The Florida Gators finished the 2020 season on a bad note after they lost to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl but they will soon have the chance to get back on the field.
Dan Mullen met with the media on Tuesday, as the Gators will start spring practice on Thursday as they start their allotted 15 spring practices.
Mullen hit on several topics that will be keys for the Gators as they enter spring practice with a lot of questions to answer.
GatorCountry brings you a quick notebook on what Mullen had to say.
- The 2019 and 2020 classes have never had spring practices and Mullen calls that one of the biggest development periods for the team.
- Mullen says he didn’t interview with any NFL teams this year, his focus was on getting the Gators back to the SEC championship game.
- Mullen says he loves being at the University of Florida with a great fan base but he says there are some concerns with coaches about what college football will look like in the future.
- In spring ball, Mullen says the defensive side of the ball has to do a better job of evaluating everyone and making sure their scheme fits their guys the best, and making sure they get the best players on the field.
- Demarkcus Bowman’s eligibility is something that Mullen hasn’t heard about from the NCAA but he says a lot of things are up in the air due to COVID. Mullen says he hasn’t seen anything in writing.
- Two running back sets are possible this year with so many good players at the position.
- Getting the play in on time is something Mullen has addressed with the defensive staff.
- The biggest benefit of a spring game is for the players to see the fans; Mullen calls it a great day but Mullen says they can get a lot done in a scrimmage.
- Mullen says the guys were excited to get back after the Cotton Bowl and hoping to get back to some sort of normalcy.
- The identity will not be defined this spring but they will learn a lot about the team and they will adapt to the strength of the players.
- Mullen says they could be a running team with an up-tempo or slow-tempo team. He says they could be a 50/50 run-to-pass team as well.
- Mullen says a lot will not change as far as play-calling goes despite the loss of Brian Johnson. Mullen says they have a core group of guys who have done it.
- As far as Johnson goes, Mullen says he hated to lose him but he was happy for the opportunity Brian got.
- Despite spending a lot of time with the defensive staff, Mullen says Garrett McGee was around the offense a lot and he’s ready to step in.
- The quarterback run package is something you will see more of with Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson this year. Mullen says both guys have cannon arms and can extend plays.
- March 31st is pro day for the Gators and Mullen says they went through a call with the SEC and the NFL about how they do pro day.
- Mullen says they try to address needs in transfers instead of just looking for any player. Mullen says they have had some opportunities to get some great players for the portal but they just didn’t need them.
- Spring ball is starting early because the staff wasn’t out on the road in January so they were able to get a head start on reviews and wrapped up last season.
- Mullen also says having spring ball early will allow them to have more time to show the film to the guys after they had 15 practices.
- March 20th will be the last day of spring practice.
- Mullen says they have a lot of young talent at defensive tackle but they have a gap between young guys and older guys so they needed to add some veteran depth gap.
- Jules Montinar will be with the corners and Wesley McGriff will be with safeties and nickles.
- Mullen says at times last year he probably said some things that he would like to take back or they were taken the wrong way but he’s always trying to get better.