Florida Gators

Mike Rivera enters his fourth season with the Gators in 2025-26 and second as director of player development, having been elevated to a permanent, full-time role during the 2024 offseason. Rivera originally joined the UF coaching staff as a student assistant coach in January of 2023.

Florida has reached the College World Series in Omaha in five of six years with Rivera in the dugout. As UF's starting backstop, Rivera made three-straight trips as a player from 2015-17, then helped Florida to consecutive appearances as a student assistant from 2023-24. Rivera was the starting catcher on the Gators' only National Championship team in 2017.

While he is responsible for overseeing all of the Gators' player development efforts, Rivera is particularly known for his innate ability to work with catchers. Florida has produced a First Team All-SEC catcher twice in the past three seasons (BT Riopelle in 2023, Luke Heyman in 2025) with Rivera on staff.

As a semifinalist for the 2025 Buster Posey Award and a First Team All-SEC honoree, Heyman was arguably the nation's top catcher prior to going down with an injury vs. Alabama on May 15. Heyman batted .301/.397/.578 across 49 games backed by 13 homers, one triple, seven doubles, 44 RBI and 37 runs scored. He slashed an even better .317/.403/.673 in 28 SEC contests. The UF backstop did this while providing near-perfect defense, finishing with a .998 fielding percentage and ranking third in the SEC with 11 runners caught stealing.

Shortstop Colby Shelton and catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay both enjoyed career years at the plate. Shelton reached base in 44 of 45 games before suffering a season-ending hamate injury, hitting .377/.458/.606 with seven home runs, 19 doubles, 40 runs, 35 RBI and six stolen bases. The Brooks Wallace Award Semifinalist recorded 23 multi-hit games despite seeing limited action. Meanwhile, Donay slugged a career-high 18 home runs while slashing .303/.418/.646 for a 1.064. The junior finished with two triples, 10 doubles, 45 runs, 41 RBI and eight steals.

In 2024, Florida's SEC-leading .982 fielding percentage was powered in large part by elite defensive catching. UF catchers finished with a combined .992 fielding percentage, as both Tanner Garrison and Luke Heyman delivered .995 marks. Most notably, Garrison led the SEC by throwing out 43.8% of would-be base-stealers (7-for-16).

Rivera played a major role in the development of sophomore catchers Brody Donay and Heyman. The latter threw out 11 runners in 31 attempts in 2024 while hammering 16 home runs en route to a .823 OPS at the plate. As for Donay, the first-year Gator made significant strides behind the dish defensively under Rivera's guidance and managed to crank 14 homers in just 44 starts while finishing with an .850 OPS.

In Rivera's first campaign on staff in 2023, the Gators won a program-record 54 games while claiming an SEC Championship and making a trip to the College World Series Finals in Omaha, Neb. That made four trips to the College World Series in four attempts for Rivera, who also went to Omaha in all three of his seasons as a player from 2015-17.

Thanks to Rivera's contributions, seven different Gators collected All-American honors featuring two Unanimous First Team hitters in Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglianone. That was on top of Florida’s league-high seven All-SEC selections, which included a Freshman All-SEC nod for rookie backstop Luke Heyman.

With Rivera working primarily with the catchers, Heyman earned an everyday spot in the starting lineup while swatting double-digit homers (12). Heyman concluded the year hitting .314/.366/.555 backed by 12 homers, 39 RBI and 30 runs over 51 starts. The freshman also made significant strides defensively under Rivera's watch.
 
As a former Gators standout and a member of the 2017 National Championship team, Rivera returns to Gainesville after a five-year stint in professional baseball. Rivera made 177 starts in 180 career games at Florida from 2015-17, powering the Gators to an unprecedented 156-53 record (.746) and three College World Series trips during that span. Across 605 at bats, the sure-handed backstop slashed .253/.385/.343 with 15 homers, four triples, 27 doubles, 123 RBI and 87 runs.
  
In both 2015 and 2016, the Venice, Fla. native claimed All-SEC honors at catcher while being named to the SEC All-Defensive Team in the latter season. Rivera was excellent behind the plate and in the field for the duration of his time in Gainesville, posting a .996 fielding percentage over 1,198 chances. He committed just five errors in his three-year career, including one per season in 2015 and 2017.
 
Shortly after bringing a National Championship to Gator Nation, Rivera was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians with the 192nd overall pick in the sixth round of the 2017 MLB Draft. He spent parts of five seasons in the Minor Leagues with Cleveland, reaching the Triple-A level during the 2021-22 seasons. Rivera remained a reliable defensive presence throughout pro ball, as evidenced by a .993 fielding percentage at the catcher position and a 33% caught-stealing rate.

Career Accolades
2016 All-SEC Second Team
2016 SEC All-Defensive Team
2015 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American
2015 All-SEC Second Team
2015 SEC All-Freshman Team
2015 SEC Freshman of the Week (March 30)