Report: Florida Hiring San Francisco’s Todd Golden as New Basketball Coach

The 36-year-old led the Dons to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 24 years.

The Florida men’s basketball program is expected to hire San Francisco’s Todd Golden, according to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde. ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported the news, saying the two sides are expected to “move quickly” after the Dons’ loss on Thursday night.

Confirming @PeteThamel report that Florida is closing in on San Francisco’s Todd Golden as its next coach. Gators were ready to lock this up after the Dons lost to Murray State last night.

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 18, 2022

Florida previous coach Mike White left the program on March 13 to replace Tom Crean at Georgia. 

So, when No. 10 seed San Francisco lost 92–87 in the first round to No. 7 Murray State on Thursday night, the Gators were right on top of Golden to seal the deal with their new coach. CBS Sports reports that Golden’s deal with Florida will be for six years.

Golden led the Dons to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 24 years. He finishes his three-year stint at USF with a 57–36 all-time record as head coach. He previously was an assistant coach for the program. His only prior SEC experience was working as an assistant coach under Bruce Pearl at Auburn from 2014 to ’16.

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said he didn’t necessarily want a big name coach from a huge school, and that was more focused on finding the best fit for the program. The 36-year-old Golden appears to be the person for the job.