Following his success as a two-sport athlete at Hobart, Foley went on to lead a distinguished career as director of the University of Florida athletics department, while remaining a steadfast supporter of both Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Statesmen athletics.
For 25 years, he oversaw the Gators’ athletic programs and $100 million-plus budget. From humble beginnings as a ticket intern in 1976, he rose through the department, managing business affairs, game operations and sports, before his appointment to director in 1992. During his tenure, Florida teams won 27 National Championships and 130 Southeastern Conference titles, while 105 Gators earned Academic All-America honors. Foley is the only athletic director in Division I history to supervise a program that has won national titles in football and men’s basketball in the same year, 2006, and is the only athletic director in Division I history to supervise a program that has won multiple national titles in football (1996, 2006, 2008) and men’s basketball (2006, 2007).
Meanwhile, UF ranked in the top seven in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings in each of Foley’s 25 years leading the Gator program, including five second place finishes. In 2006, Foley was named the Street and Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal National Athletic Director of the Year. The National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame awarded him the 2007 John L. Toner Award. The Florida Alumni Association Board of Directors named Foley Honorary Alumnus in 2000.
Under his leadership, UF completed many capital improvement projects, increased support for the student-athlete as a whole, and bolstered opportunities for women student-athletes, adding three women’s sports programs. Foley was also one of the first athletic directors to hire a full-time nutritionist and has supported the creation of an academic advising center on the Gainesville campus.
Foley retired in 2016 as the second-longest tenured athletic director in the country. Subsequently, he was named athletic director emeritus and joined the UF faculty as an instructor in the university’s sport management program.
As a student at Hobart, Foley lettered in both football and lacrosse, contributing to a 19-7 record over three seasons on the football team. In lacrosse, he played attack and was a member of Hobart’s first national championship team. The 1972 squad went 17-1, capturing the USILA College Division title. In 1974, he earned the Lt. John Vanderverg ’50 Memorial Award for most improved player. Three of the five teams he played on have been named Hobart Teams of Distinction.
In 1976, Foley earned a master’s in sports administration from Ohio University, which awarded him its Medal of Merit in 2008. He was inducted into the
Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
A committed and engaged alumnus, he has served as a guest coach in the Napier Leadership Seminar. His support of HWS athletics was honored in the naming of the
Raleigh-Foley-Kraus Varsity Strength Training Center. Foley has also received the William J. Napier ’57 Memorial Award and the Hobart Medal of Excellence, the Alumni Association’s highest honor.
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