Solid. That’s the word UNF athletic director Nick Morrow used to describe the previous athletic year. Morrow said he “always wants more” for UNF athletics before he recalled some of this past year’s highlights and challenges.
“[I] always want all of our teams to make it to the conference tournament to have a chance to compete for a championship which we didn’t accomplish across the board,” Morrow said.
Despite coaching changes and inconsistent results, Morrow is confident that the Ospreys are heading in the right direction. North Florida athletes flourished in the classroom last year, winning the ASUN academic trophy for the first time in school history.
“We’re trying to build up the resources”
Morrow said one of his goals as AD is to win the ASUN All-Sports trophy. According to him, this will only be possible with sufficient resources.
“We’re the second lowest budget in the ASUN conference right now,” Morrow noted. “It’s tough to go out there and win championships across the board if we’re not resourcing at the same level.”
The athletic program saw many coaching changes this past year. UNF hired new coaches for Baseball, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Basketball, and Men’s Soccer.
Baseball and Women’s Basketball, led by new coaches Joe Mercadante and Erika Lambert respectively, did not qualify for the ASUN tournament last year. Morrow said he knew the first year would be challenging but said he expects both teams to qualify this year.
“I expect more from [their second year] and they expect a lot out of themselves,” Morrow said.
Morrow mentioned that one of North Florida’s goals is to be among the top in the ASUN in operating budget, which according to Morrow, would give the Ospreys more opportunities to compete at a higher level.
Morrow added that UNF has only five programs in the top half of operating budget in the ASUN, saying it’s no secret those programs compete for championships every year. He said that if athletics can build their resources so every program can have that budget, then they will most likely compete for titles in every sport.
“We’re trying to build up the resources,” Morrow said. “How can we position ourselves so we can get the most out of every one of our 19 teams.”
Morrow said the department is on the right path, citing UNF Athletics’ 5 consecutive years of highest fundraising and donor count records.
Individual success
North Florida had its share of success on an individual level. Players such as Chaz Lanier and Allison Benning set school records and won many ASUN awards. Athletes such as golfer Nick Gabrelcik and runner Aidan O’Gorman competed at the national level.
Morrow said that an athletic department’s exposure is determined by its success. He said it’s an athletic department’s responsibility to attract people to a school.
“You got a guy running in the Olympic trials on national television wearing a North Florida jersey,” Morrow said. “That’s why you have an athletic department.”
Morrow said that Gabrelcik competing with other big schools is great for the “UNF brand.”
“He’s the greatest golfer we’ve ever had come through here,” Morrow said. “He’s surrounded by some big time schools.”
Athletes like these, according to Morrow, show the potential UNF has as an institution.
“Our challenge is getting our name out there, not being that hidden gem,” Morrow said. “Now we want to continue to resource our programs so we have multiple Chaz Laniers.”
The future of college sports
New laws are being worked out that will allow universities to pay players. Morrow says those laws could have roster limits, which could reduce how many athletes each school can carry. This, according to Morrow, could bring more parity into college sports.
“If you’re gonna put roster limits on a lot of sports moving forward, there’s probably going to be more parity across sports now,” Morrow said. “So those four or five stars may have to go somewhere else because there’s no more roster spots available for them.”
Morrow said he’s still listening to the nationwide conversations and waiting to take action.
“How will we jump on this and take advantage of it so that we can be ahead of our competition?” Morrow said.
Morrow thinks it is “great” that student-athletes can make money off their image, while airing grievances about the new transfer portal.
“[Athletes] can transfer every year if they want,” Morrow said. “I think that’s really bad for their education, really bad for the college athletics model.”
Morrow mentioned that since athletes can transfer whenever, there are fewer athletes that stay at one school for their entire career.
“That makes me sad for the system,” Morrow said. “UNF still has a social and education model. We’re getting [athletes] a good education while playing the sport they love.”
Morrow said that while the bad stories usually make the headlines, he thinks UNF athletics has plenty of good stories to tell.
“We’ve got many great stories and we’ll always be able to have those.
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