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Forget Billy Napier, Scott Stricklin's fate is about to be tied to Todd Golden

After covering up two previous scandals, faith in Scott Stricklin handling the Todd Golden investigation is low

By Benjamin Henderson

Aug 31, 2024; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin looks on against the Miami Hurricanes before the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
Aug 31, 2024; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin looks on against the Miami Hurricanes before the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
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When Scott Stricklin dropped the news this week that Billy Napier would be retained as Florida's head football coach for the 2025 season, it was seen, in part, as a self-preservating move. Given that Stricklin had already hired Dan Mullen and Napier, most athletic directors in the SEC are not given the lease to hire a third football coach.

But there is another problem brewing in Gainesville, and if the allegations are true, then it is time to completely clean house at Florida.

Florida Gators: Three Strikes And You're Out

Florida's student-run newspaper The Independent Florida Alligator dropped a bombshell story on Friday that detailed allegations against men's basketball coach Todd Golden. The story details a Title IX investigation that was launched in September that accuses Golden of sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, and stalking.

The story details that "The claims regarding sexual harassment, which could also include sexual exploitation, cited sending photos and videos of his genitalia while traveling for UF, unwanted sexual advances on Instagram, requesting sexual favors, and various occasions of stalking."

There are a ton of pathways for one to explore with an allegation as severe as this, but we are going to keep it to two we want to look at.

If these allegations are not true and Golden is unfairly having his name dragged through the mud, it does real damage to women who do, in fact, have situations like this happen to them. Incidents like what happened with Duke Lacrosse in 2006 make us all skeptical, no matter how in-depth the report may be.

But if, and this is if, these allegations turn out to be true, then not only does Golden need to go, but Stricklin needs to go with him.

If you think it's unfair to tie Stricklin to whatever happens with Golden, Stricklin put himself in this situation by his complete mishandling of Florida's women's basketball and soccer programs.

In September 2021, it came out that Stricklin knew about abuse allegations from now-former women's basketball coach Cam Newbauer and tried to sweep them under the rug and even gave Newbauer a contract extension in June of 2021 before Newbauer resigned in July of 2021 due to "personal reasons."

Then, in April of 2022, Stircklin fired soccer coach Tony Amato. Complaints about Amato's culture began in October 2021, his first season as Florida's coach, and were never fixed.

While we are at it, the once proud Florida soccer program is now 16-39-17 over the past four seasons.

That's two strikes right there.

For that reason, Stricklin's fate needs to be tied to the outcome of this investigation.

The problem for Stircklin and why he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt as to whether or not he made the correct call to allow Golden to continue coaching this season, knowing these allegations were in the pipeline, is because of his handling of women's basketball and women's soccer.

Nobody wants this story to be true, nor should anyone hope it is true.

If it is not true, we can carry on and enjoy what looks like a Florida basketball team that is primed for a great season.

If it is true, burn it down. Burn it all down.

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