Florida basketball coach Todd Golden could be in for a raise that keeps him locked up in Gainesville for the foreseeable future.
Golden said he’s in talks with athletic director Scott Stricklin on another contract extension after guiding the Florida Gators to their third basketball national championship in school history last week.
Florida’s a place that we can win national championships, as we just proved,” Golden said following UF’s championship celebration at The Swamp on Saturday. “Yeah, we love being here. Scott and I have been talking a lot. I feel like we’re very close to putting something together that will keep the Goldens in Gainesville for quite a while. I think in the next week or two, we’ll get to the finish line on that.”
Last season, Golden signed a two-year extension that raised his average annual salary to $4 million, though he earned $3.6 million this past season, ranking 12th out of 15 SEC coaches at public universities. Golden did receive an additional $175,000 in postseason bonuses for winning the national championship and SEC Tournament championship.
At 39, Golden became the youngest coach to win a national title since the late Jim Valvano guided North Carolina State to a national championship at 37 in 1983. He’s gone 76-33 in three seasons at UF and went 36-4 this past season, leading the Gators to 13 straight wins to start the season and 12 straight wins to close the season