Mullen’s remarks aimed at fan base

New Florida coach downplays Georgia’s success.

In case anyone didn’t hear the comments last week, or needs a refresher, Florida coach Dan Mullen was asked at a fan event how Florida can keep up with Georgia. Mullen’s response:

“Listen, making it to one SEC Championship game doesn’t make you a dominating program, you know what I’m saying? I mean, two out of the last three years we’ve still been to the SEC Championship game. So even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.”

Here’s the thing: Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart and Mullen are actually good friends. They have lake houses near each other and spend time together over the summer. Their wives and children hang out. There’s mutual respect. So Mullen wasn’t trying to take a personal shot, and surely Smart didn’t take it that way. Mullen was trying to rev up his fan base and probably got caught up in the moment.

That doesn’t mean Smart won’t plaster that comment over Georgia’s locker room for the two weeks before the Florida game. And that won’t surprise Mullen, in his first season at Florida after coaching Mississippi State.

It’s readily apparent to everybody that Georgia is ahead right now. That was no fluke last year. Georgia should be and will be the favorite to repeat, and the recruiting speaks for itself.

Mullen may be able to change that dynamic — on and off the field — right away, or it could take a few years. Smart has tended to have Mullen’s number: He’s 8-0 vs. Mississippi State, seven with Alabama and last year at Georgia.