics, he has made it a priority to care for people.
When he hired Donovan, Foley made sure Donovan knew he wouldn’t just be the men’s basketball coach.
He would also be mentoring impressionable young men, caring about families and emphasizing the importance of putting the classroom before the court.
"I worked as hard as I could. I did everything I could. I cared deeply about the program," Donovan said. "I cared deeply about Florida, and just wanted to leave a dent and to bring value. And I hope that by my presence for 19 years that the place is better for having me here."
Donovan said he felt at peace leaving Florida because the program is in good hands.
Those hands are Jeremy’s.
"Jeremy is the best athletic director in the country, and he’s done this before," Donovan said. "Jeremy cares about each sport very much. But he also cares much, much more about the University of Florida."
While he’s unsure of what the future holds, Foley’s methods have proven to be successful over the past 23 years, and he’s approaching the job with the same level of care and consideration that earned him the lofty reputation he holds throughout collegiate athletics.
As Foley unveiled the future of the Florida Gators men's basketball team at White's introductory press conference, he said that the sadness of Donovan’s departure will remain forever.
But he understands Donovan’s happiness comes first.
"It’s his life, his career, his goals and his decisions, so totally at peace with it," Foley said. "Will I miss him? Every day. Will I make sure that I have a relationship with him forever? We will all do that.
"But I’m not sitting here saying 'I cannot believe Billy left. How can he do that?' I’ve never had those emotions. I’ll be sad. It’s just it’s something good, we all loved, enjoyed and had a lot of fun. Golly, we had fun. When that’s over, yeah, there is some sadness. But that will be there forever. The good part is we’re excited about the future."
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UF athletics director Jeremy Foley speaks during new head football coach Jim McElwain's opening press conference on Dec. 6, 2014 in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Within 12 months' time, UF athletics director Jeremy Foley had to replace head coaches from four teams: Football, men's basketball, gymnastics and men's golf. Our summer 2015 editors Graham Hall, Luis Torres and Graham Hack took a look at the task Foley faced (http://www.alligator.org/sports/features/article_c22cfcd4-fa27-11e4-bb87-bbf88be26ea0.html)
