Gators' O'Sullivan Snubbed for SEC Coach of the Year

It is the first time Schlossnagle has received the award, celebrating the most impressive coach in the SEC, in his four years in the conference, and, of course, the first time in history that a Texas coach has won it after the program joined the conference ahead of this season.

While Schlossnagle has helped Texas finish at the top of the league with an impressive 42-11 record and 22 conference wins, the award, voted on by the league’s head coaches, is notably known as one that celebrates a coach's impact on his team over individual record. Despite that, O’Sullivan and the Gators’ historic, unlikely resurgence this year was somehow not enough.

After being swept by Vanderbilt and moving to 1-11 in SEC play, the worst mark in program history, Florida went 14-4 over its last 18 conference games to finish the season despite facing the fourth toughest strength of schedule in the country on the year. Their finish included series wins over ranked teams such as Arkansas, Alabama and even Schlossnagle’s Texas squad in Austin, when the Longhorns were ranked No. 1.

Opposite of Florida, Schlossnagle’s club finished the season scuffling as of late, going 11-7 in their last six SEC series and 3-6 in their last three, much different than the red-hot Reptiles’ 14-3 and 7-2 streak in that time, including the aforementioned win at Texas against the now SEC coach of the year.

What makes O’Sullivan’s coaching turnaround even more impressive was the unfathomable number of injuries his team has faced all season.

The Gators' injury bug has taken away a list of impact players for portions of the year that include starting second baseman Cade Kurland, starting shortstop Colby Shelton, starting center fielder Kyle Jones, starting catcher Luke Heyman, Saturday starter Pierce Coppola and impact reliever Frank Menendez.

In a year where it would have been expected for a team to quit, O’Sullivan somehow found a way to keep his team motivated.

“Sully kept saying ‘we’re gonna turn this around’...I don’t think anyone ever doubted it," Coppola said in an SiriusXM interview before tournament play. “We kept our head down, kept working…Finding out how to win the games instead of lose them”

While Schlossnagle’s year was nothing short of impressive, it is hard to argue that O’Sullivan isn’t more deserving considering the incredible adversity his team overcame to likely continue a school-record 16 consecutive year streak of making the NCAA tournament. Instead, he became yet another Gators coach snubbed for an award this year.

Florida opens play in the SEC Tournament on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. ET against South Carolina.

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