Being the head coach of a major college football program requires you to be adaptable and flexible. Dan Mullen has faced that head-on during quarantine trying to learn new math to help his son, Cannon, with homework. He, along with Scott Stricklin and the Administration at the University of Florida are also being flexible and adaptable as they prepare for the fall and hope that football can return.
Speaking with Laura Rutledge on SEC Network’s “No Offseason”, Mullen confirmed that nobody within their program has tested positive for COVID-19, great news for the players and the program. That’s great news for the program and for the families in and around the UF football program, but are we closer to getting football back?
Right now the state of Florida is slowly phasing back into normalcy. Most counties, including Alachua, are in Phase 1. That includes the re-opening of restaurants, barbershops, hair, and nail salons. Phase 2 will begin after the successful conclusion of Phase 1. Phase 2 will increase the capacity of gatherings from 10 to 50 and the reopening of gyms and fitness centers.
That’s where Mullen really sees the chance to get players back into a program.
“We’re hoping in the next couple of weeks as they start opening fitness centers and gyms that we’re able to open our weight room so the guys can come in and get voluntary lifts,” Mullen told Rutledge. “I’d much rather them train in our weight room and we know how we’re monitoring our guys, how we’re monitoring our health, our training — how they’re being trained, and the cleanliness of how we keep the weight room than going to a local gym.”
Since quarantine started Nick Savage and the Gators’ strength and conditioning staff have been virtually helping the players through at-home workouts. It’s been difficult given every player having their own limitations with equipment or space but they, like every other program in the country, have been making the best of the situation. With the state of Florida near a phase with commercial gyms reopening that would open the gates for the Gators to allow their players back on campus and into the weight room. That wouldn’t look the same and the staff has already thought of the best, safest way to make that happen.
“We’re going to follow the regulations, try to, whether it’s testing our players before they come in, checking for fevers before they come into the weight room. We’ll keep us in smaller groups, that’s what we’re looking at doing now, hopefully,” Mullen told Rutledge. “Work out into smaller groups and separate the workouts a little bit longer so we have the opportunity to clean the weight room between each group that comes in. those are some steps that we’re looking at right now so that when we get the go-ahead we can kind of start moving and getting our guys back to life as normal.”
Some states are opening, while others are not. What does that mean for the outlook of a college football season? While nothing is set in stone, Brett McMurphy reported on Wednesday that some conference members have had discussions about potential home-and-home games with each other in case every school in the conference or on their schedule won’t be able to field a team.
Some conference schools already are having preliminary discussions w/their other conference members about possible home/home series this year, in case all of their league members can’t play, sources told @Stadium
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 13, 2020
There is still so much uncertainty around the fall and what a possible football season will look like but the state of Florida is working its way back to normal and that means that the University of Florida can do so as well.
“I don’t know that it’s right that we become an outlier in football, Florida football from what the state or university is doing,” Mullen said. “I think also you have to look that everything is not going to be a one size fits all in getting back to normal. As we look at how we can contain the football players and how we can get back to training and get back to our normal is for football, that might not be the same normal for every other field. We’re going to really pay attention to what the state is doing and really where the university is at to keep us all headed in the right direction.”
The earliest that Florid football could re-open its gym and would be June 1 — unless the SEC again suspends contact between coaches and athletes.
At least in the case of Florida, with no players or staff having tested positive for the virus, it would seem that the door is open and ready for them to be able to come back together as soon as possible and Mullen, along with his staff and the university, are doing everything they can now to make that a reality.