This is why Billy was Jeremy's greatest hire

[SavannahGator]

You don't have to go any further than this:

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/9031452/billy-donovan-lessons

from award-winning writer Rick Reilly of ESPN (formerly of Sports Illustrated, boy I miss his end-of-the-issue articles each week) to understand why Billy is not only Jeremy's greatest hire during his long tenure as AD, but why Billy is almost certainly the greatest coach in UF history, regardless of sport.

Billy may be Irish Catholic, but in Yiddish we would absolutely call him a mensch. And having grown up in NY, I'm sure he knows what it means.

[NVGator]

Great article. Thanks for point this out, Savannah.

[Maillot Jaune]

Sid is fuming. Have you not heard Billy can't coach big men?

PS: Billy's from Rockville Centre. I have it from high authority there are a plethora of Deli's there....and they're pareve.

[Double Gator Dad]

I too appreciate you posting the article. It was a good read.

I didn't know there was any debate regarding Billy being Jeremy's best hire, I thought that was the predominant thinking at this point. In fact, I don't think there is any doubt about it.

[jand3k]

Great article, thanx for sharing.

Billy is a great coach, mentor, leader, and man.

IGTBAFG

[rogdochar]

Super-good article spawned by a super-good person. Thanx for the ref.

[itsgr82bag8r]

Great article confirming for the rest of the world what we as Gators already know. Coach Donovan is the best in the country IMO.

[Jbossgator9]

Billy D is the best ever. I have always been a HUGE defender of Billy D. Thank god The Roundtable was splintered and destroyed or else they would be flooding this thread with their nonsense and negativity. Go Gators!!

[digitalwangsta]

I'm extremely grateful for what Coach Donovan has done at Florida. I love Gator basketball as much as football. Go Gators!

[MatthewM.]

Billy is my favorite UF coach ever but I friggin hate Rick Reilly so goddamn much.

[The New! Jimmy D]

That article just put a lump in my throat and brought tears to my eyes. If that was my daughter that never took her first breath, I'm not sure how I could go on. It really hits home since I have two daughters, 4 and 2, and I just found out today that my wife is pregnant again after we just miscarried 3 or 4 months ago. I'm proud, as a Gator, to have a man like Coach Donovan associated with our program. He IS the quintessential Gator.

[g8rbob]

I enjoyed the read. Thanks for the link.

[rogdochar]

And you also "JimD" must be a good coach. Keep up such fine work.

[MJMGator]

Great read. Thanks for sharing!

[oxrageous]

I'd say that between 70% to 80% of Donovan's wins have been lucky.

[MJMGator]

I'd say that between 70% to 80% of Donovan's wins have been lucky.

Then that makes him one lucky SOB.

[g8rbob]

The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.
Tony Robbins

[Class of '78]

He isn't just Jeremy Foley's greatest hire. He's the University of Florida's greatest hire, bar none. And that's no disrespect to Steve Spurrier, a guy I (obviously) love and admire.

Donovan has done for basketball at UF what Spurrier did for football, and one up, that being at a school where basketball heretofore was an afterthought. Yes, an afterthought, even after all that Norm Sloan and Lon Kruger did to help put us on the map.

Thank you for 17 fabulous years, Billy Donovan.

[Okeechobee Joe]

I concur with all of the positive things said in the posts above.

I would like to just add a little bit to the line of thought expressed by Class of '78. Florida being in the SEC has always been a football school. Even when we were an SEC also ran, football is what attracted most of the attention of the fans at our school, and indeed this was true for every other school in the SEC except for Kentucky.

As far back as the 1950s, Florida put emphasis on trying to win the SEC football championship. Govenor Fuller Warren made it a priority. Bob Woodruff was brought in here to coach the Gators at a salary of $17,000 which at that time was the highest in the SEC, and he was brought in here with the purpose of bringing UF its first SEC football championship. After 10 years, he did not get the job done.

Doug Dickey, a Gator alum, was hired to replace Ray Graves just when Graves had had his finest season. This was the wrong time to do this, but the UF administration led by President Stephen O'Connell wanted to bring the SEC football championship to Florida so badly that that he did this at the wrong time, and it just about tore the school's fan base apart.

After Woodruff, Graves, and Dickey failed then realdesperation sunk in again and Charley Pell was hired, and we all know what happened there. It was a long time coming, but Spurrier was the right man at the right time and we won our first legitimate SEC title with Steve as head coach.

Basketball, did not have this fervor behind it, at least as far as the fans were concerned. Norman Sloan left UF to go back to North Carolina State partly because he saw this place as just another SEC football school. Yes, there were people in the UF Athletic Department who wanted a championship basketball program, but it did not have the broad support and fan fervor that the football program had.

Part of the problem was the poor basketball facility, the old Florida Gym known as Alligator Alley. Sure it was a place filled with legend and lore, but at the end it was the worst basketball facility in the SEC. President O'Connell really did support the building of a new gym. There was an election to increase the student activity fees to help pay for a new gym, but the students voted it down. The support for a championship basketball program was just not there. Because of President O'Connell's effort, however, the present basketball complex is named in his honor.

So I agree that what Billy Donovan in basketball has done is even more remarkable than what Spurrier did in football. Florida now stands as the best in the SEC when you look at both football and basketball. No other SEC school is as good in both sports.

[FunnGun]

I concur with all of the positive things said in the posts above.

I would like to just add a little bit to the line of thought expressed by Class of '78. Florida being in the SEC has always been a football school. Even when we were an SEC also ran, football is what attracted most of the attention of the fans at our school, and indeed this was true for every other school in the SEC except for Kentucky.

As far back as the 1950s, Florida put emphasis on trying to win the SEC football championship. Govenor Fuller Warren made it a priority. Bob Woodruff was brought in here to coach the Gators at a salary of $17,000 which at that time was the highest in the SEC, and he was brought in here with the purpose of bringing UF its first SEC football championship. After 10 years, he did not get the job done.

Doug Dickey, a Gator alum, was hired to replace Ray Graves just when Graves had had his finest season. This was the wrong time to do this, but the UF administration led by President Stephen O'Connell wanted to bring the SEC football championship to Florida so badly that that he did this at the wrong time, and it just about tore the school's fan base apart.

After Woodruff, Graves, and Dickey failed then realdesperation sunk in again and Charley Pell was hired, and we all know what happened there. It was a long time coming, but Spurrier was the right man at the right time and we won our first legitimate SEC title with Steve as head coach.

Basketball, did not have this fervor behind it, at least as far as the fans were concerned. Norman Sloan left UF to go back to North Carolina State partly because he saw this place as just another SEC football school. Yes, there were people in the UF Athletic Department who wanted a championship basketball program, but it did not have the broad support and fan fervor that the football program had.

Part of the problem was the poor basketball facility, the old Florida Gym known as Alligator Alley. Sure it was a place filled with legend and lore, but at the end it was the worst basketball facility in the SEC. President O'Connell really did support the building of a new gym. There was an election to increase the student activity fees to help pay for a new gym, but the students voted it down. The support for a championship basketball program was just not there. Because of President O'Connell's effort, however, the present basketball complex is named in his honor.

So I agree that what Billy Donovan in basketball has done is even more remarkable than what Spurrier did in football. Florida now stands as the best in the SEC when you look at both football and basketball. No other SEC school is as good in both sports.

Good post.

And I agree, Donovan is Foley's and UF's best hire.