DR. FUCHS: Thank you, Steve. Good afternoon. Well, it is with great pleasure and excitement that I introduce the University of Florida's next athletic director. For the past three months the chair of our search, Manny Fernandez, has worked full time in seeking out the perfect individual to lead the Florida athletic program for many years into the future. Manny, the Gator Nation owes you a lot, not only for your magnificent leadership of this search, but also for serving as chair of our board of trustees in the past. Manny, could you please stand? I want to recognize you. Thank you. (Applause). In addition, I want to thank our search advisory committee, and I also want to acknowledge two other individuals. Jeremy Foley was an incredible asset to us in every step of our search, and I know how very pleased Jeremy is with the outcome of this search and the individual that we have selected. Finally, I also want to single out Linda Taylor. Linda has been our liaison to the athletic association and all the constituents that were involved in this search. Linda has devoted herself full time to the search, including during her summer vacation. Linda, could you please stand? (Applause). Well, we knew from the start that our next athletic director had to share the same values as our university. These values include the well-being and the personal success of our student-athletes, the success and stature of our entire university, excellence across a breadth of sports, for both women and men, and the recruitment and the support of spectacular coaches in all of our sports. We looked for an individual who had had success as a sitting athletic director in a conference at the same level as the Southeastern Conference. We wanted someone who would further enhance our already excellent facilities. We sought someone who would be successful in building on the legacy of Jeremy Foley and who could take our athletic program to the very next level. We also sought someone who had a vision for the future of collegiate athletics and someone who would be a leader among leaders, both on campus and nationally. Finally, we looked for an AD who truly wanted to be a Florida Gator. We've met some wonderful people along the way during our search. But there was one person from the very beginning who had everything we were looking for. Our new athletic director exhibits strong leadership in everything he does. He's had a wealth of experience at excellent universities, including as an athletic director in the SEC. He was voted the 2015-16 Athletic Director of the Year by NACDA, and ^ most importantly, he and his family have embraced the Florida Gators. It's my distinct pleasure to introduce the next athletic director for the Florida Gators, Scott Stricklin, his wife Anne and his daughters Abby and Sophie. Welcome, Scott, to the Gator Nation. (Applause).
SCOTT STRICKLIN: Thank you. Thank you very much. Dr. Fuchs, thank you very much for this unbelievable opportunity. I can't tell you how excited and honored I am. I want to thank Manny for guiding this process the way you did, in the professional manner you did. I want to thank the search committee, the UA board, Linda, because she is a rock star, and really appreciate everything you did through this process, Linda. This was a very challenging decision for me to make the decision to leave a place that is my alma mater; it's very important to me, where I had built a lot of relationships, had a lot of family connections. And I get calls from time to time, fortunate enough, every now and then the last few years from these search firm guys calling, asking if I'd have an interest in a certain job. And I had never pursued any of those. And I finally told one here recently, I said, you know, there may be two or three jobs in the country I might be interested in leaving Mississippi State for, and those jobs may never call and that's okay, because I've got a good deal. And then this job came up. And going through this process, it became obvious to me that there's really only one job I'd leave Mississippi State for, and that is to be a Florida Gator. Okay. And really that says something really special about Mississippi State and what that place means to me, but it says something really special about the University of Florida and what this place represents.
College athletics is such a great enterprise; right? We have such a great opportunity to impact lives. And we gotta win games, but it's not just about winning games. We have to educate young people, and it's not just about educating young people. I believe our goal as being part of ^ college athletics is to create great experiences centered around our campus and getting people engaged in our universities. And for our student-athletes that's an experience based on getting great education, competing at the highest level and developing relationships that will last the rest of their lives.
As far as staff and our coaches, it's a relationship -- it's a work experience; right? And it's a work experience that hopefully is fulfilling and rewarding and one that they feel really good about because at the end of the day they're the ones impacting the experience for those student-athletes who are so important to us. And if we're successful creating a great experience for our student-athletes and successful creating a great experience for our coaches and our staff, then everyone who loves this university, the students, the alumni, the fans, everyone who makes up Gator Nation is going to have a great experience engaging back to this campus community at the University of Florida.
Florida has been creating great experiences, championship experiences for a long time: 36 national titles, 235 conference championships, 180 Olympians. The list goes on and on and on. And Florida has set a standard not just in the SEC, but across the country, as being a place that not only wins and has success on the courts and on the fields and on the tracks of this conference, but across the country. And they've developed that relationship by doing things the right way, with great integrity, and that's something I know everyone here takes so much pride in. I think it's really appropriate that we're having this press conference today, not in a football stadium, not in a basketball arena, not in any other athletic venue. We're doing it in the brand new Hawkins Center here at Farrior Hall. Talk about a place that values the overall experience for student-athletes, to have a press conference like this in a place that shows the commitment that Florida has to doing things the right way.
Much of the success that has happened here is credited to great athletes, great coaches, great staff, but certainly there's one person the last quarter century who's driven that boat, and that's Jeremy, my good friend. (Applause). Jeremy, arguably -- and it may not be much of an argument -- is the best athletic director in the history of the SEC. And I firmly believe that. And there's been some really good ones. But Jeremy has set a standard. Last several years I've gotten to know him as a colleague and then as a friend, and he's always been there with a word of advice. Sometimes it was wanted, sometimes not. But he's been a great confidant. I can't imagine how special it is to walk into an opportunity like this and have a guy like Jeremy available to seek as a resource. No one knows the Florida Gators better than Jeremy Foley does, and to have him available at a moment's notice is such an incredible resource and a great benefit. And really appreciate you, Jeremy. Thank you.
You know, the only constant in life is change. Everything changes. Nothing ever stays the same. So we have two choices; right? We can either sit back, kind of let everything move around us, or we can keep pushing forward and making sure Florida maintains their position as the preeminent athletic department in the country. To do that we have to be innovative; we have to be creative; we have to be progressive. We have to continue to push the envelope in all the right ways to make sure Florida maintains its advantage that it's had for so many years. Everything we do is centered around supporting our student-athletes and supporting our coaches and creating a great experience for everyone who loves the Gators.
I'm so excited and I'm really challenged by the opportunity to be a part of figuring out what's next at Florida, to figure out how we take this great platform that's been developed and we keep building on it and supporting these people in a way to be really successful.
Before I take any questions, I want to introduce my family. I know Dr. Fuchs mentioned my wife, Anne, been married 23 years. We were married a year -- I'm sorry; we were married a month, we moved to Auburn, Alabama 23 years ago, and I thought that was really upsetting her life until several years later when we moved to Lexington, Kentucky when she was eight months pregnant, and I realized what a strong woman Anne is; she's got a great heart but she's my steel magnolia, so thank you, Anne, for supporting me. (Applause).
We have two beautiful daughters who take after their mother. Abby is a tenth-grader. Her sister Sophie is a seventh grader. I'm not going to forget your name. I got it. (Laughs). We're both really fortunate to have an extended family that's been very supportive and loving throughout our life, and I'm really blessed to have my parents, David and Eula Stricklin here with us today. Thank you guys for coming and being here. I want to wish my mom a happy birthday. She told me I couldn't say how old she is, but today is her birthday. (Applause).
My brother, David, is here, who's my older brother. He's a pilot for Delta, so it was easy for him to get here. He was born in Jacksonville, and my parents lived there while he was born, and so things seem to come full circle, I guess, sometimes. At least it has for the Stricklins. So with that, any questions.
SCOTT STRICKLIN: Thank you. Thank you very much. Dr. Fuchs, thank you very much for this unbelievable opportunity. I can't tell you how excited and honored I am. I want to thank Manny for guiding this process the way you did, in the professional manner you did. I want to thank the search committee, the UA board, Linda, because she is a rock star, and really appreciate everything you did through this process, Linda. This was a very challenging decision for me to make the decision to leave a place that is my alma mater; it's very important to me, where I had built a lot of relationships, had a lot of family connections. And I get calls from time to time, fortunate enough, every now and then the last few years from these search firm guys calling, asking if I'd have an interest in a certain job. And I had never pursued any of those. And I finally told one here recently, I said, you know, there may be two or three jobs in the country I might be interested in leaving Mississippi State for, and those jobs may never call and that's okay, because I've got a good deal. And then this job came up. And going through this process, it became obvious to me that there's really only one job I'd leave Mississippi State for, and that is to be a Florida Gator. Okay. And really that says something really special about Mississippi State and what that place means to me, but it says something really special about the University of Florida and what this place represents.
College athletics is such a great enterprise; right? We have such a great opportunity to impact lives. And we gotta win games, but it's not just about winning games. We have to educate young people, and it's not just about educating young people. I believe our goal as being part of ^ college athletics is to create great experiences centered around our campus and getting people engaged in our universities. And for our student-athletes that's an experience based on getting great education, competing at the highest level and developing relationships that will last the rest of their lives.
As far as staff and our coaches, it's a relationship -- it's a work experience; right? And it's a work experience that hopefully is fulfilling and rewarding and one that they feel really good about because at the end of the day they're the ones impacting the experience for those student-athletes who are so important to us. And if we're successful creating a great experience for our student-athletes and successful creating a great experience for our coaches and our staff, then everyone who loves this university, the students, the alumni, the fans, everyone who makes up Gator Nation is going to have a great experience engaging back to this campus community at the University of Florida.
Florida has been creating great experiences, championship experiences for a long time: 36 national titles, 235 conference championships, 180 Olympians. The list goes on and on and on. And Florida has set a standard not just in the SEC, but across the country, as being a place that not only wins and has success on the courts and on the fields and on the tracks of this conference, but across the country. And they've developed that relationship by doing things the right way, with great integrity, and that's something I know everyone here takes so much pride in. I think it's really appropriate that we're having this press conference today, not in a football stadium, not in a basketball arena, not in any other athletic venue. We're doing it in the brand new Hawkins Center here at Farrior Hall. Talk about a place that values the overall experience for student-athletes, to have a press conference like this in a place that shows the commitment that Florida has to doing things the right way.
Much of the success that has happened here is credited to great athletes, great coaches, great staff, but certainly there's one person the last quarter century who's driven that boat, and that's Jeremy, my good friend. (Applause). Jeremy, arguably -- and it may not be much of an argument -- is the best athletic director in the history of the SEC. And I firmly believe that. And there's been some really good ones. But Jeremy has set a standard. Last several years I've gotten to know him as a colleague and then as a friend, and he's always been there with a word of advice. Sometimes it was wanted, sometimes not. But he's been a great confidant. I can't imagine how special it is to walk into an opportunity like this and have a guy like Jeremy available to seek as a resource. No one knows the Florida Gators better than Jeremy Foley does, and to have him available at a moment's notice is such an incredible resource and a great benefit. And really appreciate you, Jeremy. Thank you.
You know, the only constant in life is change. Everything changes. Nothing ever stays the same. So we have two choices; right? We can either sit back, kind of let everything move around us, or we can keep pushing forward and making sure Florida maintains their position as the preeminent athletic department in the country. To do that we have to be innovative; we have to be creative; we have to be progressive. We have to continue to push the envelope in all the right ways to make sure Florida maintains its advantage that it's had for so many years. Everything we do is centered around supporting our student-athletes and supporting our coaches and creating a great experience for everyone who loves the Gators.
I'm so excited and I'm really challenged by the opportunity to be a part of figuring out what's next at Florida, to figure out how we take this great platform that's been developed and we keep building on it and supporting these people in a way to be really successful.
Before I take any questions, I want to introduce my family. I know Dr. Fuchs mentioned my wife, Anne, been married 23 years. We were married a year -- I'm sorry; we were married a month, we moved to Auburn, Alabama 23 years ago, and I thought that was really upsetting her life until several years later when we moved to Lexington, Kentucky when she was eight months pregnant, and I realized what a strong woman Anne is; she's got a great heart but she's my steel magnolia, so thank you, Anne, for supporting me. (Applause).
We have two beautiful daughters who take after their mother. Abby is a tenth-grader. Her sister Sophie is a seventh grader. I'm not going to forget your name. I got it. (Laughs). We're both really fortunate to have an extended family that's been very supportive and loving throughout our life, and I'm really blessed to have my parents, David and Eula Stricklin here with us today. Thank you guys for coming and being here. I want to wish my mom a happy birthday. She told me I couldn't say how old she is, but today is her birthday. (Applause).
My brother, David, is here, who's my older brother. He's a pilot for Delta, so it was easy for him to get here. He was born in Jacksonville, and my parents lived there while he was born, and so things seem to come full circle, I guess, sometimes. At least it has for the Stricklins. So with that, any questions.
