The Florida Gators have a new head baseball coach & his name is  Kevin O'Sullivan.  He was hired as head coach on Thursday to try to turn around a program that has fallen on hard times.

O'Sullivan has served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator the last nine years at Clemson, where he helped the Tigers to nine-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and College World Series berths in 2000, 2002 and 2006.

A Jupiter native, O'Sullivan becomes the 21st head coach in Florida history.  He takes over a struggling Gators team that has missed thepostseason the past two years under former coach Pat McMahon, who was fired last week despite compiling a record of 231-141-1.McMahon also led the Gators to the 2005 College World Serieschampionship game, where they lost to Texas.

Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley has made it clear he wants the Gators in the NCAA Tournament on a consistent basis. "What Kevin has accomplished as one of the top assistants in the nation with highly respected recruiting skills and player development speaks for itself," Foley said.  Unbalanced recruiting classes have been the Gators downfall the past few seasons. Foley said O'Sullivan's ability to bring in star players was a big reason for his hire.  "We are counting on Kevin to help return our program to the elite level of collegiate baseball," he said.

O'Sullivan also has had assistant coaching stints at Virginia, Florida Atlantic, in the Valley League and Cape Cod League. He played catcher at Florida Community College and Virginia, where he graduated in 1991.