Jeremy Foley

Jeremy N. Foley handled virtually every aspect of the University of Florida’s $119.3 million athletic program during his athletic administrative career, which began with an internship in the Gator Ticket Office in 1976. Foley was named UF’s Director of Athletics in March of 1992. He was the second-longest tenured athletic director among Autonomy Conference schools before his retirement on October 29, 2016.

Foley brought a passionate, top-to-bottom team approach to the top athletic post at the University of Florida. Foley’s philosophy involved the continued building of a comprehensive athletic program, with the goal of having the overall UF program ranked as the top athletic program in the nation.

As chief financial officer for the University Athletic Association (UAA), Foley spearheaded a number of capital improvement projects in the athletic department involving every athletic facility, including two expansion projects to the football stadium. Florida invested $397 million in capital improvement projects from 1999 to the end of his tenure including a state-of-the art Academic Advising Building which opened in late June of 2016 and a renovation of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, which was completed in December of 2016. Also, a $17 million indoor football practice facility was completed in August of 2015. Foley also outlined a $100-million Master Facility plan before his retirement that addressed facility improvements in a number of sports with emphasis on football, baseball and softball.

Foley’s commitment to the overall athletic program included a plan of increased opportunities for women, as three women’s sports were added under his tenure – soccer, softball and lacrosse. Also, in an era when the NCAA estimated 90 percent of Division I schools were losing money on intercollegiate athletics, the University of Florida Athletic Association contributed $76 million from 2006-2016 to help fund University of Florida academic endeavors.

Florida was equally successful on the field of play and in the classroom during Foley’s administrative tenure. The Florida athletic program ranked among the nation’s top 10 for 33 straight years (1983-84 – 2015-16) and among the top five for 18 of the 25 years at the time, according to national all-sport rankings. Florida was among the nation’s top five schools in each of the last nine years of Foley’s term, including three straight runner-up finishes from 2011-12 – 2013-14. Florida was the first school to win the Capital One Cup in both the men’s and the women’s competition since the Cup was introduced in the 2010-11 season. The Gator men’s program won the first two men’s Capital One Cups in 2011 and 2012 and the women captured the 2014 Cup. In the history of the Capital One Cup, Florida is the only program to finish each season in the men’s and women’s top 10.

UF became the first program in collegiate history to own both the men’s basketball and football national titles in the same calendar year, after capturing crowns in 2006. The men’s basketball team then became the first repeat champions in their sport in 15 years after cutting the nets down again in 2007.

Foley is the only athletic director in Division I history to have supervised a program that has won multiple national titles in football (1996, 2006, 2008) and men’s basketball (2006, 2007). Overall, 27 Gator teams were crowned national champions under his watch, which was the highest total in the nation among sitting athletic directors before his retirement. Florida won 14 national team titles from 2009-10 to 2015-16, equaling the highest total in the nation. The Gator program is one of only three schools to have six or more different sports win national championships from 2009-10 to 2015-16 seasons. UF captured 130 SEC Championships under Foley and the lacrosse team captured conference championships in his final six years. Florida swept the Southeastern Conference All-Sports Title 15 times under Foley, a feat no other school in the SEC has ever accomplished.

UF’s commitment in the classroom was equally impressive. Under Foley, UF student-athletes were honored 107 times as Academic All-Americans which was the highest total among sitting Athletic Directors and fifth best in the nation since 1992 before he stepped down. The University of Florida had more than 1,666 SEC Academic Honor Roll honorees in the last decade of Foley’s term.

Foley was named the Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal National Athletic Director of the Year in June of 2006 and the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame awarded him the 2007 John L. Toner Award. The Toner Award is designed to honor and acknowledge outstanding athletics directors who have demonstrated superior administrative abilities especially in the area of college football.

Foley also served on the NCAA Division I Management Council from 1997-2002. Foley was named Honorary Alumnus of the University of Florida by the Florida Alumni Association Board of Directors in October of 2000.

Born in Washington, D.C., but calling New London, New Hampshire, home, Foley received his undergraduate degree in 1974 from Hobart College in Geneva, New York, where he also coached and scouted for the tradition-rich lacrosse program following graduation. He went on to earn his master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University in 1976 and then joined the Gator athletic program as an intern in the ticket office. In 1995, the Ohio Graduate School presented Foley with the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award. The Ohio University Alumni Association also awarded Foley with the Medal of Merit in September of 2008.

In 2008, the Hobart Alumni Association presented Foley with the Medal of Excellence, their highest honor, for outstanding achievements as Athletic Director at the University of Florida, which has brought honor and distinction to his alma mater.

The Holderness School, a small, private, college preparation school in Plymouth, New Hampshire, presented Foley, class of 1970, with their 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award in November of 2007.

Foley was named the United States Sports Academy Carl Maddox Sports Management Award winner in October of 2009. The Award is given annually to an individual for his or her contributions to the growth and development of sport enterprise through effective management practices.

An avid sports and Boston Red Sox fan, Foley ran the Boston Marathon in a 3:39.51 clip in April of 1995 and completed the course in 3:28.10 in 1998. A dog lover, he is involved with the Humane Society and local charities.