Florida head baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan and athletic director Scott Stricklin apologized Monday for O'Sullivan's expletive-filled tirade directed at NCAA Tournament site officials because he was unhappy that the start of the Gators’ Regional game against East Carolina was moved back an hour.
“I did not represent the University of Florida to the appropriate standard yesterday and take full responsibility for that, and promise to learn from this experience and be better moving forward,” O’Sullivan said in a statement, apologizing to the site representatives, Rick French and Mark Scalf, as well as Coastal Carolina’s associate athletic director Bryan Stiles.
Florida head baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan and athletic director Scott Stricklin apologized Monday for O'Sullivan's expletive-filled tirade directed at NCAA Tournament site officials because he was unhappy that the start of the Gators’ Regional game against East Carolina was moved back an hour.
“I did not represent the University of Florida to the appropriate standard yesterday and take full responsibility for that, and promise to learn from this experience and be better moving forward,” O’Sullivan said in a statement, apologizing to the site representatives, Rick French and Mark Scalf, as well as Coastal Carolina’s associate athletic director Bryan Stiles.
According to The Athletic, the game was played at Coastal Carolina's stadium, and video of the incident between O'Sullivan and officials was posted online to social media.
Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall addressed the situation in a postgame press conference after his team beat East Carolina.
“This is a national championship coach who thinks he can come in here and try to bully people around,” Schnall said.
The game's start time was moved because Coastal Carolina's game against East Carolina ended late.
“This afternoon, I met with Kevin O’Sullivan and told him his actions prior to yesterday’s NCAA Tournament game fell well short of our expectations of how Gators treat people,” Stricklin said in a statement. He added, “On behalf of Florida athletics, I want to personally apologize for everyone impacted, — including NCAA representatives, Coastal Carolina and their staff, East Carolina and their team, as well as Gator Nation.”
