When the Florida Gators won its third national title in program history a month ago, it cemented the shooting star that is Todd Golden. He came to Gainesville as a relatively unknown coach from the West Coast and, in three seasons, became the youngest coach since Jim Valvano to win a national title.
The University of Florida wants to make sure that Golden doesn't go anywhere, and today, it was announced that Golden has agreed to a new deal that will keep him in Gainesville for a long time.
Todd Golden is getting paid by the Florida Gators
Golden has agreed to a six-year deal worth $40.5 million. The deal will keep Golden with Florida through 2031, and it is also being reported that his buyout clause in the contract is north of $10 million.
This is the second straight year Golden has negotiated an extension, and he earned a base salary of $4.4 million in 2024/25.
The deal makes Golden one of the highest-paid head coaches in all of college basketball, and, in theory, he should be locked up for quite some time. If you are keeping score at home, the $6.75 million per year Golden is slated to earn will put him 15th in the NBA and ahead of the salary former Gator coach Billy Donovan earned with the Bulls this past season ($6 million).
Golden came to Florida after three seasons with San Francisco, which was his first head coaching job. He took the Dons to the NCAA Tournament in his third season and parlayed that into getting hired by Florida after Mike White left for Georgia.
Florida went 16-17 in Golden's initial season, which went downhill after Colin Castleton with an injury. Florida continued going upward with a 24-12 record in 2023/24 and an appearance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Colorado.
But everything clicked for the Gators in 2024/25 as Florida went 36-4, won the SEC Tournament, earned a No. 1 seed, and went on an epic run to win the national title.