Gators Baseball Announces Tom Slater as Acting Head Coach

Florida baseball has hired Tom Slater to serve as its acting head coach, ending its recent coaching saga. He’s worked with the New York Yankees, Mets, Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies over the last 15 years.

18-year coach Kevin O’Sullivan began a leave of absence on Oct. 22, with associate coach Chuck Jeroloman replacing him in an interim role. But he left for Tennessee on Thursday, leaving Florida coach-less with an exhibition against Jacksonville University Friday night.

Slater has coached since 1991, bringing 35 years of experience to the position, with some in SEC roles. He was an assistant coach at Auburn from 1995 to 2000. During that stint, Auburn went 265-111 and played in the College World Series in 1997. Slater then went to Florida to serve in the same role in 2004. During his lone season with the Gators, Slater was the third base coach and guided the offense. The Gators placed second in the SEC in both runs and batting average under Slater’s guidance, and went on to play in a Super Regional.

Slater was the head coach for VMI, his alma mater, from 2001 to 2003 and Auburn from 2005 to 2008.  During his first head coaching stint, Slater led VMI to its first winning season in conference play since 1989 and won Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2003. Slater returned to Auburn to coach in 2005.  Under Slater, the Tigers went 115-113, but struggled in conference play, finishing 43-77. Auburn made the playoffs during Slater’s first season, but lost in the Tallahassee regional final. Between the two stints, Slater coached 24 MLB draftees, four of which made the majors.  Josh Donaldson highlights Slater’s products, going on to have a successful MLB career, in which he made three All-Star Games, won two Silver Sluggers and the 2015 American League MVP.

Since leaving Auburn, Slater has coached at the MLB level. He spent eight years as a coach in the Yankees organization from 2009 to 2017. During this time, he coached future three-time All-Star Gleyber Torres at multiple levels of the minor leagues.  After his time with the Yankees, Slater crossed town to be an assistant hitting coach at the major league level with the Mets. Slater’s time as assistant hitting coach of the Mets overlapped with Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo and former Gator Pete Alonso breaking out. Slater then spent the last four years in player development roles with the Marlins and Phillies.

If nothing else, the Gators are getting a coach with plenty of experience.

Category: Baseball, Gator Sports, Gators Baseball