How Florida Baseball is Splitting Coaching Duties with Kevin O'Sullivan's Suspension

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- While the Florida Gators baseball team begins its 2026 season with a three-game weekend series against UAB, head coach Kevin O'Sullivan will have to wait to make his season debut as he serves a suspension.

O'Sullivan, entering his 19th season with the program, is serving a three-game suspension as a result of last year's outburst at the Conway Regional, a suspension he accepted.

"I don't want to go back to that, but certainly the one thing I can say is I regret it. I mean, I certainly wish I didn't do it," O'Sullivan said last week, while saying he has since moved on from the incident. "No one feels more regretful than I do. I mean, last thing I want to do is misrepresent Florida or myself or anybody for that matter."

As a result, Florida will heavily rely on new associate head coach Tom Slater, the program's interim during O'Sullivan's leave of absence in the winter, as well as assistant coach Taylor Black and pitching coach David Kopp to split O'Sullivan's duties during the series against the Blazers. Slater, a longtime hitting coach in both the college, Major League and Minor League, will run the offense, Kopp will run the pitching, and Black will coach third base.

"He's an extremely, extremely bright baseball guy, and his hitting knowledge is really second to none," O'Sullivan said of Slater, who was an assistant at Florida in 2004. "He just brings an older presence to him... Consistency, hard nosed, hard working. Everything that this program embodies. I'm excited he's here, and I know he's excited, too."

Florida associate head coach Tom Slater is in his first season of his second stint with the program. | Cyndi Chambers/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Additionally, director of player development Mike Rivera is being elevated to coach first base, while student assistant coach Michael Byrne will move to the bullpen, O'Sullivan detailed.

Kopp and Black enter their fourth and fifth seasons at Florida, respectively, but saw their roles grow during O'Sullivan's leave of absence. Shortly after O'Sullivan stepped away from the program to attend to personal matters, then-interim Chuck Jeroloman departed to rival Tennessee. While Slater was quickly hired, Kopp and Black helped create stability for the team in the midst of chaos.

"They really stepped up and brought a really positive feeling to the environment," infielder Brendan Lawson told Florida Gators on SI. "Just assured us that we were going to get through everything that was going on in fall."

Kopp, specifically, was a focal point of the O'Sullivan-less staff, leading the pitching staff without the longtime head coach, who also worked extensively with the pitchers.

"Kopp and Sully, it was always them two that worked with the pitchers. With Kopp in the fall, it was nice to just see him run the shop on is own, seeing how he could handle it," Luke McNeillie said. "He did a great job with us."

Black also had a change, moving from coaching the outfield to the infield, while Slater is also coaching the outfielders.

"Everybody's kind of trying to find their role, and they've done it so well," outfielder Kyle Jones said. "You give a lot of props to them because it's not only us going through a tough time. It was them, too. They did an amazing job."

Byrne and Rivera, meanwhile, enter their second and fourth season with the program as coaches after returning to the program they once starred at as players. Florida's all-time saves leader (35), Byrne is working with the team as he rehabs from an injury after becoming a free agent in November of 2024.

Former Florida Gators pitcher Michael Byrne and catcher Mike Rivera won a national title in 2017 before recently returning to the program as coaches. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Rivera was elevated from student assistant coach to the full-time director of player development role in 2025 and is known for working with the catchers, a position he starred at for the Gators. Under Rivera, two Florida catchers were named First-Team All-SEC in BT Riopelle in 2023 and Luke Heyman in 2025. He is best-known as a consistent contrubutor during Florida's mid-2010s teams, making 177 starts in 180 games from 2015-17.

Both Rivera and Byrne were members of Florida's 2017 national title campaign.

After a rollercoaster 2025 season that saw the Gators turn a 1-11 start in SEC play to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, followed by a rocky offseason, Florida is hoping the chaos is behind them as the program looks to make it back to the College World Series for the third time in four years.

Friday's season-opener begins at 6:30 p.m. with streaming coverage on SEC Network+.

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