Fifth In The Director's Cup, Yet It Feels UF Under-Achieved

By FRANZ BEARD

GatorBaitMedia.com

Here we were thinking it was such a down year for Florida athletics when Mike Holloway and his men’s and women’s track and field teams reminded us that just because it’s a bad year for football and men’s basketball it does not mean the entire program is in the tank.

In case you missed it, thanks to those two magnificent national championships – both in convincing fashion – at the NCAA meet in Eugene, Oregon, the Gators added 200 points to their Learfield Director’s Cup totals, elevating the Gators into a 5th-place finish. From just outside the top ten, which is where the Gators were prior to Eugene, to a dramatic finish that took the Gators past Arkansas and Kentucky along the way to take the top spot among Southeastern Conference schools.

The top ten: 1. Texas 1376.50; 2. Stanford 1279.25; 3. Michigan 1195.25; 4. Ohio State 1184.50; 5. FLORIDA 1180.75; 6. North Carolina 1087.25; 7. Arkansas 967.75; 8. Notre Dame 943; 9. Kentucky 979.75; 10. Southern California 933.75.

Other notables in the top 25: 12. Oklahoma 878.50; 13. Florida State 872.50; 16. Tennessee 857; 19. Alabama 841.25; 20. LSU 833.75; 21. Georgia 827.50.

This is the 13th consecutive year the Gators have placed top five or better and the 38th consecutive year the Florida athletic program has finished in the top ten. The Director’s Cup is a yearly testament to commitment to a total athletic program and not just the high-profile sports. What makes this year’s top five finish so remarkable is that the Gators were able to do it with unusually poor performances from football, men’s basketball and soccer. Football finished with a losing record, went to a lower tier bowl game and had to fire head coach Dan Mullen. Men’s basketball, which hasn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2017, at least got into the NCAA Tournament and typically got a first-round win. Well, that is until the recently concluded season. The day it was announced the Gators were NIT bound, head coach Mike White bolted for Georgia. Soccer, with its long history of advancing in the NCAAs, not only failed to make the tournament but saw its coach pink slipped as well.

Think of that for a moment. Football had three straight top ten finishes and three straight New Year’s Six bowls under Dan Mullen. Basketball was so inconsistent that it failed to make the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament. Soccer, whose legacy under Becky Burleigh included a national championship, had a losing season made worse by first year head coach Tony Amato losing his job under a cloud of accusations about abuse.

Throw in the fact that the Florida baseball team, almost always a threat to make it to Omaha for the College World Series, failed to get out of its own regional, in large part because the Gators lost ace pitcher Hunter Barco to Tommy John surgery, forcing head coach Kevin O’Sullivan to spend half a season shuffling a pitching rotation that was the youngest in the SEC and one of the youngest in the country.

Yet for all those negatives in high profile programs, the athletic program didn’t spring any leaks. Athletic director Scott Stricklin oversees a program whose foundation is excellence. Good coaches, good athletes, a commitment to excellence – it all added up to another top five finish.

So, how did the Gators do it? Florida had 11 top ten finishes nationally, the 20th consecutive season Florida has had ten or more teams finish in the top ten. The Gators had three national championships, the 13th year UF has had at least one national title; a national runner-up in gymnastics; a third-place finish in men’s swimming; 5th-place finishes in lacrosse, swimming and men’s tennis; 9th-place finishes (ties) by volleyball and women’s tennis; and a 10th-place finish (tie) for men’s golf. The Gators won four SEC titles (gymnastics, men’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis, women’s outdoor track and field) and one American Athletic Conference title (lacrosse). There were 19 individual NCAA titles set by 17 Gators, breaking a record that had stood since 1982.

The Gators had five individuals win national athlete of the year in their sport: Joseph Fahnbulleh, USTFCCA Outdoor Male Runner of the Year; Anna Hall, USTFCCA Outdoor Women’s Field Athlete of the Year; Jasmine Moore, USTFCCA Indoor Women’s Field Athlete of the Year; Ben Shelton, ITA (tennis) National Player of the year; Trinity Thomas, Honda Award (gymnastics).

Eight Gators were conference athletes of the year in their sport: Maha Amer, SEC Co-Diver of the Year; McCartney Kessler, SEC Women’s Tennis Player of the Year; Jasmine Moore SEC Indoor and Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year; Danielle Pavinelli, AAC Attacker of the Year (lacrosse); Sarah Reznick, AAC Goalkeeper of the Year (lacrosse); Ben Shelton, SEC Men’s Tennis Player of the Year; Trinity Thomas, SEC Gymnast of the Year; Emma Wightman, AAC Defender of the Year (lacrosse).

That is incredible success, yet because three coaches had to be fired in sports that have a history of national championships (three football, two men’s basketball, one soccer) and postseason success, it feels as if the Gators under-achieved. A 5th-place finish in the Director’s Cup is a tremendous achievement, but football and men’s basketball in particular are high profile and when they have off-years, it seems as if a cloud descends on the athletic program. Soccer isn’t nearly as high profile, but Becky Burleigh made the NCAA 22 straight years and made it to the Sweet 16 or better 13 times.

Go back to the Director’s Cup standings and take a look at what separated the Gators from a 3rd-place finish. The Gators finished 3.75 points behind 4th-place Ohio State and 14.5 behind 3rd-place Michigan. A New Year’s Six bowl in football would have been worth approximately 60 points which would have sent the Gators past both Ohio State and Michigan. Stanford’s baseball points haven’t been added but if Florida had a New Year’s Six bowl, the usual first round NCAA win in men’s basketball and a Sweet 16 in soccer, a second-place finish could have happened.

I think Scott Stricklin does a great job giving Florida’s coaches everything they need to not only win but to do it the right way (92 percent graduation rate; 3.21 GPA by all the athletes in the program), but I would be a lot happier if Florida football, men’s basketball and soccer had done their part. Florida finished fifth in the Director’s Cup standings. I’m happy for the achievement, but I can’t help but wish football, basketball and soccer had chipped in.

The athletic year at the University of Florida has ended and for all the successes, I have to admit I’m happy to put 2021-22 in the rearview. I’m already looking forward to a fresh start in August and a fantastic finish next June. In between I’m hoping Billy Napier (football), Todd Golden (men’s basketball) and Samantha Bohon (soccer) get their sports back on track. It just seems so much better when those sports are doing well.