Florida baseball is once again changing leadership in the wake of head coach Kevin O’Sullivan taking a recent leave of absence.
The university’s Athletic Association announced on Friday afternoon that Tom Slater will be the Gators’ associate head coach and new acting head coach. The 57-year-old Slater brings a wealth of experience from the college and professional ranks. He was most recently in player development with the Philadelphia Phillies organization in 2024 and 2025, and before that the 1990 graduate of VMI worked as a senior adviser and minor league hitting coordinator with the Miami Marlins from 2021-24.
The native of Richmond, Va., has SEC ties, too, as the former head coach at Auburn from 2005-08. He was an Auburn assistant from 1995-2000, and it’s not his first go-around in Gainesville, either, with Slater having served as an assistant at Florida in 2004.
In a twist of irony, Florida’s previous acting head coach, Chuck Jeroloman, was hired by SEC rival Tennessee as the Volunteers’ associate head coach who will serve under new Tennessee head coach Josh Elander. The hiring of Jeroloman was first reported on Thursday and made official on Friday.
Jeroloman spent the previous 6 seasons at Florida under many titles, including assistant, recruiting coordinator and associate head coach.
Over his 14 seasons as an assistant on the college level, Jeroloman has worked with 48 players who have gone on to be drafted at the Major League Baseball level. That includes 25 players drafted during his 6-year stint at Florida.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
