I'm not impressed. If Florida is an elite program we should get an elite coach. A Roy Williams, not another project.
Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI, SFR Real Estate Broker Bob Parks, LLC 145 Maple Row Blvd Hendersonville TN 37075 Mobile: 615-972-4239 Office: 615-826-4040 Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: > From: Shane Ford <[email protected]> > Date: May 8, 2015 at 7:06:15 AM CDT > To: GatorNews <[email protected]> > Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Dooley: Foley gets his guy > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Dooley: Foley gets his guy > > > Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley was pumped up after hiring Mike White > on Thursday. (The Associated Press) > By Pat Dooley > Gainesville SUN Columnist > Published: Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 10:06 p.m. > Last Modified: Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 10:55 p.m. > It was Monday morning and Jeremy Foley was choked up. He was saying goodbye > to Billy Donovan, his close friend and best hire as Florida's athletic > director. > > On Monday afternoon, Foley made a phone call that would shape the immediate > future of Florida basketball. He dialed up Tommy McClelland, the young > athletic director at Louisiana Tech, to let him know he wanted to talk to > McClelland's basketball coach. > > On Thursday, Foley was pumped up. > > He had hired the coach to replace the irreplaceable. > > “You're gonna love him,” Foley told me Thursday night. “I know this happened > fast, but he blew us away.” > > Mike White, 38, fits all the parameters of a Foley hire. He's young, he has a > great personality, he has had success but not so much that Florida had to pay > ridiculous money to get him here. Foley has a track record of rewarding > coaches who do well here, not somewhere else. > > The hiring of White happened so fast it caught a lot of people by surprise. > The surprise wasn't that they hired him, but that they hired him so quickly. > > But you have to understand this — once coach Scott Brooks was fired by > Oklahoma City, Foley and his staff prepared for the worst-case scenario. They > started looking for a new coach before Donovan was even talking to Thunder > general manager Sam Presti. > > That's what you do when you are an athletic director. You don't wait until > the bomb drops, you start moving when you hear the planes overhead. > > “Our antennae were up,” Foley said. > > And the one guy they kept picking up on the radar was White, who might well > be the next big thing in college basketball. He is energetic and knows the > state of Florida. His team plays fast-tempo basketball, which was crucial for > Foley to find. > > After 19 years of Billyball, nobody wanted to see Deflategate, > basketball-style. > > Then there is this — White and Louisiana Tech have been to the NIT three > straight years. That shouldn't excite anyone, but if you are at Louisiana > Tech you had better win your conference tournament if you want to dance. > > I could mention this — he turned down Tennessee and has already won at > Florida State. > > Now you're warming up to the guy. > > Or this — Florida basically traded Jeff Driskel for Mike White. > > Point, Florida. > > But these are all trivial points that pale in comparison to the biggest one. > Just like it was the right time for Donovan in his career to leave Florida, > it was the right time for White in his career to come to Florida. > > Time will tell if this was a good hire. It makes a lot of sense. There were > other coaches on speculative checklists, but most of them were bloggers' > dreams. Foley knew who he wanted, vetted him and went after him. > > Certainly, this is now an athletic director with two new coaches with limited > track records in the sports that matter most. If nothing else, it makes the > coming years around here really interesting. > > The bottom line is that a new era has begun for Florida basketball. It has > been so long since one started, it's difficult to remember when it did. > Here's a clue — Michael White was a sophomore point guard at Ole Miss when > Donovan started his career as UF's coach. > > Now, White takes over an elite program, one that Donovan started building > when White was trying to find a way to beat the Gators as a player. > > Now, White's their guy. > > Now, he has the chance of a lifetime. > > There have been a lot more splashy hires in the SEC over the last two years. > Bruce Pearl, Rick Barnes, Ben Howland. > > This hire had much less splash. But what matters are the ripples. > > Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at [email protected]. And follow at > Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent From Shane's iPhone > Go Gators! & Skål Vikes! > ALPCA #8756 > Europlate #1045 > -- > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 > National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 > National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "GatorNews" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
