Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin is a hot topic on the rumor mill as he has been reportedly offered the same job at the University of Florida, according to an initial report from Footballscoop.com. 
   Stricklin, who is 45, has been the subject of conflicting reports about the offer. According to the Clarion-Ledger, he has been offered the job multiple times, including an offer of $1 million, which would double his current salary. However, Brett McMurphy of ESPN reports that he has not been offered the job but did say he was leader for the job.
      The Florida job opened after AD Jeremy Foley announced he was retiring this summer. Foley has been the AD at Florida for 25 years, and his retirement will take effect Oct. 1. 
      Stricklin graduated from MSU in 1992 and has been AD at MSU since 2010 after taking over for Greg Byrne, who left for Arizona. He is married to Anne Stricklin, who was formally known as Anne Howell and is the daughter of MSU basketball legend Bailey Howell. Under Stricklin, MSU has overseen huge success in athletics as MSU baseball was the national runner-up in 2013 as well as being the SEC regular season champions last season
     In 2014 MSU football had one of their best seasons, wining 10 games and being the No. 1 team in the country for five weeks.  Last spring he was named AD of the year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. 
     He also presided over the recent expansion of Davis-Wade Stadium as well as leading the planning for the new Dudy-Noble expansion that is expected to break ground next year. He also hired women’s basketball Vic Schaefer, who has led MSU to one of their two sweet sixteen appearances. He also made the hire of Ben Howland for the men’s team, who has also brought in multiple top-tier recruiting classes.
President Mark Keenum’s statement:
“Scott Stricklin has earned national recognition as one of the nation’s best and most innovative athletic directors. Therefore, it’s not at all surprising that his name would be associated with searches to fill vacancies in elite universities. Beyond that, any additional comment at this time would be premature.”