Mullen clarifies

These are tough times for Florida Coach Dan Mullen less than a year after the Gators were among the top teams nationally before finishing with losses to LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Mullen, whose Gators are 2-7 in their last nine games against Power 5 conference opponents, is getting bashed by many in the media and has infuriated some Florida fans by his comments that make it sound as though he doesn’t take recruiting as seriously as he should.

After No. 1 Georgia pounded Florida 34-7 last Saturday, Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times wrote an article detailing all of the Bulldogs who made key plays and signed with Georgia over Florida.

When Mullen held his weekly news conference on Monday, the first question was about recruiting, and he winced when he heard it, then quickly dismissed it.

“We’re in the season right now,” Mullen said. “We’ll do recruiting after the season. When it gets to recruiting time, we can talk about recruiting. OK? Next question.”

Mullen tried to do some damage control on Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference.

“First, I’d like to touch on something for all the Gator Nation, all our great fans, of something that was taken out of context in Monday’s press conference as it pertains to recruiting,” Mullen said. “Our staff recruits nonstop. We grind at recruiting every day.

“We’re always recruiting and working the best to get great players that fit the Gator standard and bringing them here to our program. And, as I said on Monday, we just weren’t going to get into the specifics of everything we do in recruiting and how we do all of that until after the season.”

Mullen’s statement still might not sit well with Florida fans considering that according to The Athletic the Gators’ recruiting class is ranked No. 22 nationally while Georgia’s is ranked No. 1.

Over the previous four seasons, The Athletic reported, Georgia has signed 31 five-star recruits to five for Florida during a span when Mullen and his staff went head-to-head with Georgia Coach Kirby Smart and his staff, often for the same players.

That might help explain Florida’s 1-3 record against Georgia under Mullen.

“There’s no coach out there who can outcoach recruiting,” Smart said after the Florida-Georgia game. “I don’t care who you are. The best coach to ever play the game better be a good recruiter because no coaching is going to outcoach players.”