Florida’s Baseball is drifting farther from the version Kevin O’Sullivan once built

For a solid decade, the thought of having any disgruntlement towards Kevin O’Sullivan was unfathomable. O’Sullivan came to town in 2008 and, from 2010 through 2018, made the College World Series seven times, winning it once (2017) and finishing as runner-up once (2011). 

Slowly, though, that level of dominance has started to fade as Florida has been extremely mortal since 2019. And after a shocking exit from the NCAA Tournament that wasn’t actually that shocking for those paying attention, that nine-year run the Gators went on is starting to get farther and farther from the rearview mirror.

Florida has another early exit from the NCAA Tournament

It’s only fair that we open with the fact that Kevin O’Sullivan has never missed the NCAA Tournament since arriving in 2008, and Florida currently holds the longest streak in the country of making tournaments. There is also a world where O’Sullivan could easily have a second national title to his name, which brings us right away to butterfly effect number one of how O’Sullivan is viewed:

In game one of the 2023 championship series against LSU, Wyatt Langford smacked a ball in the bottom of the 10th that could have very easily won the game, but was lined right at the LSU left fielder and needed to be about six inches higher for a game-winning RBI. Given that Florida pummelled LSU in game two, that could have been O’Sullivan’s second ring.

But one of the problems facing Florida right now is that the 2023 season is increasingly looking like an anomaly in modern-day Gainesville. With Florida’s loss to Troy, the Gators have made the CWS twice in the past seven seasons. That’s still not nothing, but eight other SEC programs can claim at least two CWS appearances in that time span, with three more having made it once.

And it brings us to butterfly effect number two that could have some very real uncomfortable conversations going on right now had it gone the other way:

Florida was awful in 2024 and scraped into the NCAA Tournament by the skin of its teeth, but the season was salvaged by its run to the CWS, where it ultimately made the “Final Four” in Omaha. That run never happens if not for a 6th inning three-run HR from Colby Shelton against Oklahoma State that gave Florida a 4-2 lead and forced the winner-take-all Monday game, where Florida prevailed. If that HR doesn’t happen and Florida gets bounced, Florida would be staring at one CWS appearance in the last seven years, with just that one appearance in Super Regionals.

There is also butterfly effect number three, which could help or hurt this conversation:

What if the 2020 season never gets canceled due to Covid? Florida was No. 1 at the time things got shut down, so we’ll never know if 2020 would have been another trip to Omaha or another postseason flop.

Post-season failures

Florida has now failed to advance from three of the past four Regionals it has hosted, with 2023 being the exception. Florida has made it out of Regionals just twice since 2019, and ten other SEC programs can claim the same.

That 2023 season is also the only top-four finish Florida has had in the regular season in the SEC since 2019.

There is this defense of the program that, as NIL has become the way of the land, Florida just isn’t spending as much to keep up with the big boys.

That may or may not be true, but since 2019, the Gators have had their season end with losses to:

• Dallas Baptist
• South Alabama
• Oklahoma
• LSU
• Texas A&M
• ECU
• Troy

Outside of LSU and Texas A&M, those are not programs spending more money on baseball than Florida.

What needs to change for Florida?

One of the very real and noticeable problems that has crept up for Florida over the past couple of years is that they have been, at times, a very poor fundamental baseball team. Whether it’s fielding the ball, having an actual plan of attack at the plate beyond just hacking away at the pitch, or just basic baseball IQ things, the Gators haven’t been able to execute the basics.

There has also been a noticeable lack of a “glue guy” these past couple of seasons. We’re not talking about Jac Caglianone having to carry the team on his back; we’re talking about a guy like BT Riopelle who isn’t going to sit around going “shucks” when things go south.

There are also questions to be asked of pitching coach David Kopp, and why Florida’s pitchers all fell apart at the end of this season. Combine that with how O’Sullivan handled his bullpen this weekend, and some of the head-scratching choices he has made, and the magic of 2017 feels long and gone.

Should O’Sullivan be fired like some on social media seem to want?

No, especially given teams like UCLA, Georgia Tech, FSU, Nebraska, and Southern Mississippi all bowed out of their own Regionals.

But next year will mark ten years since Florida’s national title. 

The shine of that trophy doesn’t last forever, especially if Florida keeps having Regional weekends like the one it just had.

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