When Scott Strickln reflects on his tenure so far as UF athletic director, he can point to some significant accomplishments.
The Florida Gators have won 13 national titles under his watch, with the most recent coming in men’s basketball in April of 2025. Last month, Florida won the 2025-26 USA Today SEC All-Sports Trophy, a nod to UF’s all-around athletic success in the conference. It was UF’s first All-Sports Trophy win since 2017-18.
“All the SEC championships,” Stricklin said. “This year winning the All Sports Trophy again. Florida attracts really talented people, so it’s fun to be a part of all of that.”
Yet as Stricklin approaches his 10-year anniversary as Florida athletic director on Nov. 1, 2026, he knows more work needs to be done.
Stricklin’s most ambitious project, the proposed $400 million-plus renovation of The Swamp, is nearing the end of its design phase. If it’s as successful as the 2021 opening of UF’s new baseball stadium, Condron Family Ballpark, it will cement Stricklin’s legacy as the master builder of UF athletics. Florida also opened the $85 million Heavener Center, UF’s new football training facility, under Stricklin’s watch in 2023.
But Stricklin understands his missteps, particularly in the Florida football coaching hires of Dan Mullen and Billy Napier. Women’s basketball is another sport Stricklin has yet to fix at Florida, as Cam Newbauer resigned after a player abuse scandal and Kelly Rae Finley was fired after failing to reach the NCAA Tournament in four straight seasons. Both were Stricklin hires.
“Probably look back at things I wish we had done different,” Stricklin said. “Jackson Browne has a song, he says don’t remind me of my failures because I haven’t forgotten them. I think when you are in these roles you focus more on the things you wish you had done better, and you try to learn from them and move forward and do better next time. I think we’ve done that.”
Can Scott Stricklin’s latest hire, Jon Sumrall, fix Florida football?
Stricklin hired three new Florida coaches during the 2025-26 year, bringing in Tami Reiss to replace Finley in women’s basketball, Nick Zimmerman to replace Samantha Bohon in women’s soccer and, of course, Jon Sumrall to replace Napier in football.
“Any time you make a coaching hire that doesn’t work out as a success you go back and do a postmortem and figure out how to do it better,” Stricklin said. “We’ve hired a couple of new coaches this year I’m really excited about and feel like we learned some lessons from those that didn’t work out in the past.”
The 43-year-old Sumrall is making a strong early impression in his honeymoon period. UF’s 2027 recruiting class currently ranks fourth nationally, per 247Sports. He’s done 50 podcasts, radio interviews and TV interviews this spring in an effort to drum up support and enthusiasm for the program.
“He’s got, as my mom would say, personality plus,” Stricklin said. “He’s incredibly genuine, authentic and over-the-top as far as relatability, anybody, any walk of life. I read his comments where he talked about, I’m not going to change, I’m not smart enough to be more than one person, I am who I am.”
A Jackson, Mississippi native, the 56-year-old Stricklin said he’s grown to appreciate Gainesville and its melting pot compared to other SEC towns. He’s previously lived and worked in Auburn, Alabama (Auburn), Lexington, Kentucky (Kentucky) and Starkville, Mississippi (Mississippi State), before taking the UF job nearly 10 years ago,
“You have Deep South, the big cities of Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville influence,” Stricklin said. You have the South Florida influence; you have transplants from up North and the Midwest.
“You don’t get that in many SEC towns. I think that’s what makes Gainesville really unique and just love being a part of that community and being a part of UF.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Nearing 10 years as AD of Florida Gators, Scott Stricklin focused on what lies ahead
Reporting by Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun | USA TODAY Network
