Monday, August 22, 2022 | General, Football, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In December of 2019, Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin and his longtime predecessor, Jeremy Foley, flew to Oklahoma City and invited former UF basketball coach Billy Donovan, then with the NBA Thunder, and his wife to dinner. Stricklin told the Donovans he was in the area to tour the University of Oklahoma for some facility fact-finding and, while there, figured they'd reach out. It was all a ruse.
Instead, Stricklin and Foley, the one who hired a 29-year-old upstart coach that become one of the greatest in college basketball history, went there to tell Donovan the court at Exactech Arena was to be named in his honor. Donovan, of course, was both humbled and floored. One of the few times, Foley would say, his treasured former coach was rendered speechless.
Fast forward to last week. Jeremy Foley
Stricklin hopped a flight to Vermont to check in on Foley, now retired and in his sixth year as UF's athletic director emeritus. Stricklin was accompanied by Chip Howard, executive associate AD for internal affairs and one of Foley's closest friends. The trio went to dinner, then returned to Foley's home for a nightcap on the deck overlooking the gorgeous Green Mountains.
The conversation eventually turned to the new $85 million Heavener Football Training Facility, which opened to the team last weekend. Stricklin gushed about the complex, listed some of the amenities and flashed some photos for Foley on his cell. He started describing the entrance to the building, and how banners designated to each sport would hang from the ceiling, with Southeastern Conference championships draped on the right side and national championships to the left.
That's when Howard handed something to Foley. It was a miniature version of one of the banners. Printed along the bottom were five words.
Confused, Foley looked up at the two, then back at the banner, then again at Stricklin and Howard. That's when he was told — officially — that the grand foyer area of the new facility was to be named in his honor, complete with image and named space (courtesy of anonymous donors) detailing Foley's achievements during his spectacularly successful quarter century guiding the Gators.
Cue the Donovan-like response.
"I was completely blown away," Foley said. "I told them there was nothing they could have done that would mean more to me than this."
That much was obvious. "He welled up a little bit," Howard said.
What makes the gesture so apropos is that Foley's name will be on every banner, a fitting tribute to an athletic director who made across-the-board excellence in all men's and women's sports a priority. His championship mindset became ingrained in a Gators culture that claimed 130 Southeastern Conference titles and another 27 national crowns during his AD run from 1992-2016.
The dining area of the Heavener Football Training center, now with banners listing Florida's conference and national championships.
Some context: When Foley was promoted from senior associate AD to replace Bill Arnsparger on March 9, 1992, Florida trailed Tennessee in all-time SEC championships by 10.
The Volunteers now trail the Gators by 97.
The updated running total shows Florida with 45 all-time national championships, plus 255 in the SEC. Now, roll in another 11 league titles for lacrosse in the American Lacrosse, Big East and American Athletic conferences since the sport was added in 2010. That makes 266.
Lacrosse was one of three women's sports introduced on Foley's watch. Soccer came online in 1995 and won a national championship in its fourth year. Softball joined the UF fold in 1997 and won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2014-15.
Those and all the rest will be recognized in the Jeremy Foley Hall of Champions on banners bearing his name.
"It's hard for me to put into words how meaningful this is to me," said Foley, who will get a first look at his Hall in October when he's inducted in the UF Athletic Hall of Fame as the Class of 2022's honorary letter winner. "Not only the recognition, but the way it embodies what I believe and what they still believe at the University of Florida; that all sports matter and all will compete at the highest level. It just ties a bow on my career and I'm so appreciative."
Foley, now 69, has an office on the fourth floor of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, but spends a nice chunk of his time in Vermont. He has his UF emeritus duties, mostly in an advising capacity, and is highly sought nationally for speaking engagements, but over the last couple years has offered mentoring sessions on leadership to coaches and administrators from around the country (at no charge). It's a partnership he has found incredibly rewarding.
"Just a way to kind of pay it all forward," he said.
Fair enough. For now, though, Foley is getting some much-deserved payback.
Volleyball coach Mary Wise was not hired by Foley (she arrived the year before) but is set to enter her 32nd season as far and away the dean of Florida coaches. She also has 24 SEC championships, all but two of which came not only with Foley in the AD chair, but countless times sitting courtside cheering for her Gators.
"Jeremy set the standard for athletic directors across the country as to what it truly meant to value women's athletics," Wise said. "He knew the name of every starting volleyball player each season, not because he felt he had to, but because he cared. The athletes knew it and so, too, the coaches fortunate enough to work with him."
UF coaches Amanda O'Leary (lacrosse), Todd Golden (men's basketball), Samantha Bohon (soccer), Mike "Mouse" Holloway (men's and women's track and field), Emily Glaser (women's golf) and Mary Wise (volleyball) pose under championship banners in the Jeremy Foley Hall of Champions. Foley, the Gators' athletic director from 1992-2016, hired four of them.
On Friday, the University Athletic Association hosted a reception at Heavener for the coaching staffs from all 21 sports. They got a tour of the new facility — with its dining area, lounges and sparkling resort swimming pool and recreation areas available to all student-athletes — as well as a first look at the Jeremy Foley Hall of Champions.
Testimonials followed.
* Women's tennis coach Roland Thornqvist, who Foley hired by way of North Carolina in 2002 and who has since delivered 11 SEC and four NCAA titles: "It's only fitting we are honoring Jeremy in our newest and perhaps finest building for all our athletes. It was always his mission to be the best in every sport, never neglecting or prioritizing one program over another. That's what made Florida unique. His passion made us all better and kept taking us to new heights."
* Track and field coach Mike Holloway, with 13 SEC and 12 NCAA championships spanning both the men's and women's programs since being hired by Foley in 2003: "What an incredible way to honor the man who was the backbone of this athletics association for so many years. Jeremy's leadership was the driving force behind so many of the championships won here and naming this hall after him is an honor that is well deserved."
* Softball coach Tim Walton, with eight SEC and two national titles since arriving in 2006: "I'm excited to see the name Foley when you enter the new Heavener Football Training Center named in honor of the greatest athletic director of all time. Jeremy's name will now be connected to all current and future student athletes and to the championship-rich history that he helped lay the foundation for here at Florida in the Foley Hall of Champions."
The tribute is a culmination of brainstorming that began when Foley retired in the fall of '16. In the ensuing years, the administrative team kicked around several ideas before landing on the best way to honor a man Stricklin considers the best AD ever to come through the SEC.
When the Heavener Center plans were finalized, they found the ideal place.
"We had a really dramatic space in the entrance, with the dining center, the lobby and the recreation and amenity space. It just worked on a lot of levels," Stricklin said. "And now, every time we take those banners down to update them, we'll recognize how important a championship is and recognize someone who helped us win a bunch of them."
Jeremy Foley, a month away from stepping down after 25 years at Florida athletic director, gives a farewell wave to the "Swamp" crowd during a sold-game against Kentucky on Sept. 14, 2016.
Three years later came the fun part. Figuring out the best way to tell him.
The blindside strategy worked so well for "Billy D," they decided to run it back.
"It's just incredible, really," Foley said. "I am a Florida fan, always will be. I love all those sports and all those coaches, so this is just a tremendous source of pride that they did something like this for me. I'll cherish it forever."
