Kevin O’Sullivan Suspended Three Games to Start 2026 Season
Florida has suspended baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan for the first three games of the 2026 season following his antics at Coastal Carolina during the NCAA regionals in June. O’Sullivan’s suspension will begin during the opening weekend of the season, in which UF will face UAB.
The announcement was buried in a Gators baseball update released by the University Friday afternoon.
“The suspension announced today reinforces Florida Athletics’ commitment to our standards, with Coach O’Sullivan accepting full responsibility for his behavior,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said. “ Sully has vowed to learn from the experience and serve as a better leader moving forward.”
During the NCAA regionals held in Conway, South Carolina, Florida was facing elimination, and officials delayed the first pitch of UF’s elimination game by an hour due to field conditions and East Carolina’s late finish the previous day. O’Sullivan responded with a heated rant directed at NCAA officials and Coastal Carolina — the host team’s — staff, an outburst that became public.
In the press conference following UF’s season-ending 11-4 loss, a reporter asked O’Sullivan whether he wanted to publicly apologize. He replied, “I handled it properly at the end of the game.”
Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall publicly condemned O’Sullivan’s behavior, expressing disappointment in the championship coach.
“This is a national champion coach who thinks he can come in here and try to bully people,” Schnall said. “For him to act that way (is) really disappointing.”
Following the incident, Stricklin issued a joint statement with Coach O’Sullivan expressing regret over O’Sullivan’s conduct.
O’Sullivan’s behavior has been a consistent problem since his arrival at UF in 2008. Despite guiding UF to the 2017 National Championship and nine super regionals, his tendency to lose his cool has dominated headlines in recent years, frequently making him depart games early.
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