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One of the biggest, perhaps even the biggest, change Dan Mullen has brought to Florida to this point is the revamping of the off-season workouts and conditioning program by new Strength and Conditioning Director Nick Savage.
Last season in his post-game 10 Observations column former Florida defensive end Johnie Church brought to light his concerns with the Gators strength and conditioning program:
"The catastrophic collapse of a lot of our players throughout the past few seasons is a direct reflection of our strength program. The arms on our linemen are the size of a wide receiver's arms on other teams. The second most important position on a program, besides head coach, belongs to the head strength and conditioning coach. They create the toughness, identity, and mental acuity needed to excel on the field. Coaches follow-up with the technical aspect and understanding of the game. If either element is missing in a program, it's a recipe for inconsistency at best."
While Church was going on the record about his concerns, according to a report by Edward Aschoff and Mark Schlabach on ESPN those in the Florida athletic department took issue behind the scenes:
UF administrators had urged McElwain to turn over the staff in the Gators' weight room because they believed workouts were unorganized and players weren't being adequately developed under Mike Kent, the director of strength and conditioning, who had followed McElwain to Florida from Colorado State.
In his introductory press conference Mullen said that when he addressed the team he told them to rest up over the month of December because when they began off-season conditioning in January, they were going to experience something they had never experienced before.
At roughly 4:30 a.m. this morning, that first month of conditioning came to a head with the annual St. Valentines Day Workout. According to those who have endured it, it is the single most grueling workout of the off-season.
Some of those who survived it this morning took to social media.
