24-04-2025
Todd Golden finalizes Gators' reshuffled staff by hiring NYU coach
GAINESVILLE — Florida coach Todd Golden has completed his staff with the addition of Dave Klatsky, who joins the Gators after a successful three-year stint at New York University and already has ties to the program.
Klatsky will replace John Hovde, his brother-in-law and a longtime Golden assistant that Columbia hired to become its head coach during the UF's national title run. Golden also has officially promoted Jonathan Safir from director of basketball strategy and analytics to replace assistant coach John Andrzejek, who left after two seasons for Campbell.
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Hovde, who is married to the former Jackie Klatsky, arrived with Golden in March 2022 and oversaw one of the nation's top-10 offenses the past two seasons. UF averaged a school record 85.7 points in 2023-24 and 84.8 this season.
Dave Klatsky was 68-16 during three seasons as head coach at NYU, including 29-2 last season and runner-up finish in the Division III NCAA Tournament. He also served 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Colgate under Matt Langel.
Klatsky's use of analytics and advance statistics aligns with Golden's cutting-edge, metrics-based coaching philosophy.
'Dave is a high achiever and a proven winner,' Golden said in a statement. 'Whether it was at Penn as a player, Colgate as an assistant, or NYU as the program's head coach, Dave has won big everywhere he's been. He has a great analytical sense for the game, and is a great teacher on the floor.'
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Safir has spearheaded analytical analysis in Golden's program ever since he became director of basketball operations at the San Francisco in 2018, the year before the school promoted Golden from Kyle Smith's assistant to head coach.
Safir served as director of basketball operations at Columbia, his alma mater, before heading to the West Coast.
'Jonathan deserves a lot of credit for his work in many different areas of our program that ultimately led to our national championship victory,' Golden said in a statement. 'He will continue helping me with the various roster management responsibilities he has had, and will take on a bigger role on-court moving forward.'
Klatsky played at Penn from 1999-2003 for longtime coach Fran Dunphy. There, he set the program's single-season assist record in 2000-01 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics with a concentration in Finance and Accounting from the Wharton School of Business.
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He then worked as an equity analyst and trader while also creating StatChat, a podcast about utilizing advanced statistics in coaching. Klatsky mentored a Colgate student who developed the startup company ShotQuality to measure the expected value of all shots attempted.
At Colgate, Klatsky was involved with scouting, practice and game planning, recruiting and analyzing advanced statistics for a program that would win three Patriot League Tournament titles (2019, '21, '22)
Prior to Colgate, he served as an assistant coach at Stevens Institute of Technology from 2007-11 when the Ducks won their first ECAC Metro championships (2008, '11).
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@
