Todd Golden is sticking with the Florida Gators for now.
The fifth-year coach agreed to a six-year extension that will make him the highest-paid coach in school history. Golden, who led the Gators to a national championship in the 2024-25 season, will get a substantial raise from his $6 million annual salary as part of a $49.5 million extension over six years.
Golden stands to average $8.25 million a season with incremental raises that will have that number up to $9 million by the end of the deal in 2031-32. He has a 103-41 record at Florida and has made the national tournament in three consecutive seasons.
BREAKING: Florida men's basketball head coach Todd Golden has signed a six-year extension that will keep him one of the nation's highest-paid coaches.
— Graham Hall (@GrahamHall) August 28, 2026
READ: https://t.co/Uf9SpddhYH pic.twitter.com/ARV4hggaiR
The 41-year-old coach has Gators basketball humming right now. And with the return of forwards Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu, the Gators will enter the upcoming season ranked No. 1 and are a clear favorite to return to the Final Four.
"I hope we're getting started here. The natty was awesome. The one seed last year was awesome, but we feel like we have a lot of work left to do, and a lot of great things left to accomplish here at Florida," Golden said in an interview on 'Breakfast with the Gators'.
Gators secure Todd Golden for now with record contract
Golden was the subject of a lot of rumors this offseason. He was linked to the job opening at North Carolina, which eventually went to former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone. But Golden leaving Gainesville for another school wasn't as big of a concern as the NBA. He was linked to the Golden State Warriors job if Steve Kerr had decided to retire. Kerr is still with the Warriors and Golden is still with the Gators.
This deal looks good and takes the focus away from any potential issues with Golden as the Gators look to win another national championship. The threat of the NBA, however, is going to be there and there is language in his contract that makes a departure to the pros seem likely in the future.
After viewing Golden's contract extension, there's an interesting addition:
— Graham Hall (@GrahamHall) August 28, 2026
If Scott Stricklin isn't the athletic director at Florida, Golden's buyout is reduced to $5 million the next two seasons from $16 million and $13 million, respectively, and his NBA buyout will be $0 for… https://t.co/BLoHiCBpax
Golden's potential future won't be an issue in the 2026-27 season, and it was important to get that piece of business settled. It feels safe to say that as long as Golden decides to coach in college, he'll be doing it with the Gators. There just aren't many jobs in college that are better and with the new contract extension and bump in pay, there's no reason for him to leave.
It also feels like this is the most stable that the coaching situations around Gators athletics have been in a while. There isn't a worry about Golden leaving this job for North Carolina or if the Kentucky job opens after this year. Jon Sumrall is the new coach at Florida and fans hope he'll be in that position for a while.
Now fans can enjoy the next 9–10 months of Florida sports. It's going to be an exciting time.
Add us as a preferred source on Google