Kevin Michael O'Sullivan (born December 27, 1968) is an American college

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach and former player. O'Sullivan is the current

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

Florida Gators baseball The Florida Gators baseball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of baseball. Florida competes in Division I (NCAA), Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and the of the Southeastern Conference ...

team of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

. O'Sullivan is best known for leading the Gators to the program's first

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

national championship win in 2017. O'Sullivan also led the program to three consecutive appearances in the

from 2010 to 2012 and four consecutive appearances from 2015 to 2018. He became the winningest coach in program history in 2021, surpassing

Dave Fuller Dave Fuller (1915 – September 15, 2009) was an American college baseball coach who led the Florida Gators baseball team of the University of Florida for twenty-eight seasons. Early life and education Fuller attended Wake Forest University ...

's 1975 record of 557 wins.

Early years

O'Sullivan was born December 27, 1968, in

Goshen, New York Goshen is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 14,571 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 Census Report Goshen, Orange County, New York QuickFacts https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/goshentownorangecountyne ...

.GatorZone.com, Baseball Coaching & Support Staff
Kevin O'Sullivan
. Retrieved June 4, 2011. O'Sullivan attended

Jupiter High School Jupiter Community High School, also known as Jupiter High School and JHS, is a Public High School in Jupiter, Florida, United States. JHS is a part of the School District of Palm Beach County and is the northernmost high school in Palm Beach Cou ...

Jupiter, Florida Jupiter is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 US Census, the town had a population of 61,047. It is 84 miles north of Miami and 15 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach. ...

, and played high school baseball for the Jupiter Warriors. As a senior in 1987, he batted .438 with 17 RBIs and was an honorable-mention selection to the Florida Sportswriter's Association's Class 3A all-state team. As a junior, O'Sullivan was a starter on the Jensen Beach Post 126 team that won the 1986 American Legion World Series in Rapid City, South Dakota.

College career

O'Sullivan was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

during his college playing career. He played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Florida Community College in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, where he batted .325 with 35 RBIs as a sophomore to help lead the Stars to the 1989 state tournament. After his sophomore year, he transferred to the

Virginia Cavaliers baseball The Virginia Cavaliers baseball team represents the University of Virginia in NCAA Division I college baseball. Established in 1889, the team participates in the Coastal division of the Atlantic Coast Conference and plays its home games at Da ...

team, where as a junior he batted .327 with 29 RBIs and a team-high 14 doubles and was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection. As a senior, he was an All-ACC selection and was named to the 1991 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament All-Tournament Team. O'Sullivan graduated from Florida Community College with an

associate's degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree. ...

in 1989, and earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

sports medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...

in 1991 from the University of Virginia. He later earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in exercise science and wellness from

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...

Coaching career

After his collegiate career, O'Sullivan spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Florida Community College and another two at Florida Atlantic University before being hired as an assistant coach at Virginia in 1996. While serving as an assistant at FAU, O'Sullivan coached American Legion Post 271 in Jupiter, Florida, to the semifinals of the 1994 state tournament. In 1997, O'Sullivan managed the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park (ballpark) ...

, a

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

team in the prestigious

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, and was named coach of the year. His Bourne team featured future major leaguer

Mark Mulder Mark Alan Mulder (born August 5, 1977) is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed starting pitcher, Mulder pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals. He is a two-time All-Sta ...

. In 1998, O'Sullivan was named an assistant coach at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

. O'Sullivan accepted the baseball head coaching position at the University of Florida offered by athletics director Jeremy Foley on June 13, 2007, replacing Pat McMahon after the Gators failed to receive an NCAA tournament bid in either 2006 or 2007.Brandon Zimmerman,
UF Selects Baseball Coach
," ''Gainesville Sun'' (June 13, 2007). Retrieved September 23, 2009. Florida is O'Sullivan's first head coaching job; he is the twenty-first head coach in the history of the Gators baseball program. He spent the previous nine seasons as an assistant coach for the

Clemson Tigers baseball The Clemson Tigers baseball team represents Clemson University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tigers are currently coached by head coach Erik Bakich and ...

team of

under head coach

Jack Leggett Jack Leggett (born March 5, 1954) is an American college baseball coach. He was recently the head coach of the Clemson Tigers from 1994 to 2015. Under Leggett, the Tigers reached the College World Series six times. As of the end of the 2012 ...

, first as the Tigers' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, and later as Leggett's associate head coach.Pat Dooley,
O'Sullivan's travels led him to UF
" ''The Gainesville Sun'' (June 3, 2011). Retrieved June 4, 2011. During his tenure at Clemson, twenty-nine of the

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

s he coached were selected in the

MLB Draft The Major League Baseball draft (officially the Rule 4 Draft; also known as the first-year player draft or amateur draft) is the primary mechanism by which Major League Baseball (MLB) assigns amateur baseball players from high schools, colleg ...

. In each of his four seasons coaching the Gators, O'Sullivan's teams have improved their overall win–loss record and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) standing.
2011 Florida Gators Baseball Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 109 & 112 (2011). Retrieved June 4, 2011. In 2008, his first season as the Gators' skipper, the team finished 34–24 overall, 17–13 in SEC play, in second place in the SEC Eastern Division standings and third in the overall SEC standings. In 2009, the Gators compiled an overall record of 42–22, 19–11 in the SEC, in first place in the SEC East. O'Sullivan's 2010 Gators finished with an overall win–loss record of 47–17, 22–8 in SEC play, and SEC regular season champions. In each of his first three seasons, his Gators also showed post-season improvement, too: early elimination in the NCAA Regional in 2008; progressing to the NCAA Super Regional in 2009; and a berth in the

in 2010. In 2011, the Gators finished the regular season 41–15 overall, 22–8 in the SEC, and SEC regular season co-champions—sharing the regular season conference championship with the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

and

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

. After winning the SEC tournament, O'Sullivan's Gators received the No. 2 seed in the 2011 NCAA tournament, and advanced to their second consecutive

, ultimately finishing as the national runner-up. O'Sullivan has also enjoyed recruiting success: his 2009 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the country by

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...

and

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

. It was the first time in Gators baseball history that a recruiting class was ranked No. 1. Through O'Sullivan's first four regular seasons as the Gators' head coach, his Gators teams compiled the best conference win–loss record of 80–40 (.667), just ahead of the

(75–45) and the

(65–51).

Minor League coaching

In 1998, O'Sullivan served as an assistant coach for the Gulf Coast Twins (34-26), a Rookie League affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida.

Personal

While coaching at Clemson, O'Sullivan married Victoria Diane Vought, a pediatric nurse and Florida State University graduate, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. O'Sullivan has one daughter, Payton, born in December 2010, and son, Finn, born in September 2012.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Kevin 1968 births Living people Baseball coaches from Florida Baseball catchers Cape Cod Baseball League coaches Clemson Tigers baseball coaches Florida Atlantic Owls baseball coaches Florida Gators baseball coaches Virginia Cavaliers baseball coaches Virginia Cavaliers baseball players FSC Jacksonville Blue Wave baseball coaches FSC Jacksonville Blue Wave baseball players Minor league baseball coaches People from Goshen, New York Sportspeople from Jupiter, Florida Baseball players from Florida 20th-century American sportsmen