Florida Gators

* A letter from Jeremy Foley to Gator Nation -- read here
* Revisit coverage of Foley's retirement announcement -- here 
* The ultimate "AD Front Man" -- here
 

Outgoing AD Jeremy Foley has some parting words of thanks for you, #GatorNation. #ThankYouJeremy #GoGators pic.twitter.com/C1I46neDrJ

— Florida Gators (@FloridaGators) October 31, 2016

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Most of the shelves had been cleared and the pictures that still hung on the wall were still images or newspaper fronts commemorating a championship of some kind. Jeremy Foley, after all, has always been about championships. Gator championships. 
 
"One hundred and fifty-seven of them," Foley said. "Twenty-seven nationals and 130 SECs."
 
Those digits are worth repeating. 
 
27 national titles.
 
130 Southeastern Conference titles. 

 

Here's another number: 25. As in 25 seasons as University of Florida athletic director. As in since 1992. As in a quarter-century. As in a remarkable run of success that officially comes to an end Monday when Foley, 63, passes the AD baton to Scott Stricklin and brings the end to one era while starting the next. 
 
It's a day Foley knew was coming and one he has prepared for mentally. Yet, regardless of how much he primed himself for it, the final realization — from the last drive into work, to the emotional office farewells, to walking out of that AD office for the final time — is not something that can be rehearsed. 
 
Foley spoke of that pending reality last week. 
 
"It's a reality that something I've enjoyed for 40-plus years is over, as I knew it," said Foley, who came to UF in 1976 as an intern in the ticket office. "Obviously, I've enjoyed every moment here. I've had good days, bad days, challenging days and disappointing days, but the good far outweighs the bad. When I wake up Tuesday morning and I'm no longer the athletic director at the University of Florida … yeah, that's a reality I know is coming, but it doesn't make it any easier. But I also don't second-guess my decision. I'm very excited for Scott, but I also understand my sense of purpose will be different." 
 
He's not going to sit at home and watch Netflix all day. In fact, he's not even going away. Instead, Foley will move from the stadium's second floor to a new office on the fourth floor, where in the coming weeks he'll settle into his new duties as fundraising point man for UF's estimated $100 million facilities initiative. 
 
Foley also wants to be around to help Stricklin, his successor, with the transition. 
 
"This is a complicated business, but this place in particular, it's different. It's a private corporation," he said. "I want to be available as a resource for him. I'm not going to get in the way, but I also don't want him in that chair saying, 'If I open this door, what's going to happen?' Hopefully, I can help him with that. There is no bigger fan of Scott Stricklin than me and I want to do everything and anything to help him succeed." 
 
Stricklin, 46, will come to UF after six years as athletic director at Mississippi State, his alma mater, but with administrative stops along the way at Auburn, Tulane, Baylor and Kentucky. He'll bring a perspective that comes with being at a variety of big-time and successful programs, surrounded by innovative and creative people. 
 
That's quite a different path than the one Foley navigated the last four decades as an ambitious, loyal and hardworking Gator who eventually led an operation that became the gold-standard for college athletics. 
 
On the eve of his exit, Foley revisited some of the milestone memories of a remarkable career and timeline. 
 
 
1976 
 
Foley, fresh out of grad school at Ohio University, was hired as an intern in the UF ticket office. He had never been to Florida and was often teased about his corduroy pants. For context, what is now the Butler Plaza area was pastures. Archer Road was a mostly barren stretch to Interstate 75. There was no Oaks Mall. Foley, though, does recall being in a barber shop on Archer when he heard that Elvis died in '77, and that his first concert here was the Marshall Tucker Band at Florida Gym.  
 
JF: "I was 23 when I started. Never been here before and I'd never seen a football stadium that big before. It was about 60,000, but we'd have maybe 45,000 fans in here and I'd argue with our ticket manager. 'C'mon, there's got to be more than 45,000 in here.' I'd just never seen that many people in one place. Where the O'Connell Center is now was just a parking lot. I lived in Yon Hall. I hit the ground running. No idea." 
 
 
1984

 

By 1978, Foley had been named ticket manager, was promoted to assistant AD by '81, then was tabbed by athletic director Bill Carr as associate AD for business affairs. That's the post he held in 1984 when the Gators, amid an ugly NCAA investigation, fired football coach Charley Pell three games into the season. Under interim coach Galen Hall, the team won its next eight games, finished unbeaten in league play and claimed the first SEC championship in school history, but was ineligible to represent the league in the Sugar Bowl because of NCAA sanctions. UF, nonetheless, celebrated the historic title, with a parade and pep rally in the stadium. Six months later, the SEC presidents voted to strip the Gators of that crown during the league's meetings in Destin, Fla., a development exactly no one saw coming. 
 
JF: "I remember, first of all, the outrage on the part of Gator Nation, just the way it happened. And I was part of that outrage. Everyone was surprised. I was [ticked off]. But looking back on it now, I can see why it happened. Obviously, there were a lot of innocent people affected by that. And no disrespect to anyone who fought to keep it, but the bottom line: We won the championship with a bunch of ineligible players. I can see why it happened. I mean, look at what happens now. Final Four banners are taken down, schools forfeit victories, coaches' records are changed. I understand. So the more and more I thought about it, I kept asking myself, "Why did we celebrate? What was all that for? And that helped shape how we feel now about following the rules. We celebrated a championship that didn't count. Why? So as much as I might have protested as a Gator fan — 'That's wrong!" — it wasn't hard to look back on it, not so much as a fan, and say, 'We didn't do it right. It shouldn't count." 
 
Epilogue: In his nearly 25 years as AD, Florida has had zero teams placed on NCAA probation. When you compare that stat around the SEC and the rest of the nation, it might be more astounding than those 157 championships. 
 
 
1987 
 
Carr resigned in '86, following the final year of the program's probation. At the time, the Gators were still reeling from the financial throes of NCAA sanctions (including a television ban), with Foley, armed with his business background, named interim AD — at age of 33 — and in the mix for the permanent job. The search committee charged with finding Carr's successor, however, recommended UF turn to someone with more experience and Bill Arnsparger, the 60-year-old AD at LSU and longtime football coach, got the job. Foley's initial reaction? Jar.

 

JF: "I really thought it should have been me. I remember, [UF president] Marshall Criser called me over to his office and told me what direction they were going. I was so disappointed. I mean, really disappointed. I got in my car and, literally, on the drive over here I had a conversation with myself. I realized there were two ways to handle this; I could pout about it or I could come back here, call Bill Arnsparger up and say, 'Bill, what do you need from me?' And that's what I did. Had I gone the pout route, who would that have hurt? Me and the program. He'd have been like, 'Why do I want that guy around? He thinks he got hosed. All he ever does is pout.' So it was such a valuable lesson at the age of 33. And you know what else? I was no more ready for that job at that time than the man on the moon. That's another thing people need to realize. Maybe you don't get promoted because you weren't ready for the job — and I wasn't. The next five years, I would have had to deal with the next NCAA investigation, and at age 33? No, I was not ready. It would have changed my life forever. I would not have made it. Whereas Bill, the guy was 60-plus, been around the block and had played the game of life. He'd been in the chair and made tough decisions. Agree, disagree, regardless, he'd been in that chair. Me? I'd have gotten crushed. So looking back, thank you, Marshall Criser. You did me a favor. I had five years of valuable experience working alongside Bill, watching him, learning from him. Five years later, I was ready."  
 
 
1992 
 
In January, Arnsparger announced he was stepping down as AD to become defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers. UF again went on a national search. And while some impressive candidates surfaced as finalists, the end choice was just down the hall. Foley, then 39, was given the keys to the Gator athletics kingdom. On March 9, 1992, the chair officially was his. 
 
JF: "That chair, it's just totally different. I was Bill Arnsparger's right-hand guy and I sat in the room for every significant decision that was made. I was over in the president's house on a Sunday afternoon when we were negotiating a contract with Steve Spurrier. I thought I was ready for the chair. Again, it's different. I'm not complaining, It's just a factor. No more was it, 'Well Bill, what about this? What about that?' No. Whatever you do is on your shoulders. It's just a different feeling. Not necessarily good or bad, but you're making the call. And I wanted that responsibility. I've never been afraid to make a decision. I've made some good ones, I've made some bad ones. I've made some that worked out and some that didn't. Now, it's second-nature to make decisions. That's something I have to navigate here starting next week. I have no more decisions like that. I'll have some that affect me, maybe some that Scott asks of me. But none of the magnitude you've seen me make. That was part of being in that chair I really enjoyed." 
 
 
1996 
 
The confluence of events and stars that aligned for the Gators to win their first football national championship, to this day, was remarkable. And to think, it all came at the expense of rival Florida State, as UF exacted an element of revenge that is among the sweetest (and in the Sugar Bowl, appropriate enough) in the history of sports. To review, Florida was unbeaten and No. 1 in the nation when the Seminoles registered a seismic upset in Tallahassee to end the '96 regular season. FSU assumed the top ranking, with UF falling to No. 4, and would play for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl, almost certainly against Nebraska. But the following week, the heavily favored Cornhuskers were stunned in the Big 12 title game by double-digit underdog Texas. That night, the Gators beat Alabama in the SEC title game. Under Bowl Alliance rules, the two highest-ranked and qualified teams — FSU and UF, as it turned out — would play in the Sugar Bowl. That left out undefeated and second-ranked Arizona State, which was locked into the Pac-10 contract with the Rose Bowl and a date against Big Ten champ Ohio State. On New Year's Day, the Buckeyes ruined ASU's unbeaten season with a last-second touchdown, meaning the winner of the Florida-Florida State game the next night would claim the national championship. In case anyone has forgotten, the Seminoles were obliterated 52-20. 
 
 
JF: "Oh yeah. First of all, the year before, we played for one and got run out of the place [by Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl]. So it's hard to do. But then we're back in the running for it, then we're leaving Tallahassee and … it's over. Over. But then Texas beats Nebraska, we beat Alabama, but Arizona State is still out there. So we're sitting in New Orleans and watching [OSU wideout] David Boston catch that pass, next thing we know is all have to do is win a game. One game. And we were ready to play that night. Forget what it meant to me. Obviously, I was ecstatic. I just knew what that meant for Gator Nation, what with who we beat and how we beat them. No disrespect to [FSU], but that's just reality. We had a great night. I didn't even wait for the press conferences — and, no, I didn't go down to Bourbon Street. Wasn't going near that place. I just walked from the Superdome over to our hotel and that, with all the Gator fans, was complete and absolute madness. Just special for our great fans. I remember thinking later that night how when I first got here in '76, all anybody wanted to do was win one SEC title. Just one. We didn't do that for 15 years. Next thing, we win a bunch of SEC titles in a row, then a national championship with Steve and it all just meant the world to our institution." 
 
 
2001 
 
Asked to pinpoint the most difficult situation he encountered as AD, Foley did not hesitate. "Eraste," he said. That would be Eraste Autin, the freshman football player who collapsed from heat stroke on the practice field following a July 19, 2001 voluntary conditioning session. Autin, an 18-year-old fullback from Lafayette, La., died five days later at Shands Hospital. 
 
JF: "Because of his time in the hospital, and the times there with his father, mother, sister and brother, just feeling helpless. Just being part of that, then going out to his service in Louisiana … . People will tell you one of my strengths and weaknesses is that I always feel like I have to fix things. Don't win enough games, fix it. Program is heading in the wrong direction, fix it. Need facilities built? Raise money and fix it. … We weren't fixing this situation. To this day, it's the hardest thing I ever dealt with." 
 
 
2001 
 
It was a Tuesday morning in September that Foley walked to the Lemerand Center to meet with his soccer coach, Becky Burleigh. She was a couple weeks into the season and Foley had not been to a game. In fact, Foley realized he'd not been to one of her games in some time, dating back to the season before, and went there to apologize and vow to get better at that. It was there he heard the news that an airplane had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers. When he got back to his stadium office, Spurrier's secretary, Nancy Sain, told him about the second tower. 
 
JF: "It's like everyone has always said; the world changed that day. It certainly changed how we operated. It changed how we run football games, how we travel, how we do security. All of those things are ratcheted up when something happens in the world. I remember, though, that time brought us closer as a staff. We held a gathering down in the old Gator Room to say some prayers, which is the only time that's ever happened here. A couple years after that, I was cleaning out my desk and found a copy of 'Bits & Pieces,' the motivational publication that I think did a special edition for 9-11. There were a bunch of sayings and such in there, quotes from great leaders when times were tough. I bought a copy for everyone in the UAA." 
 
 
2004 

 

 

The decision to fire Ron Zook seven games into the season may have quelled some dissatisfied football fans, but it was not one that Foley took lightly or made easily. Zook was a close friend and had been since he joined Spurrier's staff as an assistant in 1991. At the time, Foley said he had some knowledge (not a bunch) of a certain coach who was going unbeaten in Utah — guy named Urban Meyer — the same school where then-UF president Bernie Machen had come from. 
 
JF: "The one thing I've always tried to do, always have done; you don't go looking for a coach when you have a coach. Now, we got criticized for making the decision with Ron when we did, but with that done I could then try to find the next coach without poking around Ron's back. Once we made that decision, we started to dig a little more. Obviously, Urban had done great things at Bowling Green, but he was there for two years. And even his first year at Utah, 9-3 or whatever he was. But then he started going undefeated? OK, let's see what this guy is all about. Then Notre Dame is getting involved. Things got rolling." 
 
 
2005 
 
In March, Villanova knocked Billy Donovan and the UF basketball team out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round. It was the fifth straight year the Gators had failed to make it out of the first weekend of the tourney. The year before that, it was a hideous, lop-sided blowout loss to 12th-seeded Manhattan in the first round. Criticism, both in the state and nationally, turned on the Florida coach who five years earlier had led the Gators to the national title game (falling to Michigan State). When Foley hired Donovan, a 30-year-old up-and-comer, the Gators had been to five NCAAs in the school history. Donovan was on his seventh straight. Yet, some media and fans were suggesting Donovan had taken the the program as far as he could. Foley, though, was steadfast in his support for his coach and friend. 
 
JF: "We hired Billy to make us a player in college basketball and get us to the tournament every year — and he was doing that. If you're in it, a lot of good things can happen and a lot of bad things can happen. But if you're not in it, nothing can happen. We were relevant. For a program that before Billy had been to the NCAA Tournament five times, to be upset that we didn't make it out of the first weekend five years in a row, well, that was a pretty arrogant way to look at it. It's hard to win in March. So I was never worried about the program. We were in the dance every year. Now, when I say this, understand I loved that 1994 team. That was a magical run. Lon [Kruger] did a phenomenal job and those were some special guys. Being in the Final Four? Florida? You kidding me? But two years later, we were 12-16, Lon was gone and Billy comes in. Looking back, I would have traded that one Final Four to be in the tournament 10 or 12 straight years because somewhere in that time, something good is probably going to happen. So I wasn't worried about the program, but you do worry about your coaches who work so hard and you feel for them. But as far as Billy taking the program as far as it could go? No. Who is Florida to sit here and demand that we're going to be in the Elite Eight or Final Four every year. We'd been to two in our history at that point, and one of them with him. The program was in great shape and we got that one right. In fact, one of those guys who told me Billy had taken us as far as we could go, I thought about calling him the next year — and the year after that when we won the second one — and saying, 'You're right! Billy has taken us as far as we can go.' "
 
 
2016 
 
Foley announced his retirement June 12 and had a news conference that afternoon. Both UF president Kent Fuchs and Foley vowed to do their diligence in the search for the next athletic director. The search probably took a little longer than anticipated, but the goal was to get it right. In the end, the Gators believe they got a good one in Stricklin. Foley, in turn, believes Stricklin got a bunch of good ones in the Gators, starting with the support staff that has always supported him. His fellow administrators and UAA personnel became his family. Foley will miss his Boston sports banter with Chip Howard in the office next door; talking basketball with Mike Hill; his morning tea with Lynda Tealer. He'll miss his Tuesday staff meetings with all the ADs. If for nothing else, just to see them and chat them up. Then again, for the time being, he'll just be two floors away. 
 

JF: "I told Scott from Day 1, and I said it at my press conference, his greatest asset will be the incredible people that work here he is going to inherit. I'm not saying they're perfect, but they're talented, loyal and love the Gators. They are foxhole people who do things the right way. Scott is a smart guy. He'll figure things out, and I'll help him when he asks for it, but I promise you he has never been around a group of people like this. For 25 years, though, this organization has heard one voice. People can judge if that's been good or bad. But now there's someone else in that chair and I'm not saying this to be overly humble — I think it's good. New ideas will come and people will be motivated in a different way. They are pros. This change will be a catalyst for positive change."