Ilike Scott Stricklin. Let me say that right off the top.

I think he’s been a solid athletic director at the University of Florida. I think he’s smart, approachable, likable. He’s overseen national championships in multiple sports, managed UF’s entry into the modern arms race of facilities, and hired Todd Golden — a young basketball coach who just delivered the school’s third national title in hoops. By all accounts, Stricklin has done some good work.

But here’s what I don’t understand: Why did he just get a three-year contract extension and a significant raise at the very moment the football program — the lifeblood of Florida athletics — sits on the brink of another coaching change that would cost the university about $20 million in buyout money?

That timing doesn’t make sense.

Be

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