GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan now has a homemade gym in his garage. It’s the first place he visits every morning.

O’Sullivan used a two-month leave of absence to change his daily routine and eliminate some old habits in hopes of finding “the best version of myself” heading into his 19th season in Gainesville.

“It’s really that simple,” O’Sullivan said Friday, more than seven weeks after resuming his coaching duties with the Gators. “I feel rejuvenated. I feel great. I feel much, much more at peace, if that makes sense.”

O’Sullivan stepped away in late October to address undisclosed “personal matters.”

The Gators went through two interim coaches during his hiatus. They turned to associate head coach Chuck Jeroloman before he left to take a similar job at Tennessee. Florida then hired former Auburn coach Tom Slater as associate head coach.

O’Sullivan returned a week before Christmas and has been getting his program ready for next weekend’s season-opening series against UAB. The 57-year-old coach nicknamed “Sully” has led the program to 756 wins, 17 NCAA regionals, nine College World Series appearances, six SEC championships and the 2017 national title.

But his most recent season was far from the norm. In August, the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee issued a public reprimand to O’Sullivan for aggressive behavior and profanity-laced language directed at site administrators for the regional in Conway, South Carolina, two months earlier.

O’Sullivan was upset that the start time of his team’s elimination game against East Carolina was pushed back an hour. East Carolina’s previous game had ended at midnight.

Videos of O’Sullivan’s tirade were circulated widely on social media.

“I certainly wish I didn’t do it,” O’Sullivan said. “No one feels more regretful than I do. The last thing I want to do is misrepresent Florida or myself or anybody for that matter. I handled it poorly.”

Florida responded by suspending O’Sullivan for the first three games of the 2026 season, meaning he will have to watch the opening series from home.

“I certainly accept that,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve moved forward on that. That’s in the past for me.”

O’Sullivan’s career probably depends on it.

He signed a four-year contract extension in January 2024 that raised his annual salary to $1.8 million and put him under contract through 2033. But there is little doubt decision-makers at Florida will have no tolerance moving forward for another outburst.

“You make a commitment to yourself personally,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s what kind of slips away at times. I get up every morning and have my own routine and make sure I get some personal time for myself, so I don’t get bogged down during the day and let one day slip away from the next.

“It’s important. One of the things is we all take care of ourselves first. And if we do that, then everything else will fall in place. It’s really that simple.”

O’Sullivan admittedly has been too much of a perfectionist at times, and last year was a trying season. The Gators dealt with a rash of injuries and started 1-11 in SEC before rebounding to make the NCAA field.

He opens this season with high expectations. Not only does he have a ranked team led by starting pitchers Liam Peterson and Aidan King, he also now expects more of himself.

“Things can kind of get away from me a little bit,” O’Sullivan said. “Last fall, at the end, was probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to do other than lose my parents or other family members. But it ended up being the best thing that could have happened.”

Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance were spotted at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan, Italy, at San Siro on Friday night.

The Milan Cortina Olympics were officially opening with a ceremony celebrating the history and culture of the country. The vice president and Usha Vance were seated near Italian President Sergio Mattarella and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry were introduced in the stadium. Former IOC president Thomas Bach was also seated near them.

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The NBC broadcast briefly showed the Vances clapping for Mattarella and Coventry.

Vance was among those leading the American contingent to the Olympic Games in Italy this year. He was spotted with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the U.S. women’s ice hockey game against the Czech Republic on Thursday. The Americans won the game, 5-1.

It was a part of a busy trip for Vance.

Vice President JD Vance, center, attends the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.  (Andreas Rentz/Pool Photo via AP)

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On Friday, he started his day at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, watching the opening session of the three-day team figure skating competition with Rubio and his family. He then headed to the Prefettura di Milano for a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“In the spirit of the Olympics friendship, competition — competition based on rules — and just coming together around shared values, we’re very, very thrilled to be here, and we’ll have a great conversation about number of topics,” Vance told Meloni as the press corps looked on.

Vice President JD Vance, center, and his wife Usha Vance attend the figure skating ice dance team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

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He said he had been excited to go to the Olympics in Milan “pretty much since I became vice president.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Gus Kenworthy, a British-American Olympic skier who is set to compete for Great Britain in freestyle skiing, posted a graphic anti-ICE message on his social media as opening ceremonies were set to begin for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics on Friday.

Kenworthy posted a photo on his Instagram that showed the words “f— ICE” on snow in what appeared to be urine. He urged Americans to call their senators to pressure them into voting against Department of Homeland Security funding negotiations.

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“Innocent people have been murdered, and enough is enough,” he captioned the post. “We can’t wait around while ICE continues to operate with unchecked power in our communities. Senators still have leverage right now, and Senator [Name] must use it to demand real guardrails and accountability — including getting ICE and CBP out of our communities, ending blank-check funding for brutality, and establishing clear limits on warrantless arrests, profiling, and enforcement at sensitive locations like schools and hospitals.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Kenworthy wouldn’t be punished for his political viewpoint.

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Gus Kenworthy (GBR) competes in the freestyle skiing-mens halfpipe final during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Genting Snow Park on Feb. 19, 2022. (Jack Gruber/USA TODAY Sports)

“During the Olympic Games, all participants have the opportunity to express their views as per the athlete expression guidelines. The IOC does not regulate personal social media posts,” the IOC told the Press Association.

The message came amid outrage over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) operations in Minnesota. In January, Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed.

ICE agents were also expected to act as security for U.S. officials. It prompted outrage from Italian officials and sparked protests around the country.

Gus Kenworthy of the United States celebrates at the end of his second run in the men’s ski slopestyle final at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

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Kenworthy was born in Great Britain but moved to Colorado as a child. He represented the U.S. in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi but chose to compete for Great Britain in 2019.

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