It was on Saturday after getting clobbered by No. 1-ranked Georgia that Florida Gators coach Dan Mullen talked eloquently and emotionally about how he and his struggling team must now come together, grab the rope and start pulling in the same direction.
“As the rope slips, you can either drop it or grab tight, hold on, dig in your heels and start pulling in the other direction,” Mullen explained passionately. “Dropping the rope doesn’t fix anything. What fixes it is grasping the rope, holding on and squeezing as it’s burning. I will say something about me: I don’t drop the rope. I’m not going to let you rip it out of my hand. You can drag me around by my face if you want, but I’m going to squeeze it and not let any inch of that rope go.”
Two days later on Monday, Mullen depressingly dropped the rope.
