It came as a shock when the news broke Sept. 26 that Scott Stricklin had accepted the job as the new athletic director at Florida.
Stricklin was Mr. Mississippi State, where in six years as athletic director he helped raise more than $144 million to improve facilities and hire better coaches.
Stricklin, who was born in Jackson, Miss., graduated from MSU and began his career in media relations (once known as a sports information director) there and came home in 2008 as a senior associate athletic director before working his way up to head of athletics in just two years.