Todd Golden investigation: The Florida coach accusations and dismissal, explained
Welcome to FTW Explains: A guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. You may have heard something about Todd Golden being under investigation this season for Florida and wondered what was going on. We’re here to help.
With the Florida Gators making it all the way to the 2025 men's NCAA tournament final against Houston, it's been quite a March for Todd Golden.
But he's faced some allegations and accusations during the 2024-25 season that were eventually dismissed. Here's a breakdown of what went down before Golden led the Gators through March Madness:
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Who is Todd Golden?
He's the head coach for Florida, which hired him from San Francisco in 2022 to lead the program.
What were the allegations against Todd Golden?
Back in November, there was a formal Title IX complaint against Golden after Florida's student newspaper reported allegations of sexual harassment and stalking of women including Florida students.
Among other claims, the complaint alleged Golden initiated unwanted sexual advances on Instagram, requested sexual favors, sent photos and videos of his genitalia, took photos of women walking or driving and sent the pictures to the women involved, and showed up to locations where he knew the women would be.
What did Golden say about these allegations?
Here was his statement at the time:
What happened next?
After a months-long investigation, it was determined there wasn't evidence regarding those allegations.
More from ESPN in January:
ESPN on Monday obtained a copy of a letter that the university sent to a female complainant. According to the letter, the Title IX coordinator determined there was no evidence to indicate that sexual harassment "occurred within a university program or activity," and that is why the school had to dismiss the complaint. The letter noted that the complaint was initiated after the university received an anonymous report that "named multiple potentially impacted persons."
Here's what Golden said after:
And now, he's coaching for a national title.