Scott Stricklin addresses coaching changes, what he's learned at UF

Scott Stricklin has done more coach firing and hiring press conferences in the last 12 months than he would have liked.

As the Florida Gators Athletic Director, Stricklin has been tasked with hiring two football coaches, men’s and women’s basketball coaches, as well as one and soon to be two soccer coaches.

Nobody is going to bat 1000 percent, but Stricklin has come under fire for several allegations that had been levied against coaches of those women’s programs.

First, there were numerous allegations that women’s basketball coach Cam Newbauer. In a heavily reported story by the Independent Florida Alligator, former Gators players accused Newbauer of a number of things. Most notable was physical abuse and an allegation that Newbauer threw a basketball at a player who was recovering from ACL surgery.

Newbauer even had his contract extended — although the guaranteed money Florida would pay him didn’t increase — after the initial allegations were levied. Florida did an exhaustive investigation into all of the allegations and, ultimately, parted ways with the coach.

It was a black eye for the AD, the university, and the former coach. What was most important in the situation was to make sure the voices of the student-athletes were heard. They needed to know that they would be protected and listened to by their university and the people in power there.

“I have a better understanding of what that fit means. The relationship aspect is probably emphasized more than ever in the past,” Stricklin said exclusively on the Gators Online Podcast. “I probably have made the mistake; actually, I know I’ve made the mistake of overvaluing the technical aspects of coaching.”

That’s a new viewpoint for the AD. He won’t undervalue a coach being able to draw up X’s and O’s or recruit. It just takes a back seat to what kind of people you are putting in charge of your student-athletes.

“Not that those aren’t important, but I don’t think it is as important as the leadership and relationship piece of coaching and culture building,” Stricklin said. “There’s three things that you get that a good coach has to do. They’ve got to be able to attract the right people. They’ve got to be able to lead that group of people and then they’ve got to be able to put them in a position to be successful.”

Stricklin learns from past experiences

Just last month a similar situation was occurring across campus. First-year women’s soccer coach, Tony Amato, was watching a surprising number of players enter the transfer portal.

There was a heavily reported and sourced story from Peyton Titus, detailing accusations from players. Those included Amato allegedly calling players fat, or criticizing their meal choices, among other things. Stricklin was quick to move on from Amato, a coach he had just hired to replace a Florida legend — Becky Burleigh — less than a year ago.

“I think every situation is unique, but you can learn something from every situation. And, you know, the women’s basketball we had the first couple of years heard some issues. The last couple of years we heard no issues,” Stricklin said on the Gators Online Podcast. “And after the fact, after Cam wasn’t here, some people came up saying, well, this was happening, but that never got back to us.

“So one of the things we learned is we’ve got to strengthen the ability for us to get real-time information and make sure the athletes have the ability to communicate and are comfortable doing so. And so we’ve put some things in place that that was was helpful the last few months with soccer.”

One thing that Stricklin can be acknowledged for was acting quickly in regard to women’s soccer. It would show that the AD is learning as he goes and making changes to his philosophy.

When is it time to move on from a coach?

Stricklin has had the unfortunate task of firing three coaches — Newbauer left on his own accord as the writing was on the wall for his future at UF.

It’s not an enviable position to be in but, other than Jim McElwain, they were all coaches Stricklin had hired himself. He hired Dan Mullen, Amato, and Newbauer. He inherited Mike White, but White also left Florida on his own accord. It had led to a series of introductory press conferences, something Stricklin hopes to be done with for a while as well.

Former Florida Athletic Director, Jeremy Foley, had a famous saying. “What must be done eventually should be done immediately.”

Stricklin hasn’t stolen the line but echoed it on the Gators Online Podcast.

“The minute you lose the confidence that someone can do that, you’ve got to make a change,” he said. “And, you know, it happened last fall in football. It happened in the soccer piece. And you’ve got to be willing to move on. There’s a part of that is, you know, you’re admitting a mistake.”

“The worst thing for me to do would be to say, well, I don’t want to admit a mistake. So I’m just going to let this person continue in a role that they don’t need to be in. Basically worry about what people think about me more than I worry about what’s best for the Gators. So if you’re worried about what’s best for the Gators, once you’ve realized you’ve lost confidence in that person’s ability to lead, you can make a change.”

Hope for a better future

The search for a new women’s soccer coach is ongoing but the Gators have three new coaches in place. Todd Golden leads the men’s basketball program. Billy Napier is at the helm of football and Kelly Rae Finley did such a good job as an interim that she was given the head job for women’s basketball.

Ultimately, Stricklin believes they all fit the culture at Florida. They all have the ability to connect and relate to student-athletes and will build a winning culture the right way.

“How important the relational aspect of leadership in coaching is in this day and age,” Stricklin said. “It’s always been important. I think it’s more important than ever.

“I’ve made mistakes. I’m not perfect. I’m excited that we get a chance to get some people in here that can maybe show I’ve learned from some of those mistakes.”