Florida's Harvin says ankle 90 percent healed

T25-BCS Championship-Notebook,0946

By RALPH D. RUSSO

Published January 5, 2009 at 6:27 p.m.
Updated January 6, 2009 at 8:54 a.m.

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MIAMI (AP) — Dan Mullen carries a cell phone in each pocket, one for each job.

The Florida quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator has already started working on his new gig as Mississippi State head coach.

He's begun recruiting for the Bulldogs, and he'll call plays for the Gators in the BCS national championship game against Oklahoma on Thursday night.

On Friday, he'll have his first team meeting in Starkville, Miss.

"It just takes a lot of organizational skills right now," said Mullen, who at 36 will be the fourth-youngest coach in major college football.

"When I've been involved doing my stuff there, you have to be 100 percent focused on that job. When I come back and I start working on the game plan and practice and film, you have to be 100 percent focused on this job."

It doesn't allow much time for luxuries — such as sleep.

"It's pretty tough," he said at media day in Dolphins Stadium on Friday. "A lot of the adrenaline keeps you going."

And what happens if both phones ring at the same time?

"This one gets picked up now," he said. "That's the Mississippi State one. That's my No. 1 priority is Mississippi State."

Mullen has gotten some advice from Nebraska coach Bo Pelini on how to do two things at once.

Pelini was hired by the Cornhuskers, but remained defensive coordinator at LSU through the national title game last year.

"When you're at Mississippi State, make sure you're setting a little time at night to watch a little bit of film on Oklahoma to prepare for the game," Mullen said about Pelini's advice.

"When you come back to Florida, you're doing your responsibilities here, make sure you set aside some time at night to deal with your responsibilities at Mississippi State.

"His last one was, 'Hey, you're playing for the national championship, don't forget to enjoy that as well.'"

Mullen has been working as an assistant to Florida coach Urban Meyer since 2001, when Meyer was head coach at Bowling Green. He followed Meyer to Utah, then to Florida, helping the Gators win the 2006 national championship and developing a close bond with Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

Tebow, a junior, is mulling over whether to skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft. He has said Mullen's departure will not affect his decision.

Mullen said schools looking for a head coach started to reach out to him late in the season, but he told Meyer he would not discuss anything until after the Southeastern Conference title game.

Mississippi State, looking for a replacement for Sylvester Croom, reached out to Mullen soon after the Gators beat Alabama for the SEC title and he was hired a few days later.

Meyer has already picked offensive line coach Steve Addazio to replace Mullen as offensive coordinator.

There's been speculation that Mullen would try to bring some other Florida assistants to Mississippi State.

"We won't discuss any of that (with Meyer) until after the game," Mullen said. "He didn't want any distractions so I haven't even talked about any of the guys. We'll see afterwards. I'll get permission from Urban to talk to the guys here and see what they think, see if anybody is interested."

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KEEP SWINGING:@ Oklahoma safety Nic Harris knows that stopping Florida's offense requires stopping Tim Tebow.

"You gotta cut the head off the snake," said Harris, a 230-pound safety from Alexandria, La. "It all starts with Tebow. He's a general, he's a warrior.

"I talked to different guys, Louisiana guy, SEC country. Talked to guys from LSU, whatever, and they said they gave him their best shot each down ... and he got up. So, they gave him 100 (hits). We'll give him, like ... 520."

Whatever LSU did to Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, wasn't nearly enough. The Gators beat the Tigers 51-21.

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TEBOW VS. BIG 12: Florida quarterback Tim Tebow clarified a comment CBS announcers made in the closing minutes of the Southeastern Conference title game last month. Announcer Verne Lundquist said Tebow told him he had a lot of respect for the Big 12 quarterbacks but would like to throw against Big 12 defenses.

Tebow said his words were misinterpreted.

"I didn't say it like that," Tebow said Monday. "I've always dreamed of playing teams like Texas, Oklahoma. I just love college football, not just Big 12 teams, but also Penn States, USCs. I've always wanted to go against (those) teams. When I said that, I was talking about it in a way like that, not like we're superior to them in any way. That wasn't what I meant."

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BOX UPDATE: Middle linebacker Austin Box has returned to practice after spraining his left knee in Oklahoma's regular-season finale and is trying to get ready for Thursday night's game.

"I feel good. I'm working my way back into playing shape," Box said.

Box, who became the Sooners' starter after Ryan Reynolds tore a ligament in his right knee, missed the Big 12 championship game last month while recuperating and was replaced by former third-stringer Mike Balogun.

"Both those guys are equally smart. They both have that drive that they want to play that position," said linebacker Travis Lewis, the Sooners' leading tackler. "They both have it that, 'This position is mine.' It's great to have two guys that stay hungry like that."

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AP Sports Writers Jeff Latzke and Mark Long contributed to this report

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