O'Gara: What if Nate Oats is modern-day Billy Donovan?
It’s now a question that’s worth asking.
When Nate Oats cut down the Crypto.com Arena nets to lead Alabama to its first Final Four in school history, my mind shifted to somebody else who was once a promising up-and-coming offensive wizard who did historic things on the hardwood at a football-focused SEC school — Billy Donovan.
What Oats has done through 5 years at Alabama is shades of Donovan’s start at Florida. It’s now fair to ask — what if Oats is modern-day Donovan?
Granted, they were separated by about 15 years when they accepted their respective SEC jobs and when Donovan celebrated his first Final Four at Florida in Year 4, it marked the second in program history.
Donovan’s first Final Four (and eventual runner-up finish) in 2000 was 6 years removed from his predecessor, Lon Kruger, leading Florida to that historic first Final Four in 1994. But Kruger’s Final Four trip marked the last time he won an NCAA Tournament game at Florida. A Round of 64 exit and a losing season in 1995-96 prompted Kruger to leave Florida for Illinois.
Go back and read this Orlando Sentinel article following Kruger’s move to Illinois:
In recent seasons, Kruger has noted the lack of consistent fan support. Average home attendance dropped nearly 2,000 this past season to 7,896, down from 9,838 in 1994-95. But even in the Gators’ first Final Four season in 1993-94, when they went 13-0 at home, average attendance was less than 10,000 at the 12,000-seat O’Connell Center.
Illinois, a member of the Big Ten Conference, averages about 15,000 fans each season at 16,450-seat Assembly Hall. The Illini were 18-13 last season and finished ninth in the 11-team Big Ten.
Translation: Kruger sought a basketball school, not a football school.
We know what happened after that. Florida became much more of a basketball school under Donovan than any of the places Kruger ran. Donovan co-existed at a time when Steve Spurrier was king, and he didn’t seek greener pastures at a time when Urban Meyer was king.
Oats didn’t seek greener pastures when Saban was king. It remains to be seen just how king Kalen DeBoer will be in Tuscaloosa, but one thing is certain. Alabama is still a football school. The question is whether Oats can replicate the 2 decades of success that Donovan had at a football school.
I know, Florida fans. You’re an “everything school.” You take pride in that, as you should. Florida is still the only Division I school to win both football and men’s basketball national titles (outright) in the same school year. Donovan made that a reality, along with the $64.5 million renovation that the O’Connell Center underwent in 2016 a year after he left Florida for the Chicago Bulls.
But deep down, Florida fans, you know that Florida football moves the needle unlike anything else on campus.
Oats has had to answer plenty of questions about that dynamic at Alabama. Publicly, he’s never said a bad word about the football spotlight at Alabama. With the Crypto.com Arena net draped around his neck, Oats still addressed that topic (via The Next Round):
“I love the fact we’re at a football school. We’re gonna try to add another sport to the championship school level, because I think we’re knocking on the door there.” – Nate Oats after Alabama’s win over Clemson to advance to the first Final Four in program history.#RollTide… pic.twitter.com/UgqJyeOq5w
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) March 31, 2024
“I love the fact we’re at a football school,” Oats said on Saturday night. “We’re gonna try to add another sport to the championship school level because I think we’re knocking on the door there.”
It helps that Oats will be paid like a coach at a basketball school. His newly minted extension, which runs through the rest of the decade, will make him 1 of the 5 highest-paid coaches in the sport. Like Donovan, his continued success will still make him a popular name when a basketball blue-blood job or an NBA opens up (let’s not forget about Donovan’s rumored flirtation with the Kentucky job and his day as the Orlando Magic head coach). There’s not much Alabama can do that it isn’t already doing that’ll change that.
Well, Alabama could speed up those Coleman Coliseum funding/renovation plans. If that undertaking, which is been delayed because of rising construction costs, continues for the next few years, keep an eye on how that impacts Oats. Does he grow bitter? Or does he have that same attitude that he had about the football presence that he had after the Final Four.
Tennessee online sports betting is live! SDS has fans in the Volunteer State covered with promos and bonuses at the top sportsbooks!
Donovan wasn’t necessarily navigating the same sort of big-revenue arms race that Oats and current coaches are, but he did ride the momentum of his early success to get a $10 million state-of-the-art basketball practice facility, which opened ahead of the 2001-02 season.
That was after Donovan closed Year 5 at Florida. That’s the place that Oats is nearing now. Here’s how the 2 stack up to this point:
It remains to be seen what type of financial momentum this historic Final Four run will yield. With Donovan, it also came with higher expectations. It’s easy to forget that before Donovan repeated, his runner-up season was followed by 5 consecutive opening weekend exits. He was the guy who couldn’t win the big one. If Oats had been eliminated on opening weekend, he would’ve continued to face questions about whether his up-tempo, 3-point-happy offensive scheme could compete at a championship level in March.
Instead, though, Oats did the unthinkable. Beating UConn is also considered unthinkable. It’s ironic that Oats is trying to prevent UConn from becoming the first team to repeat since Donovan’s Gators. The formula to do that for Oats will look nothing like what we saw from Donovan’s squad 17 years ago. Alabama might shoot more threes in the first half than the 18 that Florida shot in the entire 2007 national championship.
Win or lose — UConn is an 11.5-point favorite over Alabama (DraftKings Sportsbook) — this is starting to feel like the beginning of something special with Oats in Alabama. Maybe he’ll never win multiple titles and become one of the best college coaches of the 21st century like Donovan, but betting against the Tide coach has been a losing formula.
The SEC has lacked someone like Donovan since he left for the NBA nearly a decade ago. It’s now at least a question.
What if modern-day Billy is building a basketball monster in Tuscaloosa?
Tennessee is the everything school…not Florida l. Just ask a Vol fan
How is Tennessee an everything school ? No nattys in men’s b ball, baseball , softball , gymnastics ext..
Tennessee is going very well in most sports, but they have to bring home some titles before they can make the claim.
Doing not going
please dont feed that moron. Its not a vol fan that said that its a idiot bama fan.
Got
It fuzzy
BUT HE ISNT WRONG………… If its the sucks at everything ahahahahaha
Fuzzy and gator fan. You critters should mouth kiss and start a family.
Gabriel was yanking your chain. Looks like you answered.
Looks like showing sportsmanship and having a conversation without insulting someone is something you can
Not handle luvdardie..
That’s pretty funny right there Gabriel, ask any Gator fan
and abalama is the all dumb ass fans school just look at gabby rtr
First learn to spell before calling anyone dumb…
Naw. Correct spelling on this site is just a nicety not a requirement.
The money will keep Oats at Alabama for now, but if the administration wants to keep him there more than another year or two before he bolts for somewhere else, it needs to show its support for basketball with a new arena. Coleman Coliseum was only twenty years old when I attended UA over 35 years ago and it looked outdated even then. Rising construction costs haven’t stopped upgrades or new facilities for other sports, and the athletic department certainly isn’t hurting for money, so it’s time to build a new arena while the momentum is there for it.
Hey O’Gara, what if Nate Oats is, in reality, the modern-day Nate Oats? Kinda like what we are actually watching with our very own eyes. Such a novel idea.
….. or he could be the next Frank Martin.
To even put Oats in the same coaching category as Billy
Donovan is way too early. Try winning a Natty first. Of course coaches now are like a “Flavor of the Month”. Think long-term in years not just one(1) season to judge a coaching career. I do not recall any of Billy’s players being complicit in a murder. Whereas Oats does lead him in that category.
Why stop at Billy Donavan?
What if Nate Oats is John Wooden? What if he’s Michael Jordan? Buzz Aldrin?
What if Elenor Roosevelt could fly…John Calapari is really Jimmy Hoffa…the Orange one stopped lying .. ?
Is this what you think about when that Bama fatigue has you in a coma?
Roll Tide
“Orange one stopped lying .. ?”
He lives rent free in your tiny brain.
A new arena would cost $250M, which bammer does not have… they spent all their money on football… and the DROVE of out of state students paying the very high cost of out-of-state tuition just to be at Nick Saban bammer is not happening anymore… bank on it… when Calapari is fired at Kentucky in a year or two, they will go after Oats… after all, he is a win at any and all costs coach, which is right up Kentucky’s alley.
The football team is profitable (obviously). The other sports are what are responsible for Bama operating in the red.
Capital spending is why Bama spent more than it took in for that one year. Most SEC teams lose money on all sports except football and men’s basketball. The 27-24 SECCG is why so many Georgia fans have to continuously comment on every single Bama article.
Capital spending is not included in operating expenses. I am done teaching you basic accounting.
Revenue was $199M and expenses were $212M.
Actually, certain expenses related to capital spending are expenses right away. The day it goes into service depreciation starts and that is an operating expense. If you knew how to read financial statements you would have picked up on the note about $14.3 million of deferred sports gift revenue in 2023 in order to match it up with expenses to be incurred. No charge for the accounting lesson puppy fan. 27-24 keeps you coming back.
I know about the $14M. It wasn’t counted was it. Facts. Tell me the Alabama Athletic Dept didn’t lose money in 2023. If you can’t disprove that, the STFU.
Sure you knew about the $14 million received but deferred. I bet you didn’t recognize that depreciation jumped up either. A non-cash expense. The fact that a puppy fan would be this interested in Bama financials tells us how much Bama owns you. 22-23 was a non-playoff year for Bama. Revenue drops when that happens. In the meantime enjoy Bama’s SEC championship. Tell me, who did they beat in that championship game?
All I said was Bama lost money. You can’t say I am wrong so you keep making excuses.
BTW, say goodbye to Coach Saban and his band of merry Officials.
As usual you are trying to troll Bama with one year of financial data and a business enterprise operates with long term planning which obviously you know nothing about. For you to be this interested in Bama financials and any time you can point out something you perceive as bad for Bama there you are to jump on it to relieve that pain Bama obviously gives you. Let me give you a little more. 27-24. Come back for more anytime. We both know Bama owns you after you want to get into details about a single year financially. Keep coming back for more. I like to dish out pain to trolls.
One last thing. Saban must have been very bad at buying off officials since Bama has been one of the most penalized teams the last few years. I bet you think the moon landing was faked as well. Keep coming back for more.
You have to be a 12 yr old…
A 12 year old would troll other teams rather than focusing on their team. I fail to see the thrill in spending so much time in trolling other teams like you do.
One last thing, Bama has only had one other season where they spent more than revenue received 2005. It generated a surplus of $33 million in 2014. Seems making the playoffs does wonders for revenue. 2024 should be just fine. Leave it to Georgia fans to be so interested in the financials of Bama sports.
Any SEC school (especially a few like Bama) using cost as a reason not to renovate, build a new arena is hogwash. When have you ever been richer?…btw..UCF has built 2 new arenas in the past 26 years…pony up!
Nate Oats is a really good coach. I hope the fans in Tuscaloosa appreciate what they have and support the program. Understanding the SEC is a football dominated league- the conference will need to keep pace in basketball to remain (in my opinion) ahead of the Big10.
The only similarities between Oats and Donovan is that they’re both excellent SEC basketball coaches. The better comparison to a Florida coach, albeit in a different sport, would be to compare Oats to Urban Meyer. Both are very good coaches who get the most out of their players who also have zero disciplinary control over their guys. Both have players involved in a murd3r on their watch, both have tempers (Oats shoved a Mizzou guy, and both have lesser locker room issues (Urban’s are well documented while you see things with Oats like Pringle catching a different flight to the tournament with no explanation). If you’ve watched interviews or the swamp kings documentary, Urban shows zero contrition for helping create an environment of lawless players with no accountability. In a similar manner, Oats shrugged off the murd3r Brandon Miller contributed to by saying blithely that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ultimately that behavior cost Urban his coaching career. Whether Oats will evolve into a coach who demands discipline and morality for himself and his players remains to be seen.
oskie…Excellent comparison of Urban Meyer’s & Nate Oats “off the field” issue with players”. Oats’ saying “wrong place at the wrong time”, while looking down at the table, not ever looking directly at the camera was the worst thing he could have said. His body language said “Folks I’m lying”.
oskie, great point, As long as UK’s current AD is there it is very unlikely that he would be hired at UK. Go CATS!!!
I hate to tell you, Bammers, but O’Gara is on your bandwagon. You’re officially sunk.
He jumped on the Kentucky bandwagon. They lost the next game. Ditto for Tennessee. You all are next. Salute on making the final four, but the O’Gara Curse is on ye.
Hmmm, Billy Donovan was swept by Tennessee when he won a natty in 2006.
In like manner, Oats was swept by Tennessee this year. I see the comparison now.
And Miss State swept the Vils in the same season that Bama swept Miss State. About as relative as your comment.