Photo: Nick Savage; Credit: Zach Goodall
Nick Savage is the first former assistant coach from the Dan Mullen era of Florida Gators football to find a new home after the program cleaned out its staff following the 2021 season, as Savage is expected to become the head strength coach at Ole Miss, according to On3Sports.
Savage spent the last four seasons at Florida under Mullen, creating strong relationships with his players and running a strength program so well-appreciated that Gators' players began a social media movement for new head coach Billy Napier to retain Savage upon his hiring.
That ddn't end up being the case as Napier brought Mark Hocke along from Louisiana to fill the role of associate head coach/director of football strength and conditioning, leaving Savage looking for an opportunity elsewhere, which he has found alongside Lane Kiffin. Savage will replace Wilson Love as the Rebels' strength coach.
Perhaps Savage's most impressive work at Florida was the bodily transformations of offensive and defensive linemen. Guard Ethan White, for example, enrolled at UF hovering the 400-pound mark and lost roughly 60 pounds before playing meaningful snaps as a true freshman on UF's defensive line.
Similar can be said about freshman defensive tackle Desmond Watson, who weighed 432 pounds when he arrived at Florida last January. Watson has since trimmed down into the high-300 pound range and played almost 150 snaps during the 2021 season as a result, even taking the field in the season-opener and making his first career tackle on his first snap.
NFL Draft-bound defensive lineman Zachary Carter added about 25 pounds of muscle entering the 2020 season and cut his body fat down by 11 percent that offseason. He now stands at 6-foot-4, 285 pounds, an ideal size as he prepares for a pro career.
In addition to hiring Hocke to replace Savage, Napier has hired several assistants for his strength and conditioning department in Joe Danos as director of player athletic development, Karmichael Dunbar II and Edward Thompson as strength and conditioning assistants, Frank Ogas as assistant for player development, and Kelsee Gomes as director of sports nutrition.
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