The University of Florida thought within the past week that it had found the flagship school's top leader.
Tuesday, despite UF's Board of Trustees last week formally and unanimously approving the hiring of Michigan President Dr. Santa Ono, the State University System of Florida's Board of Governors easily shot down Ono's candidacy.
Per various reports, the Board of Governors voted 10-6 to not approve Ono's selection to the University of Florida system's top post atop its flagship institution in Gainesville.
Ono had been in line to replace departed UF President Ben Sasse, who lasted just 17 months at the helm of the school and, though he publicly proclaimed he had resigned from UF, myriad reports indicated that Sasse was forced out at Florida after he "clashed with the school's Board of Trustees."
It continues a turbulent stretch for Florida, which saw athletics director Scott Stricklin see so much pressure on third-year football coach Billy Napier midway through last season that he had to publicly declare Napier's job security.
That all transpired as UF was having to conduct an investigation into the alleged sexual misconduct of head basketball coach Todd Golden, who was cleared in late January and guided the Gators to the national championship in April.
Most recently, Florida has come under (justified) scrutiny for the actions -- antics -- of Gators baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan during last weekend's NCAA Tournament Conway Regional at Coastal Carolina University.
There, O'Sullivan was captured on video berating various Coastal Carolina officials after the school delayed the start of Sunday's game by an entire hour -- from noon to 1 p.m. -- after lengthy play the night before caused participants to not finish competition until approximately midnight.
The scene was so bad, the coverage so expansive, that O'Sullivan and Stricklin both had to issue statements of apology.
BREAKING: The Florida Board of Governors has rejected Santa Ono for the presidency of University of Florida. This is a massive win for conservatives—and an act of courage by the board.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 3, 2025
Now, the University of Florida and Ono both are left to examine the next move. Ono had not been without his own controversy in collegiate athletics; he had blindly and publicly supported former Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh even as the Wolverines football program was found at the epicenter and deemed negligent in one the most nefarious cheating scandals in modern college athletics. Harbaugh, who bounced to the NFL as soon as he could exit his alma mater, was later hammered by the NCAA for his alleged misdeeds and poor oversight of the Michigan program.