mash here

As Stricklin remembers, Mullen was in Starkville meeting with his new

team the day after winning the 2008 national championship with Florida,

delivering that message in his matter-of-fact manner.

“It

was an unvarnished approach to, ‘Guys, get ready because you don’t know

what’s about to hit you from a strength and conditioning [standpoint],

the way we do things,'” Stricklin recollects.

He wasn’t exaggerating.

“The

mental toughness he wants to instill in his players starts in the

weight room. If I was going to talk to the University of Florida team, I

would apologize in advance for how hard these next three months are

going to be,” Lee says.