Report: Kevin O’Sullivan, Florida to Hire Oklahoma’s Todd Butler
After Florida baseball assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Taylor Black left the program in June, the team expects to fill his role with a coach who found success in Omaha. The Gators are set to hire Oklahoma assistant coach Todd Butler, who just won the 2026 NCAA College World Series title June 22, with a large pay raise included, according to AYS Sports.
The move comes as the Gators’ second coaching move this offseason, hiring Oregon State pitching coach Rich Dorman earlier this month to join Kevin O’Sullvin’s staff.
Butler brings over 30 years of coaching experience with head coach stints at Wichita State (2014-19) and McNeese State (2001-03). He racked up 20 years of coaching and recruiting experience inside the SEC, spending time at Alabama (1995-00 and 2004-05), Arkansas (2006-13), Missouri (2020) and Oklahoma (2023-2026).
Loading ...After playing for Oklahoma in 1987-88, he rejoined the Sooners in June 2023 as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, helping the team secure its first national title since 1994 against North Carolina. On their way to the title, the Sooners knocked off five national seeds, compiling 118 runs and 156 hits in their 13 NCAA tournament games.
Throughout his collegiate coaching career, Butler produced 10 top-10 recruiting classes, including the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class in 2009 and 2013 while at Arkansas. Butler’s teams combined for six College World Series, seven NCAA Super Regional and 18 NCAA tournament appearances, including a runner-up finish with Alabama in 1997.
Butler coached 36 combined All-Americans and freshman All-Americans and 171 MLB Draft selections, with 45 players reaching the major leagues.
While serving as the head coach at Wichita in 2018, he produced 11 MLB draft picks, including five who went in the first 10 rounds. At McNeese, Butler led the Cowboys to the Southland Conference tournament championship and an NCAA Regional in 2003, for the program’s fourth NCAA tournament appearance in school history.
He embarked on his collegiate coaching journey in 1992 as an assistant at Blinn College, where he helped the Buccaneers to a third-place finish at the NJCAA World Series and the Texas State Junior College championship.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Baseball
