A Q&A with Jeremy Foley on his 20-year anniversary as Florida's athletic director
Friday, March 9, 2012 | Baseball, Men's Basketball, Football, Men's Golf, Women's Tennis, Scott Carter
If you've checked out GatorZone.com today, you probably know that today marks the 20-year anniversary of Florida hiring Jeremy Foley as athletic director.
Foley is now the third-longest tenured AD in the country behind DeLoss Dodds at Texas and Utah's Chris Hill.
GatorZone caught up with Foley earlier this week before he left for the SEC men's basketball tournament in New Orleans. Since not everything made our story, here is a Q&A with Foley if you want to know more:
Q: When did you first set your goal to become AD here?
A: I really never set that as a goal. I get asked that question a lot. I wanted to work in sports and I was doing it. I really liked working here and I liked living in Gainesville. I liked what I was doing, but when they made me interim AD for that three-month period [in late 1986, early '87], I enjoyed it. Not so much that I enjoyed quote unquote being AD, but the fact I could put some ideas forth. I could do some things to help direct the program. I liked that. That's the first time I said to myself, 'You know what --- I want to be an athletic director.' And I wanted to be athletic director here.”
Q: Did you ever seriously contemplate leaving UF once you got here in 1976?
A: I forget what year it was. I think it was the mid-'80s. Bill Carr was the AD and Richard Gianinni was the Senior Associate AD and they were obviously good friends and very talented and were relatively young then. I felt that maybe I couldn't go any higher in this organization. I went and took an interview at the University of Minnesota. That's the only job I ever applied for besides this one. Obviously that's a great place but the minute I got off the airplane I knew it wasn't for me. I came back here and I just went back to work. I've had opportunities and I've had people call me to apply for some other AD jobs, but I like being a part of the Gator Nation. I like being a Gator. I never took another interview the rest of my life except when this job came open.
Q: Did you feel the job was finally yours in 1992?
A: I never felt that way. I remember it being a very anxious time because everybody was telling me that. That's the type of stuff that if you start believing, that's when you start getting sloppy. People who work around here now will tell you that one of the things that we try not to do when we have success is start thinking we have it all figured out or that this is a slam dunk. I can remember Dr. Lombardi telling me this is going to be a process and there is going to be competition, and there was. I can remember being extremely tired when the interview process was over. But I never, ever once felt that – it's not my nature to think that things are in the bag. That's usually when things go wrong.
Q: Who do you think you took most of your leadership skills from, your father, who was a U.S. diplomat overseas?
A: My mom and dad were divorced, so I didn't grow up with my dad. I grew up with my mom. I think probably a little bit from my mom, a little bit from my dad. I played for a lacrosse coach at Hobart named Jerry Schmidt. I got some from him. Marshall Criser, he was the president [at UF] when I was working my way up during some tough times. I watched how he handled some things and some decisions he made. Also, leadership style evolves over a period of time. You make a ton of mistakes and you realize what works and what doesn't. I made all those. And I'm not being humble – it's just the freaking truth. I made them. It's probably a culmination of a lot of things – learning from some people and learning from my mistakes and just trying to do what is right for the Gators.
Q: What do you see as the biggest difference in the landscape of UF athletics since you took over in 1992?
A: When I first started here this program had some success in certain sports and obviously hadn't achieved in football what it has achieved today. Obviously hadn't achieved in basketball what it has achieved today. We obviously still have a lot of work to do in a lot of sports, but there is no doubt if you want to – back then you could not do this but today, if you want to get a bunch of people in the room to write on the board which is the best athletic program in America – there could be 10 different schools, 15 different schools, 20 different schools. But Florida would have to be one of them. I don't care if you like the Gators or not. You have to write their name on there. The fact that we became a program that really, really was maybe an underachiever [to the one we are today] – I've been part of that journey. That's been the most fun. Hopefully regardless of what the future holds, we'll always be considered that. I'm very proud that we – so many different people – have elevated this program to where it is nationally. Our institution deserves it, the state of Florida deserves it, our fans deserve it. Obviously we're not where we need to be.
Q: How important was keeping the program clean and protecting the Florida brand when you took over considering some of the NCAA issues in the late 1980s?
A: That's hugely important in that point in time and this point in time. Those are difficult times. Looking back on it now … NCAA probation twice, can't go to bowl games, coaches getting terminated, the media all over this place, and investigative reporting, NCAA issues left and right, I can remember going, 'Wow.' What I saw most of all is what it did to the institution. Obviously the athletic program took a hit, but this institution took a hit. I mean everybody associated with this institution took a hit. The reputation of this institution took a hit because of athletics. It was obviously a very difficult learning lesson for everybody. We never want to be there again. You sit there and you never know when someone is going to jump out of the bushes – so I'm not sitting here saying we are never going to have any issues – but I can tell you we talk about integrity and compliance and ethics and honesty and doing things the right way – we talk about it every day. I talked about it in the staff meeting this morning. A) You can never stop talking about it, B) you can never think that it can't happen to you – that's the head-in-the-sand mentality, and C) you don't want it because you look at these high-profile situations that are happening or have happened, the institution is the one taking the hit. This institution has 300,000 alumni, it has 48,000 students, it has a lot of people who take pride in this place, and to have this part of the organization have a detrimental effect on it as we did back in the '80s, that's the type of stuff that keeps you up at night. You don't want that stuff to happen. It is supremely important. You want to be a program that does things the right way.”
Q: How have you changed the most in your time as AD here?
A: I think anybody will tell you if you want to do some ugly research that back when I first got into a leadership role – not as AD but right before that – that I didn't really understand the value of treating people well. I think I understood the value of their commitments, but all I cared about back then was just getting the job done. I didn't really care who I ran over to get it done. I don't think that's a very effective leadership trait. People are your most valuable resource. You read it, you hear it, but it's the flat-out truth. We have no success around here without talented people and we have a lot of talented people. I think the value of understanding people and dealing with people and trying to motivate them in a different way than I used to is probably the biggest change I've had. It was a style that wasn't effective. It was effective in the short-term but would have never been effective in the long-term.
Q: Does it seem like these 20 years have gone by fast for you?
A: In some ways it seems like it hasn't but it boggles my mind that it's been 20 years. That's a ridiculous number, in terms of my age as much as anything else. I was a young buck when they hired me. It's gone really, really fast. That's the way of the world. One reason it has gone fast around here is because we've certainly had a lot of excitement in the last 20 years. We've had a lot of fun; we've done a lot of good things. It's been a heck of a ride.
Q: Can you pinpoint your favorite moment?
A: Obviously every championship we've won here has been tremendously important. The national championships are hard to do. Certainly the first [football] one in '96. The first SEC [football] title in '91. When I first got here, that's all anybody wanted, was one. That world has changed and we get that. I remember walking back to my hotel after we won that ballgame [in New Orleans]. When we hired Billy Donovan. People told him not to come to Florida – you can't win in basketball at Florida because they don't care about basketball. Those are favorite events. Buddy Alexander getting his first one [in men's golf]. Andy Brandi tried and tried and then he finally got his first one [in women's tennis]. Anytime you see a coach or athletes work extremely hard to achieve a goal and reach the ultimate goal, it's pretty special.
Q: What has been most difficult challenge in your 20 years?
A: Certainly when [football player] Eraste Autin passed away. You don't prepare for that. That's the toughest thing that any of us have been through. As I've said often, it certainly pales in comparison to what his family went through. That one right there was the most difficult thin we've ever had to deal with there.”
Q: What has been probably the biggest change in the job since you took over?
A: We've raised the bar here but we have no problem with that. We all got into this business to be successful. I would think the instant information, the technology, the rumor mills – you feel like sometimes you are trying to battle those things – that's the way the world is for everyone. That is the biggest difference. The positive in that is that it's a different way for us to communicate with our fans. We can get information out there. You get to tell your message. It cuts both ways.
Q: What do you see as your most significant move in 20 years as AD?
A: If you ask me the favorite part about my job, what you enjoy the most and what you'll miss the most, I'll miss working with the people inside these walls. Good people. The success we have here is as much theirs as mine. The Billy Donovan hire was significant just like when Bill Arnsparger hired Steve Spurrier because it changed the face of Florida football forever. Billy has changed the face of Gator basketball forever. Hopefully [Kevin O'Sullivan] Sully is changing it in baseball forever. I've said it often: Urban Meyer wouldn't have coached here if Steve Spurrier hadn't built this program to where it was. Steve is the one who set the tone here. Hopefully those impacts will last a long time.
