Mullen braces for ‘sloppy football’
Gators coach wonders about quality of games after little practice.
GAINESVILLE — UF coach Dan Mullen has high hopes for the 2020 Gators, who are expected to push for the SEC East title.
The overall quality of football? Not so much at first.
“There’s a chance there will be some sloppy football early in the season,” Mullen said. “I mean, it’s so long since we’ve done it.”
The Gators will stage their second — and final — scrimmage of preseason camp Monday night. Coaches will allow live tackling as the nation’s eighth-ranked team looks to get up to speed before the Sept. 26 season opener at Ole Miss.
“I’m really big into player safety out there on the field,” Mullen said. “As I always say and people wonder, ‘ Oh, is tackling dangerous?’ The person getting tackled probably not as much and the person doing the tackling probably not as much. It’s usually the third-party stuff or all of a sudden at the end of the tackle I’m missing and I grab a leg or an ankle that can become an issue.
“I think you’ve got to look out. Monday is going to be a physical practice. If guys get dinged up, get banged up, there’s still 18 days until we have to play a game.”
In this time of uncertainty, missed tackles are all but a certainty once the Gators line up against the Rebels.
“That would have been in about a 10-month period you’ve tackled somebody twice in 10 months, I mean, that’s … you know, I don’t know,” Mullen said. “You probably wouldn’t want to go rush into the hospi
tal and have surgery with somebody who has a surgery twice in 10 months. … ‘You sure you know what you’re doing?’
“Right?”
Tackling might top the list of skills that most concern Mullen. Special teams are another one.
The list does not end there due primarily to the schedule shake-up caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The cancellation of spring practices cost coaches critical time with players. Offseason conditioning programs were then severely
compromised. The fact preseason camp stretched to six weeks was a further hindrance because the SEC eliminated one day of practice and limited hours from 20 to 14 for a 10-day period leading up to camp.
“I’m worried about everything, to be honest with you,” Mullen said. “Just some of the execution, you have to cut back just because of the amount of time that was taken from us. Not just spring ball, but the amount of time in training camp that was taken away from us.”
Mullen wonders whether a new NCAA rule is personally directed at him.
Either way, he will take ownership of it.
“The Dan Mullen right?” he quipped.
During the past two seasons, UF players have not worn jersey numbers during pregame warmups. But a new NCAA rule requires any player on the field 90 minutes prior to kickoff to have his number readily visible.
Mullen plans to obey, even if he disagrees with the new mandate. UF’s coach surmised the support staffs of opposing teams get frustrated having to figure out who’s who, especially if a player sports a brace or athletic tape on an injured area.
“People have like 75 quality control coaches that get all mad. They’ve got like 30 guys that are trying to take notes,” Mullen said. “I don’t know; I think it’s ridiculous to have to do that. To be perfectly honest with you, it is. The Dan Mullen rule, that is horrendously ridiculous.
“Listen, it’s not the game. I mean our guys, we know how we warm up. Our guys like warming up how we warm up, so … But anyway, it is what it is. “That’s my rant on it.”
Asked who he think complained, Mullen, replied, “Who do you think?”
Georgia?
“You said it, not me,” Mullen replied.
Mullen explained he began to allow players to warm up in helmets, T-shirts and athletic shorts due to Florida’s warm weather.
“Our kids loved it,” he said. Mullen now plans to use his imagination in order to play within the rules.
“I don’t know, we’ll create something,” he said. “We’ll have some sort of T-shirt with numbers on it this year.
“I will abide by the Dan Mullen rule,” he continued. “I try to be a good soldier in the SEC, so I’ll abide by the Dan Mullen rule and we’ll put some number somewhere.”
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