Scott Stricklin arrives from a morning meeting just in a time for the next one.
Another whirlwind day is underway for UF’s new athletics director, who now heads one of the monoliths in college athletics.
But first, Stricklin has important business to address. One of his teenager daughters has sent him a Snapchat that needs his immediate attention.
He quickly fires off a reply, noting he keeps “snaps” within the family circle. Stricklin, though, is not at all shy when it comes to sharing on social media platforms, namely Twitter.
It is an integral piece of Stricklin’s approach to his job.
“It’s just another way to relate,” he said during a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel. “Social media is not quite as intimate as a face-to-face meeting, but in our society today it does seem to tear down some walls and give a sense of familiarity where it didn’t exist before.
“You used to meet somebody and you would try to make connections, ‘Hey, I know this guy you went to high school with, or I’ve met your cousin.’ You would make a connection. It’s amazing how many people I meet today they comment, ‘I met you on Twitter or I tweeted at you.’
“It’s just another level of connection that people have. I think there’s some value in that, to the extent that people might feel like your relationship has a jump start because of the social media connections.”
The 46-year-old has tweeted since 2008 and is now one of the trendsetters on Twitter among athletic directors.
Stricklin boasts an account with more than 57,500 followers – second in the SEC among ADs to Arkansas’ Jeff Long, who benefits from being the chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Former UF athletics director Jeremy Foley, who retired Nov. 1, does not have an active Twitter account, though the 64-year-old does read tweets from other accounts.
“Jeremy consumes,” Stricklin said. “He does not create content.”
Stricklin, on the other hand, can give a teen girl a run for her money when it comes to smartphone use.
His iPhone is like an appendage, but also one of greatest allies.
Stricklin uses Twitter to celebrate the achievements of the Gators, connect with fans and create a window into his life away from work.
This past weekend, Stricklin posted a photo from the softball field, baseball field, golf course and tennis complex — all sites to Gators’ home events. He congratulated All-America swimmer Caeleb Dressel for winning the SEC’s 100-meter freestyle and his teammates on bringing home the school’s conference-record 38th men’s swimming/diving championship.
Stricklin later tweeted he was spending his Saturday night watching the powerful documentary Planet Earth II.
“If you’re going to have a Twitter account, some ADs I think make — I think it’s a mistake — they just tweet out official party line stuff,” Stricklin said. “They don’t share their own thoughts or their own humor or anything on it. I think that’s a bit of a mistake because I don’t think it seems genuine or authentic. It seems just kind of pretty benign.
“I tweet out some stuff from our official accounts, re-tweet some stuff, but I think you have to put enough of your own personality to give it value.”
To that end, Stricklin tweeted what many were thinking on Super Bowl Sunday: “Make Super Bowl commercials great again.” The comment generated 550 retweets and 1,100 “likes.”
Yet Stricklin’s primarily focuses his passion and energy — in whatever platform is necessary — to better the Gators.
A little more than two months after he arrived from Mississippi State, Stricklin set out to meet top boosters throughout Florida and kick off a grassroots campaign to fund the latest round of massive facility upgrades. More than of $100 million will be needed to complete a new stand-alone football facility and major renovations to the baseball and softball stadiums and golf practice complex.
This month, Gators Boosters Inc. launched the “Game Changers Initiative” to finance the projects.
“People who are game changers make a difference,” Stricklin said. “We need everyone who loves the Gators to make a difference.”
During eight years at Mississippi State, the last six as AD, Stricklin made an indelible mark on the Bulldogs.
Stricklin oversaw record fundraising and more than $140 million in new facilities and upgrades in Starkville, highlighted by a $75 million expansion of Davis Wade Stadium.
Named Under Armour’s Athletics Director of the Year in April 2016, Stricklin inherits a program with richer tradition and many more championship banners.
Stricklin realizes his position and is quick to note he’s not “trying to recreate the wheel” at UF. But he said change also is necessary to continue giving fans a reason to come out and support the Gators.
New UF athletics director Scott Stricklin already has circled the date – and warned the Gators had better be ready.
The Florida football team will visit the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the fall of 2018.
“Mississippi State is going to be good that year, so we got to get going,” Stricklin deadpanned.
New UF athletics director Scott Stricklin already has circled the date – and warned the Gators had better be ready.
The Florida football team will visit the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the fall of 2018.
“Mississippi State is going to be good that year, so we got to get going,” Stricklin deadpanned.
Even in the SEC, home to football fan bases like few others, staying on top means staying ahead.
“You can’t just keep doing what you’ve been doing,” Stricklin said. “What we’ve done in the past might not be good enough. We might have do things differently.
“When you’re leading the market, you have to really work at it to maintain that position.”
Stricklin and UF’s well-entrenched staff — holdovers from the Foley era — brainstorm constantly to come up with new ways to raise money and fan interest.
“I’ve been here three-and-a-half months,” he said. “I’ve done way more listening than I’ve done talking.”
Stricklin also has done plenty of tweeting. Along the way, he has made key connections with Gator Nation.
At times, however, Stricklin does look to disconnect.
The nuclear family of the 20th century has been replaced by those resembling the Stricklin’s, armed with their various devices.
“We will have the family dinner and we declare no iPads or phones or anything,” he said. “We can be sitting there watching TV together and there’s four of us and we’ll all be looking at our lap at some device.
“I don’t know that I’m the model guy as far as having restraint on how I use the phone.”
Yet Stricklin is the prototype for the modern AD.
With his omnipresent iPhone in hand, he looks to lead UF into the future — one tweet at a time.
“In a perfect world, I’m in the background,” Stricklin said. “Now I am on social media and other stuff. Leaders have to be visible at some level. But this program isn’t about the athletic director. This program is about the student-athletes and coaches … and obviously our fans.
“That’s the priority and the focus around here.”
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