Keeping the Gators on top

UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley gives Steve Spurrier room to excel
by: Rod Smith
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University of Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley sits atop an athletic program that has consistently ranked among the nation's 10 best. Since 1992, when he assumed the reins of the Gator athletic department, continuing that legacy of excellence has been one of his top goals.

Named an honorary alumnus by the Florida Alumni Association in October, Foley, 47, started his career at UF as an intern in the Gator ticket office in 1976. Since then he has worked in nearly every aspect of the Gator athletic program. Under Foley, the Gator's athletic program has ranked among the top five for 10 of the last 11 years, according to national all-sport rankings. Meanwhile, Foley has been the driving force behind more than $77.5 million worth of construction projects including two major expansions of the 83,000-seat Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Here's Foley describing how he views his job and how he keeps UF on top.

How would you define your management style?

My management style is people-oriented. I'm here to help coaches achieve whatever goals they may have, and therefore I need to be able to work with them, pay attention to them in terms of what's going on in their lives, and spending as much time as I can with them. Obviously, I am not afraid to make decisions. I've always said I am not a coach but I will try and set the tone for the program in terms of how we're going to operate and in terms of character, integrity and class.

How much day-to-day interaction do you have with head football coach Steve Spurrier or with other members of his staff?

Steve's office is right next door to mine, in fact we have a back entrance in his office that is next to my office. So, certainly when he is in the office - during the off-season or during recruiting season he's not there much, but obviously during the season he's there often - I'll stick my head in his office on a daily basis, if nothing else just to say hello, find out what's going on or see how he's doing. If he's getting ready for a big game to wish him luck or if he had a difficult loss just to be supportive. The one thing about Steve and me is that we obviously have a professional relationship, but we have a personal relationship. I would consider him a friend. We socialize out of the office. I've known Steve for over 25 years, I would classify it as we have a very good relationship. We don't always agree on everything, but that's the nature of the beast. Certainly, I think it's important that I have a personal interaction with him.

Because of the proximity of the offices, do you find yourself interacting with Coach Spurrier more than other coaches?

No, because as I said before, people call us administrators, (but) I believe we're facilitators. Our job is to help coaches do what they set out to do. It's obviously our job to provide the facilities, the budget, to be supportive, to pay attention, to be at their matches or games. Now obviously, because Steve's office is right next door, it going to be on a face-to-face level more often than I have a face-to-face occasions with other coaches. But I spend a lot of time on the phone with coaches, try to call other coaches when they are on the road before a big match or big game just to wish them the best of luck, or call them when they get back and they've had a difficult loss or what have you. So again, I think it's important that myself and all my staff members have interaction with coaches regardless of whether it's football, basketball, tennis, golf, what have you.

What role do you have in setting the philosophical tone for the entire sports program and the football program specifically?

As I alluded to earlier, one of my biggest responsibilities is to set the tone. What I mean by that is that back in the 1980s we were a program that had some problems NCAA-wise. I grew up as an athletic administrator in that environment, and it left a lasting impression on me. As any coach will tell you around here, we're a program with a few strikes on us because we had problems again about five years later. I never want to get to the third strike, so hopefully we'll run our program with honesty and integrity, and we'll do it with class and character. We're blessed to be at a (university) that has a chance to be successful if we just work hard. That doesn't mean that we're going to win every game, but we'll win our fair share. We're not going to win every championship but we'll compete for them, and, therefore, all we have to do is work hard, we don't need to stray outside the lines - that's the message it is my job to convey to coaches. And like I said, it's my job to provide them with the resources to be successful in terms of facilities and budget and moral support and everything you can imagine - but doing it the right way and not compromising anybody's integrity.

Does Coach Spurrier's success and the following he has developed in his 11 years at the University of Florida place any increased pressure on you or affect your working relationship with him?

No, obviously Steve's developed and created a program that has that national awareness because we've competed at the highest level ever since he's been here. He's won six SEC Conference championships, played for a national championship, and won another national championship. That's the type of program we want to have. That's not additional pressure, that's just the world we live in. Certainly, when we fall short of people's expectations, people are disappointed, but that's the nature of the beast also. If we didn't want to compete at the highest level we could go to other places that have different goals and expectations, but this is the world we like to live in, and we believe that a highly successful program is what this university deserves. It's an environment that we thrive in.

How do you handle the situation where another university or a professional football team tries to lure Coach Spurrier away?

Obviously, that situation has happened a number of times with Steve because he's a very successful coach (and) highly marketable at the next level. I can't control what other people do, I can only control what we do. Regardless of whether it's Steve Spurrier or some other coach, I think it's incumbent upon us always to be proactive with people's contracts and not reactive. Hopefully we have a good situation in place for the coaches, and then, when they have another opportunity, it's not so much a money issue, it's a lifestyle issue, or it's a change of venue issue. The way I think you combat (those situations) is you create an environment for your coach where he or she can thrive. In Steve's situation we've been very proactive with his contract, obviously. He's the highest paid coach in the country. Hopefully, we've been very, very supportive of his football program in terms of facilities and the fans have been very supportive in terms of selling out the stadium. So, you try to create an environment that the coach can thrive in, and then if this (situation) isn't what he's looking for then you've done all you can do. We've had a number of situations where (professional teams) have come calling for Steve and when it's all said and done, he's still in Gainesville. So obviously, we have created an environment that he's comfortable in. I think he enjoys the people he works for and enjoys working for this university because we've created that environment. You try to create an environment on the front end that helps fend off those challenges on the back end.

What role does the AD have in enforcing team discipline?

I take an active role in that. Certainly Steve takes an active role in certain (discipline) areas, too. Whether it be academic issues, substance abuse issues, or campus issues - the athletic director has to get involved in (discipline). There are some times when Steve will have his discipline for somebody who's done something on his squad, and there'll be other times when it's out of his control, such as a problem on campus or an issue involving class attendance in which case we have policies and procedures to deal with that. It's not a hard and fast situation, but as athletic director, I do believe I have responsibility involved in that area, not only to protect the institution, but certainly to protect the program itself. Sometimes those issues can get difficult and dicey if it's the star player and the big game is coming up, and that's why I think you have to be able to step back and make sure you're doing what's right for the institution and not necessarily what's right for one ball game.

What are your goals or priorities with regards to the football program? How important is winning and what is your measurement of success?

I don't have goals and expectations in terms of, 'This year we have to win the conference championship, or we have to win ten games, or we need to be in a New Year's Day bowl.' I just have a goal that we will compete at the highest level, and we'll have a program in position to do that - at the University of Florida we should. So you look at the tenure of term that Steve's been here - he hasn't won a conference championship every single year that he's been here, but he's won seven of them; he's played in the SEC Championship game, (been there) two other times and lost. He's been ranked in the top 10 a couple other times we weren't champions. So obviously he's highly competitive. That's what you're looking for in any of your sports. It goes back to what I said earlier, I expect our coaches to work hard. That may sound simplistic, but that's really the truth of the matter. If they are working hard here and working smarter at the University of Florida, then those expectations will take care of themselves. I don't say that arrogantly, we'll have our fair share of success because we have so many other resources going for us. That's really the expectations that we'll work hard and be competitive and just see where that takes us.

As athletic director, obviously fundraising and setting the budget are both large parts of your job. Has corporate money and licensing agreements influenced or changed college football?

No, I don't think so. The bottom line is those dollars are important to help run your total program. If you structure the contract in such a way so it's between the corporate sponsor and the institution or university and coaches aren't involved in the conversation and coaches get paid from that (contract) based on what the university wants to pay them, then I see no harm in it. It's just a strictly business deal. Certainly, in college athletics there's the academic component, the athletic component, the citizenship component, the alumni component and student component - all those parts - but certainly there's a business component, too. It's a big business at this level. That's just another way to drive dollars to help finance your program, and it's not just going to finance a football program. This money helps pay for a lot of other sports. I don't see it as being a negative at all - it's part of the business.

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