Does Todd Golden have Florida Gators Headed in Right Direction?

A little over two years ago, Todd Golden was named the 20th head coach in Florida Gators Men’s Basketball history.

He took an enormous step up from where he had been, the University of San Francisco, to join one of the SEC’s best, the Florida Gators.

However, Golden knew what he signed up for when agreeing to become the head coach of the Gators and the standard that is required for this program.

“Florida has a championship-level athletic department, university and men's basketball program, and I embrace the standard of excellence at Florida and the passion of Gator Nation,” Golden said in his official announcement as the Gators’ head coach.

Taking this massive leap from a smaller-level school to a national program that’s always in the spotlight is never easy. It comes with scrutiny and always being placed under a microscope from the beginning. Unfair comparisons to years past and the coaches before you.

So, how has it turned out for both parties?

Well, I would say the program is trending in a great direction and Golden is loving life in Gainesville.
In just their second year under Golden, the Gators found themselves back in the NCAA Tournament.

Even with their loss to Colorado in the opening round of the tournament, it still marked progress given they hadn’t made it since the 2020-2021 season.

On top of that, the Gators won 24 games last season. This is the most wins since the 2016-17 season when the Gators amassed 27 wins and made it to the Elite Eight.

Additionally, not only has he improved their overall record, but he has also improved the program’s performance in the SEC tournament. In year two for Golden, the Gators reached the tournament championship game for the first time since 2014.

That is an entire decade between appearances in the SEC Championship.

And if you want to compare him to previous coaches, we can do that too.

Through Golden’s first 66 games, he set the quickest pace by a Florida coach over the last 50 years for top-25 wins with six. This includes wins over 10th-ranked Kentucky on the road, 12th-ranked Auburn at home and second-ranked Tennessee.

Furthermore, the win over Kentucky in Rupp Arena was the first top-10 road win since 2003 for the Gators.

That is 21 YEARS since the last time that happened, and it was under Billy Donavan, one of the greatest coaches in Gators’ history.

Lastly, Golden’s offensive scoring output from 2023-24 was outrageous.

The Gators' scoring offense in 2023-24 was the highest in program history with an astounding 85.7 points per game, good for sixth nationally.

Golden has brought in his guys to play his style of basketball, and it has put the Gators in the best position to win basketball games. And it doesn’t look like they're going to stop any time soon.

If the first two seasons for Golden are any indication going forward, the Florida Gators are on the fast track back to the top of college basketball.