Florida baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan returning from leave of absence
After previously taking a leave of absence in October, Florida Gators baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan is set to return to the program, according to Gators Online’s Zach Abolverdi. Furthermore, according to Abolverdi, Kevin O’Sullivan has already resumed working at the Florida baseball facility. Jacob Rudner of Baseball America was the first to report the news of O’Sullivan’s return to the Orange and Blue.
O’Sullivan is in his 19th year at Florida and has a 756–371 record with one national title and a runner-up finish in 2023 and 2011. He faces a three-game suspension to open the 2026 season for his pregame incident at the 2025 NCAA Conway Regional.
The Gators finished the 2025 baseball season with a 39-22 record.
Kevin O’Sullivan will open the 2026 season with a suspension
The Florida Gators will open the 2026 baseball season with a weekend series at home against the UAB Blazers. However, due to his suspension, Kevin O’Sullivan won’t be on hand for UF’s opening weekend. On Aug. 29, Florida atheltic director Scott Stricklin suspended O’Sullivan for the first three games of the 2026 season “as a result of his actions” at the 2025 NCAA Conway Regional.
“The suspension announced today reinforces Florida Athletics’ commitment to our standards, with Coach O’Sullivan accepting full responsibility for his behavior,” Stricklin said in a release. “Sully has vowed to learn from the experience and serve as a better leader moving forward.”
Additionally, the Division I Baseball Committee issued a public reprimand of O’Sullivan for “aggressive behavior and profanity-laced language directed at a variety of individuals before a game at the Conway regional on June 1,” the committee stated in its own release.
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“The committee determined during a meeting in late June that O’Sullivan’s actions were misconduct per NCAA Bylaw 31.02.4. As defined in the bylaw, misconduct in an NCAA championship is ‘any act of dishonesty, unsportsmanlike conduct, unprofessional behavior or breach of law, occurring from the time the championship field is announced through the end of the championship, that discredits the event or intercollegiate athletics.’”
At the 2025 NCAA Conway Regional, O’Sullivan got into a heated exchange with NCAA officials regarding the time change for UF’s elimination game. Florida’s game was scheduled for noon ET but moved to 1 p.m. because of East Carolina playing late the night before.
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