Florida football Coach Dan Mullen is showing confidence in his Gators before coaching a single game at the school.
During Florida's basketball game against Baylor on Saturday in Gainesville, Mullen -- who arrived at Florida from Mississippi State -- promised to deliver another national title in a speech to fans.
Mullen was the Gators' offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer when they won two national championships in 2006 and 2008, and he knows the expectations of the program.
"That standard is not just SEC, but national championships," Mullen told the crowd at halftime of Florida's 81-60 victory. "That's what we promise we're going to bring back to you here in the Swamp in Gainesville and put the Gators back on top as the most dominating team in the United States of America."
Mullen was hired Nov. 26 to replace Jim McElwain. He has an uphill climb in the SEC -- home to nine of the past 12 national champions.
Earlier this month, Alabama defeated Georgia in overtime to win an all-SEC national championship game. Florida finished 4-7 and has posted two losing seasons since 1980 -- both during the past five years.
"Our guys are working their tail off right now to live up to what we know the Gators standard is," said Mullen, whose Gators began their offseason conditioning program Jan. 16. "And that Gators standard is about having a national championship baseball team, about any team that tries to come in here as No. 1 in the country like Oklahoma tried to do (Friday) night (in gymnastics), they're going to go home with a loss."
Mullen's first game with the Gators is Sept. 1 against Charleston Southern.
Better football?
World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon recently announced plans to bring back the XFL.
McMahon ran the XFL in 2001 during the late winter-early spring, after the NFL season was over. But it lasted just one season. The XFL2, McMahon's attempt to revive the football league, is scheduled to relaunch in time for 2020.
Paul Newberry of The Associated Press said spring football could work, but the XFL2 is not the answer.
"Good football will likely be the fatal flaw in McMahon's new venture, just as it was for the original XFL," Newberry wrote. "While the risque cheerleaders and close ties to wrestling brought plenty of much-deserved ridicule, it was the amateurish quality of play that ultimately caused its downfall. As Bob Costas memorably observed, it was 'mediocre high school football' combined 'with a tawdry strip club.'
"Since McMahon's new XFL will follow the same single-entity plan -- he'll be the sole owner of the eight-team league -- there's unlikely to be nearly enough money to lure any recognizable names, unless Tim Tebow [yes, he came up during the announcement Thursday] decides to make a football comeback.
"But an updated version of the USFL concept would have a real chance at succeeding during the spring and summer, football's traditional offseason."
SPORTS QUIZ
Who was the XFL MVP in 2001?
ANSWER
Tommy Maddox, who played quarterback for the Los Angeles Xtreme
Sports on 01/30/2018