Todd Golden took San Francisco to the NCAA Tournament this year, something Dons have not done in quite a while. One day after their exit, falling in a tough overtime battle to Murray State, Golden has accepted the job as new Florida basketball Head Coach. Golden is one of the young up-and-comers in the college coaching ranks and will not get his shot at a Power Five school. Florida is one of the better jobs in the country that’s not on the blue blood level. Billy Donovan proved you can win at the school but Mike White was never able to really sustain any kind of success is replacing Donovan.
White in a surprise move left Florida for a seemingly worse job in Georgia, and SEC east rival, although the rivalry doesn’t burn as bright in basketball. The decision was certainly an odd move on his part and one has to wonder if the move was him getting out ahead of being fired. White’s odd move is Golden’s gain as he gets to bring his fresh approach and analytically inclined style to Florida with the chance to re-invigorate that program.
Florida associate AD Jay Jacobs was the athletic director at Auburn when Todd Golden was an assistant on Bruce Pearl’s staff. https://t.co/obIFdojS22
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 18, 2022
Now attention to turns to how Golden fills out his staff in a conference he was previously an assistant coach in and does have a bit of familiarity with. He’s got a deep group of coaches he will now battle that Donovan did not when he had Florida at its best. His ability to get San Francisco to the tournament in just his third year certainly adds to the confidence most have in his chances.
