Florida baseball put together an impressive offseason, which included roster retention, portal acquisitions, winning the MLB Draft, and several key coaching additions.
Looking to make a change at pitching coach after years of underperformance and inconsistency, the Gators hired Rich Dorman away from Oregon State, which fielded the nation’s top pitching staff in 2026. The Beavers led the country with a 3.22 ERA, 6.94 hits allowed per nine innings and a 1.14 WHIP.
In a recent interview with Steve Russell on WUFT, Dorman discussed his decision to take the pitching coach job at Florida.
“The tradition and history of Florida Gator baseball, and just wanting to be a part of championships, and going to Omaha. Obviously, the experience of our coaching staff, the talent of our players. And it’s Florida,” Dorman said.
Dorman didn’t have any prior connection to head coach Kevin O’Sullivan beforehand, but Florida’s winning pedigree, O’Sullivan’s hard-nosed personality and his immediate connection with the coaching staff helped draw him to Gainesville.
“I’ve obviously seen the success of the Gators, and you see that guy in the dugout with the giant sunglasses, you’ve seen him in Omaha, and just motivated,” Dorman said on O’Sullivan. “He’s a very fiery guy. He’s a no-BS guy, and I have a ton of respect for that. We just hit it off on the phone, obviously talked to Tommy Slater and other guys on the staff. I found out pretty quickly [that] I want to bring my family to Florida; my wife is on board. We’re ready to be Gators and go win a lot of games.”
Florida’s pitching staff is loaded with talent for the 2027 season. The Gators have the most top-50 2027 MLB Draft prospects in the country, three of whom are pitchers: Aidan King, Jackson Barberi and Joshua Whritenour.
Dorman immediately made it a priority to build relationships with his players.
“That’s one of the first thing’s I started doing when I took the job, was starting building relationships, because those things are huge for me,” Dorman said. “They don’t care what you know until they know you care.”
Florida seemingly has not gotten the most out of its pitching talent in recent years, and Dorman is looking to change that. Across 10 seasons in college baseball with Oregon State and Grand Canyon, the Oregon native saw 21 of his pitchers selected in the MLB Draft for an average of 2.1 players per year.
“There’s a lot of guys that are thirsty to be developed, get better, and win a national championship on our roster,” Dorman said. “I’m extremely excited about this group. My favorite thing to do is create a team within a team. I’m extremely excited to get with this group and go to work.”
What can you expect from a Dorman-led pitching staff? Well, they’ve been really good in just about every area. They strike out a lot of batters, limit extra-base hits, throw strikes and, most importantly, keep runs off the board.
“We’ve got to dominate the zone. We’ve got to win the 0-0s and the 1-1s,” Dorman said. “We’re going to pitch with passion, we’re going to care for each other, and we’re going to win at a really high level. We’re not going to be outworked in the weight room, and we’re going to be really good people.”
Not only will Dorman be in charge of coaching and developing Florida’s pitching staff, but he’ll also play a crucial role in recruiting players to Gainesville. We’ve already seen this in action with portal additions Trey Morris and Zach Edwards, along with several high school commits in the 2027 and 2028 classes.
Dorman walks us through what he looks for in a pitcher.
“Besides the stuff, it’s pretty easy to see if a kid can spin a breaking ball or if he throws hard…I feel like for me, it’s how he responds to adversity. Umpire misses a call, guy behind him boots a call, gives up a double, how does that kid respond…Do we have a winning mindset,” Dorman said.
“What kind of teammate is he. You can read a lot of body language, you can tell a lot about a kid when you’re out recruiting, when I watch him pitch. Am I inspired?”
Velocity has become a major part of pitching in baseball, and for good reason. But it’s not everything, according to Dorman. All he needs are confident pitchers who can change speeds and locate.
“There’s a lot that’s to be said with what the guy’s got inside his chest. The belief, the way his pitches come out, the extension, it’s not all velocity. I’ve seen plenty of guys be extremely successful 88-92, but they can literally hit a spot anytime, any count. They can throw a breaking ball anytime, any count. They can throw a changeup anytime, any count. You have to have the ability to change speeds and throw strikes, and you can get outs at any level.”
Dorman takes over a talented group that will have high expectations in 2027 as they look to get back to Omaha for the first time since 2024.