It looks like Kevin O'Sullivan isn't leaving Gainesville any time soon.
The University of Florida baseball coach, heading into his 10th season at UF, signed a 10-year contract extension over the summer that keeps him with the Gators until at least 2025 and makes him the highest-paid college baseball coach in the country, the Miami Herald confirmed on Wednesday.
The details of the contract: $1.25 million per year along with a $500,000 signing bonus. The contract also has a buyout clause worth $500,000 for each year remaining on the deal.
Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball was the first to report the contract extension.
O'Sullivan has revolutionized the Gators baseball program since he took over for Pat McMahon in 2008. Florida has won five total Southeastern Conference titles (three regular season championships, two tournament championships) and reached the NCAA Tournament in all nine years under O'Sullivan, the only school to do so during that time. The Gators have also reached the College World Series five times, finishing as the runner up in 2011. He has a UF-best .677 winning percentage since taking over at UF (396-189) with just one losing season (2013; 29-30 record). His 396 wins are the third-most in Florida history, trailing Joe Arnold (434) and Dave Fuller (557).
Sixty-nine of O'Sullivan's players at Florida have gone on to be selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including eight in the 2016 draft this past June.
He has brought in top-10 recruiting classes every season, including three top-ranked classes (2009, 2013, 2015). UF's 12-member recruiting class this year was ranked sixth by Collegiate Baseball and has six players who were selected in June's draft but opted to come to school instead.
Florida is coming off a 52-16 season in which it set a school record for regular-season wins before being bounced from the College World Series after opening losses to eventual NCAA Champion Coastal Carolina and Texas Tech.
O'Sullivan's contract extension is another step that shows Florida's commitment to keeping the baseball program as one of the elite programs in the country.
Earlier this month, the University Athletic Association announced that a renovation to the baseball complex at McKethan Stadium is part of its $100 million master facility plan.
Additions to the baseball stadium include new club seating, a second-level concourse, an expanded press box and improved player amenities.
Incoming athletics director Scott Stricklin, who will be replacing Jeremy Foley beginning Nov. 1, also has a vested interest in baseball, having previously served as Auburn’s baseball contact as an associate media relations director from 1993-98. He also worked for the Mississippi State baseball team’s media department when he was a student there.
"I love college baseball," Stricklin said Tuesday. "I've seen a lot of SEC baseball games from my roles in different schools in the past, and I'm really excited to work with Sully and what he's got built here. And I'm looking forward to getting more details on what the vision is from the updating the baseball stadium. I think it's a great sport; right? And Florida's been really good at it, and I think we're going to make sure this facility matches that."
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