Gators HC Todd Golden: Florida 'Should Have High Expectations'
Photo (left to right): Kent Fuchs, Todd Golden and Scott Stricklin; Credit: Alex Shepherd
The Florida Gators are the last team in college basketball to take home back-to-back National Championships. However, since that improbable run to the mountain top twice under Billy Donovan, UF has been unable to reclaim that success.
In the seven years since Donovan departed from the program, Florida has missed the tournament twice, only escaped the first weekend of play one time and lost in the Elite Eight in 2016-17.
Pairing the fall from grace during the previous regime and the lack of past success from Florida, some people in Gator Nation began to ask: Are the expectations for Florida basketball too high? Were the mid-2000s an anomaly for an otherwise middle-tier program? Is it too much to ask for Florida to be a perennial championship contender?
On day one of his new gig, new Gators head coach Todd Golden provided a candid answer to those hot topic questions.
"Honestly, at a place like this, they should have high expectations," Golden said during his introductory press conference. "There's everything you need here to be really, really good, and if they didn't have those championship aspirations and expectations, if Scott [Stricklin] didn't want to do that, that would concern me."
Coming over from a San Francisco team that was in a similar boat to Florida, albeit on a much smaller scale, Golden led the Dons back to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998 and the first at-large bid for a WCC team, not named Gonzaga, Saint Mary's or BYU, since 2002.
But, that accomplishment came without the presence of an intense fanbase breathing down his neck.
The same pressure that he will feel – or possibly has already begun to – is regarded as a significant factor that played into Mike White's decision to depart to a Georgia program that is viewed as a downgrade for onlookers around the country.
However, Golden said that White's decision had little impact on his desire to assume the new role at the University of Florida.
"Coach White leaving, it didn't mean anything to me, to be honest, and I don't know what he was going through or what led him to that, but it didn't change the way I felt about this place at all."
As he goes forward, Golden is adamant about his desire to return to the Gators to the luxurious status they once held. To do so, he will look to implement a fast-paced offensive attack that wins by playing "fast but not in a hurry."
He said that if the team can pick up his system and improve in shooting beyond the arc and defensive rebounding early on his tenure, Florida will be back in the tournament competing for more national titles to add to the esteemed resume sooner than later.
"I think if we can lift those two areas up a couple of pegs and stay consistent and get better in other areas, we should be back in the tournament next year," he said.
While some will be skeptical about trusting a 36-year-old with just three years of coaching experience under his belt, Golden's refusal to shy away from the lofty expectations of the territory will win over some early supporters.
"I want those expectations. We're going to do everything we can to get there."
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