UF AD Jeremy Foley to Retire

In a shocking announcement made today, University of Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley has announced his retirement.

Foley told his staff and coaches in a meeting this morning about his decision; there is a press conference scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m.  He will continue to be Florida’s AD until October 1 when a new person is hired to fill the position. The 63 year old Foley will stay on as Athletic Director Emeritus.

Foley became UF’s Athletic Director in March of 1992 after serving in a number of capacities with the University Athletic Association before that time. Florida has won a national championship in each of the last seven years under his tenure and the Gators have won 130 SEC titles as well.

Foley has not only been successful with UF athletic teams on the field but also in the classroom.  Florida averaged an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 85.2 percent, the second highest in the SEC over the 11 years that figure has been calculated.

One coach who was extremely successful under Foley was Urban Meyer. During Meyer’s time at the University of Florida, he coached the Gators to two BCS National Championship Game victories, during the 2006 and 2008 seasons. Meyer credits his success at Florida to Foley’s ability to provide the tools necessary to have a successful program and athletes.  Meyer says Foley is one of the best and that whoever replaces him has big shoes to fill.

Adding to Foley’s success recently was the men’s Track and Field team. Coming off a national championship title win this past weekend Coach Mike Holloway was shocked to hear the news about Foley’s retirement Monday morning. Holloway says that having an athletic director who had the compassion and ability to give you everything you needed is what has made him a successful coach.

Not only did Foley make sure his coaches were taken care of but his other staff as well. Mick Hubert who has been doing radio play-by-play for the Gators football, basketball, baseball, and other sports for 27 years says that he is still in disbelief and trying to wrap his head around the news. This will be a big change for Hubert who was hired by Foley and been here ever since and is sad to see him go. Hubert says that it is going to be interesting to see what the future has in store but is happy for him.

Even after coaches leave UF they still speak highly of Foley. Billy Donavon who spent 19 seasons at the University of Florida, where his Florida Gators men’s basketball teams won two NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championships in 2006 and 2007. Donovan has more wins than any other coach in the history of the Florida basketball program, and he coached the Gators to more NCAA tournament appearances, NCAA tournament wins, and Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships than all other coaches in program history combined. Donavon who now coaches the Oklahoma City Thunder and took his team to the Western Conference Finals in the NBA as a rookie coach, was shocked to hear the news about Foley. Donovan says that Foley was a fantastic person to work for and such an amazing AD because of  his ability to hire coaches that were able to get along. Donavon believes Foley is stepping down on his terms and what he thought was best and the best interest for UF.

Athletic director Jeremy Foley is stepping down after 25 years. He says it's all "part of the game of life" #Gators pic.twitter.com/6Sx74vITQF

— Nicole Thompson (@NThompsonSports) June 13, 2016

In an emotional meeting with the UAA on Monday afternoon, Foley spoke about his decision on stepping down and says the decision was completely his and has been thinking about it for a few months now. He wanted to ensure everyone that he is not making this decision for any other reason than it was time. Though he would love to stick around a few more years he says his decision to  have the transition now is to give whoever takes his place the ability to succeed with an athletic program that is currently thriving. 

Without a doubt, every coach, player and fan was effected by Jeremy Foley’s presence as an athletic director in a positive way and will be truly missed by Gator Nation.

Full interview with Urban Meyer

https://soundcloud.com/espn-gainesville/urban-meyer-discusses-jeremy-foley-retirement