Jeremy Foley retiring; Florida Gators AD was one of SEC's biggest figures

When it comes to the SEC, one of the biggest names in the league for the past two decades has been Jeremy Foley.

The Florida Gators athletic director has overseen years of dominance throughout the school's many sports. Whether it's track & field, softball, baseball, football or basketball, we've seen the Gators at or near the top of multiple sports just about every year under Foley's watch, and there's no question he's one of the 2-3 best ADs in college sports.

Now, Foley has announced that he will retire this year, which will take place effective Oct. 1.

"You always want to leave an organization in good shape,'' Foley told the school's website. "Right now, we obviously have a great group of coaches, we have had a good year and we've got things moving in the right direction. I just think that makes it a good time to transition."

Foley has been Florida's AD since 1992, and he's currently is the only AD in the country to have won at least one national title in each of the last seven years. The Gators won their first of three national titles in football in 1996 and won back-to-back men's basketball titles in 2006 and 2007 under Billy Donovan, whom Foley hired in 1996 as a 29-year-old.

Foley made many program-changing hires like Urban Meyer, who led the Gators to a pair of national titles in 2007 and 2009.  Foley also hired baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan, who's led the Gators to five College World Series berths since 2010.

Again, Foley hasn't been an AD who sells out to make football or basketball the only thing his school is great at. He's made Florida a name people fear across all sports.