GAINESVILLE — Florida baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan has been suspended for his obscenity-laced tirade at an NCAA baseball regional, where the Gators’ 2025 season ended.
UF announced a three-game suspension Friday for the 56-year-old coach entering his 19th season at UF. O’Sullivan will miss opening weekend Feb. 13-15 against UAB in Gainesville because of his actions during the Conway Regional at Coastal Carolina.
In a statement, Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin said the suspension “reinforces Florida Athletics’ commitment to our standards.”
Stricklin said, O’Sullivan accepted “full responsibility for his behavior,” and “vowed to learn from the experience and serve as a better leader moving forward.”
Prior to the Gators’ 11-4 season-ending loss to East Carolina University on June 1, O’Sullivan berated an on-site staff member working for Coastal Carolina.
Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan has led his program to 17 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, but UF has failed to advance to the Super Regionals three times since 2021. (AP File Photo/Gary McCullough)
Someone recorded the incident and later posted it on social media.
In a post on the X account of Pirate Radio, 92.7 Greenville The Voice of The Pirate Nation, O’Sullivan is shown on video using more than a dozen expletives in a 47-second span.
On June 2, Stricklin said O’Sullivan “fell well short of expectations of how Gators treat people.”
O’Sullivan also was involved with a confrontation with an ECU player prior to the season-ending loss.
In a statement, the longtime Gators coach said, “I let my emotions get the best of me and channeled my energy in a way I should not have.”
O’Sullivan has coached Florida to 17 straight NCAA tourney appearances, including the 2017 national title. UF won 15 of 20 games entering the NCAAs as the No. 2 seed.
But ECU scored 22 runs during a pair of lopsided losses to bounce UF from the NCAA tourney without reaching to the Super Regional for the third time since 2021.
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/08/29/florida-baseball-coach-kevin-osullivan-scott-stricklin/
