What a ride.
I have already scheduled my appointment with a cardiologist (not @1776) and am sure that a pacemaker will be prescribed. I watched the Uconn, Auburn and Houston games in person and it’s hard to describe the agonizing intensity of those contests.
I am glad they don’t record a person’s self-talk during games.
This team made the last 5+ months crazy fun. How is it possible that we only lose 4 games out of those 40? I am not going to talk about the team, because this post would become the poster child for TL;DR.
Instead, I am going to talk about our coach.
Rewind 6 months ago, Todd was probably at one of the lowest points of his life. I am not going into those details as they would detract from the joy and the point I want to make in this thread.
This 2025 team reflected the personality of its coach. And the Florida Gators coach is stone cold, focused killer. With all the “mess” that was thrown at Todd, and was still lingering all the way until SEC play began, he did not let it affect his approach to the game and his team. In fact, it made him more focused and committed to winning.
Todd has the unique ability to size people up extremely quickly. Yes, he is analytical like no other, but he is not afraid to rely on his gut when it comes to making decisions about people. What makes Todd different from others, is that his gut is even more talented than his head. When a player is not a fit, Todd does not agonize or try and make it work – he just moves on but in a caring and direct manner. That is a unique skill.
Todd sees things in players and assistant coaches that the vast majority of other coaches don’t get. We have all seen how Todd works his bench. He does that with his assistant coaches too. He knows when to call on Coach X vs. Coach Y to address the team.
Everyone associated with Todd trusts him. When you constantly make good decisions, it builds buy-in, and holy crap, did everyone associated with this team buy-in! Top 2 team in offense and top 8 in defense! Todd will tell you: that is all about effort and buy-in.
Being down big-time in the 4 biggest games of the NCAA tourney was scary to watch as a fan. But trust me, that scary feeling never made it courtside. We hear all the time in sports “we knew we were not going to panic.” But this team embodied that. That is one confident group. They REFUSED to lose – even when they had practically no chance to win (just ask ESPN).
Todd is also a coach who is keenly aware of ALL aspects of his job. Some coaches get bogged down and forget the bigger picture. Not Todd. He loves Gator Nation. He was blown away when we filled the Odome on Monday night. He was thrilled when the students took to University Ave after the game to celebrate (except for the dude who fell from the light pole).
But this is the EXACT environment he wants to build at UF. Crazy Basketball fans!
Winning Natty’s is so incredibly hard. There are only 7 active men’s basketball coaches in the country who have won a National Championship as a coach. And one of them is a 39-year-old residing in Gainesville, Florida.
We were all surprised Todd won a natty in year 3. Well not all of us. Todd told me in the fall that he believed we were going to be there in contention at the end of the year. Maybe I am a wounded Gator, but I did not believe him and attributed his claim to gifted coach speak. Shame on me! That won’t happen again.
Todd texted me 2 hours before tip-off on Monday night telling me how fired-up he was about us raising so much money for BBall NIL in a single day. I had no idea he even knew about it. Astonished, I texted him back and basically said “hey, don’t think about us, go win this thing tonight.”
His message was clear: No, I want to enjoy every moment of this. Gators having my back and raising money to make us successful is a part of that. He ended his text with this:
AND WE GOTTA FINISH THIS JOB TONIGHT
And that is exactly what he did...
KC
