Todd Golden and the Gators are living large in the moment

Todd Golden has the Gators ready to burn down the house in San Antonio (Photo by Chris Spears)

“Watch out you might get what you're after. Cool babes, strange but not a stranger. I'm an ordinary guy. Burning down the house.”

From “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Todd Golden is three months shy of his 40th birthday but with that dimpled face and quick, easy grin, he probably gets carded if he wants to buy a beer. Here in San Antonio where the National Association of Basketball Coaches is holding its annual convention, Todd Golden looks like one of the guys, but don’t let a look that some would call innocent fool you. This is not an ordinary guy.

Todd Golden is a shark and in the NCAA Tournament he is proving equal to the moment.

In the basketball coaching profession, the NCAA Tournament is the great equalizer. With each progression toward the 6-0 run that takes a team from the first round to standing on a podium singing “One Shining Moment” as confetti drops from the ceiling, the tension mounts. The first round sheds 32 teams from the field of 64. The Sweet 16 takes it down to eight, then the Elite Eight gives us what we have today – a Final Four.

At each round of the tournament the pressure expands and only those who are equal to the moment survive and take their team forward. As the last three games have proven – wins over UConn, Maryland and Texas Tech – Todd Golden has lived in the moment without the circumstances overwhelming him.

He may look like a kid, but he’s coaching like he’s been there and done that many, many times.

This is why the Florida Gators are that team everybody is leery of as their semifinal date with Auburn looms Saturday (6:09 p.m., CBS) at the Alamodome. In the other semifinal, Duke will take on Houston. Auburn, Duke and Houston are outstanding teams, all of them capable of hoisting the big trophy Monday night, but the Gators are the talk of the town and Todd Golden is at the center of every discussion.

Neither Bruce Pearl (Auburn), Jon Scheyer (Duke) or Kelvin Sampson (Houston) have won a national championship. Pearl and Sampson have brought teams to the Final Four but haven’t won a national championship. Scheyer was the captain of a Duke team that won the 2010 national title, but this is his first Final Four as a coach.

Pearl has Johni Broome playing for him and Scheyer has Cooper Flagg. Sampson has LJ Cryer and a team that seems to play every game like its mixed martial arts combined with elements of basketball thrown in for good measure.

None of them have as many ways to beat you as Todd Golden has at his disposal. He has carefully constructed a roster that has enough moving parts to adapt to any style of play. The Gators can run teams out of the gym or go bare knuckles if they want a slugfest. All four of the games in the NCAA Tournament have resembled something straight out of an NWA script with Gordon Solie on the mic the only thing missing.

On the sideline, Golden works the officials, implores the crowd to get louder during time outs and at least two or three times every game reminds us of the late, great Jim Valvano, whose animated sideline presence injected energy into the entire building.

So here is Todd Golden in San Antonio having handled ever so well each escalation of the tension and pressure that gets a team to the Final Four. He has yet to wilt.

Go back to January. After a 13-0 start against a non-conference schedule that included three convents, a monastery, two homeless shelters and a collection of YMCA all-stars, the Gators showed up in Lexington where they engaged in a track meet with the Kentucky Wildcats, whose win over Duke was a notch in their belt.

Kentucky outran the Gators, 106-100, but in that defeat Golden knew he could handle the moment and knew he had a team capable of getting it done. This was Kentucky prior to all the injuries. It was Rupp Arena, which routinely shatters ear drums.  

Neither the moment or the circumstance overwhelmed the Gators. Right then and right there, Golden knew he had a team capable of rising to the top of the Southeastern Conference.

“I honestly was as excited as you can be after that game, after a loss,” Golden said Thursday. “A lot of people have questioned the strength of schedule we played in non-conference. Going on the road, playing in Rupp against a team that we knew was really good, we didn't guard necessarily well enough, but we played well in that game. It was a great game. In a way it gave us confidence moving forward.”

Days later, the Gators hosted a red hot Tennessee team that ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. The Gators made mincemeat of the Volunteers and Golden outcoached Rick Barnes.

“Three or four days later we beat Tennessee at home, No. 1 in the country, by 30. I think that week with those two contests explained to us and built a lot of belief within our program that we belonged at the top of the SEC.”

Since then the Gators have proven they not only belong but are very capable of winning the national championship. The Gators made it through a brutal SEC schedule with a 14-4 record. They turned Nashville into their own personal playground when they beat Missouri, Alabama and Tennessee consecutively to take the SEC Tournament championship.

In the four games of the NCAA Tournament following the romp through Nashville, the Gators have ended the seasons of Norfolk State, UConn, Maryland and Texas Tech. The last three games, in particular, Golden has outcoached Danny Hurley, Kevin Willard and Grant McCasland. Now he gets to take on Bruce Pearl, former boss, mentor and father figure. He beat Pearl on the road during the season, but now the circumstances are different. It is the Final Four and not just any Final Four. Jay Bilas says it has the potential to be the greatest in history.

These are the circumstances that can define an entire coaching career. Here is Todd Golden, not quite 40 years old, and he is showing no signs of the pressure getting to him. If anything he is channeling his inner Valvano and living large in the moment.

You don’t get this far in the NCAA Tournament if the circumstances overwhelm you. You don’t find yourself on the precipice of a national championship if you aren’t equal to the moment.

It is Friday. The semifinal with Auburn is a day away. Everything about Todd Golden’s demeanor tells us he is ready for what is ahead.

SEC PLAYERS IN THE PORTAL

Alabama: C Noah Williamson (7-0, 224, JR from Bucknell); SF Naas Cunningham (6-7, 175, FR)

Arkansas: SG Melo Sanchez (6-4, 185, JR); C Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2, 235, SO); PG Casmir Chavis (6-0, 180, FR)

Auburn: PF Keyshawn Hall (6-7, 240, JR, from UCF)

Georgia: SG Silas Demary Jr. (6-5, 195, JR) to UConn; SF RJ Godfrey (6-7, 225, JR); SG De’Shayne Montgomery (6-4, 190, SO); PG Jeremiah Wilkinson (from California)

Kentucky: PF Kam Williams (6-8, 190, FR from Tulane); PG Kerr Kriisa (6-3, 180, SR)

LSU: PF Noah Boyde (7-0, 245, JR); SG Vyctorius Miller (6-5, 185, FR); SG Mike Williams (6-3, 180, SO); PF Corey Chest (6-8, 220, FR); SF Tyrell Ward (6-6, 195, JR); C Michael Nwoko (6-10, 245, SO from Mississippi State); PG Dedan Thomas (6-1, 170, SO from UNLV); SG Rashad King (6-6, 198, JR, from Northeastern); SG Max Mackinnon (6-5, 200, JR from Portland)

Mississippi State: SG Martavious Russell (6-3, 190, SO); C Michael Nwoko (6-10, 245, SO to LSU); PG Kanye Cleary (5-11, 190, JR); C Jeremy Foumena (6-11, 235, SO); SF Adrian Myers (6-6, 205, FR); SG Riley Kugel (6-5, 210, JR)

Missouri: C Jevon Porter (6-11, 235, JR from Loyola Marymount); PF Aidan Shaw (6-9, 210, JR to Boston College)

Oklahoma: SF Jacolb-Fredson Cole (6-7, 220, FR to McNeese); C Yaya Keita (6-9, 241, JR); SG Duke Miles (6-2, 175, SR)

Ole Miss: SG TJ Caldwell (6-4, 190, JR); PG Pop Isaacs (from Creighton); C John Bol (7-2, 210, FR)

South Carolina: SG Treyson Eaglestaff (6-6, 190, JR from North Dakota); C/PF Nick Pringle (6-10, 220, SR); SF Arden Conyers; PG Zachary Davis (6-7, 200, JR); CG Austin Herro (6-3, 180, FR); PF Christ Essandoko (7-0, 285, SO from Providence); SG Cam Scott (6-6, 170, FR); PG Jamarii Thomas (6-0, 185, SR); PG Meechie Johnson (6-2, 175, SR from Ohio State)l Kobe Knox (6-5, 185, JR, from South Florida)

Tennessee: PG Ja’Kobi Gillespie (6-1, 175, JR, from Maryland)

Texas: SF Devon Pryor (6-7, 185, SO to Oregon); SF Dailyn Swain (from Xavier)

Texas A&M: SF Rob Dockery (6-6, 215, FR); SF Jaelyn Lee (6-6, 195, SO); PF Janusz Ratowski (6-11, 225, FR); Pharrel Payne (6-9, 255, JR); SF Solomon Washington (6-7, 225, JR); SG Andre Mills (6-4, 200, FR)6-7k 6- ; SF George Turkson (6-7, 220, FR)

Vanderbilt: SG Jason Edwards (6-1, 175, JR); SG Jordan Williams (6-2, 215, JR); SG Alex Hemenway (6-4, 190, SR); C Jaylen Carey (6-8, 265, SO); PF Jaqualon Roberts (6-8, 230, SO); PG Karris Bilal (6-2, 190, FR); SG MJ Collins (6-4, 190, JR)

COACHING RUMORSJust when it seemed Chris Beard was about to bolt Ole Miss for Texas A&M, Ole Miss ponied up more cash, gave him a contract extension and left the Aggies high and dry. On3 lists three names as prominent candidates: Alan Huss of High Point, Chris Mack of Charleston and Luke Murray, an assistant at UConn. Huss is a former Creighton assistant who is 56-15 in two years at High Point, while Mack was formerly the head coach at Xavier and Louisville. Mack has a career record of 302-142, 24-9 in his only season at Charleston. Murray is the son of comedy star Bill Murray. He is considered an outstanding recruiter.

None of these guys have any experience in the Southeastern Conference, which is by far the best conference in the country. Beard would have been a home run hire. The three names mentioned by On3 are very good basketball coaches, but in light of Texas scoring a big hire in Sean Miller, it would seem the Aggies are “settling” if they don’t land someone with both an easily recognized name and a strong track record of success.