Mullen helping plan players’ futures
receiver Kadarius Toney each has and experience.
“There will be probably eight guys that will want to find out; eight guys that might want to find out even more information about it,” Mullen said. “I would guess of that there are maybe two or three — there may be three or four — that could get serious about it.”
The deadline to declare for the draft is talent
Jan. 20.
UF punter Tommy Townsend can empathize with the struggles of Florida State as the teams prepare for their Nov. 30 meeting in the Swamp. Just two seasons ago, the Gators experienced the fallout of their own mid-season coaching change.
Sympathize? Forget it.
The rivalry surely is more riveting for the state and for college football when both teams are at the top of their games. But these also are the same Seminoles who took pleasure in beating the Gators five straight games until last season’s 41-14 win by UF.
“It’s definitely [better] when both teams are good. It makes it a better rivalry,” Townsend said. “I don’t know, it’s Florida State; I can’t really say I’m sorry for them.”
Gators offensive line coach John Hevesy is even less diplomatic, though as a fellow coach he understands the collateral damage that goes with a sweeping staff change.
“That’s their problem. Not mine,” Hevesy said. “That’s their job to do. I mean I feel bad in the sense of the personal part of the coaches’ lives and stuff like that. But to me, ultimately everyone’s got a job to do to win the game — and then hope the best for all of them.”
Third-string quarterback Nick Sproles is ready to show how much he’s learned during two seasons working with Mullen.
Sproles, a redshirt junior from Winter Park, has entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal and will look for a new school following the season. Sproles, who is expected to graduate in the spring, will be eligible to play his final season of college football at another school during the fall of 2020.
“He’s what the transfer portal’s for,” Mullen said. “He’s going to graduate and I know he really would like the opportunity to go transfer and play at a another school next year. We’ve met with him and we’re going to help him do that as much as possible.”
Mullen long has said no UF signal-caller grasps the offense like Sproles — high praise from a coach known for his ability to develop players at the position.
Sproles, though, has spent the past two seasons deep on the bench when he is not running the Gators’ scout team to prepare the team’s defense for UF’s upcoming opponent. The 6-foot-2, 211-pound Sproles now has the training and, he hopes, the game to win a starting job somewhere next season. He passed for 2,006 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2015 as a senior at Winter Park High School.