Florida catches Mullen’s attention on Saturday

Head coach Jim McElwain and the Florida Gators picked up a big commitment from a cornerback on Saturday but the Gators aren’t done at the position and they played host to one of the best on Saturday.

Cornerback Trayvon Mullen (6-2, 160, Coconut Creek, FL High) took his first visit to Florida on Saturday and was surprised by the personalities of the new coaching staff.

“The visit was good, good visit for me,” Mullen said. “I like the new staff. I think they are going to turn the program around, they are all hyped up and energetic. They are all good coaches with good backgrounds. I think they are coaches that could get me to the next level.”

Mullen, who is considered one of the best defensive backs in the country, never really had interest in Florida up until a few months ago and he says that McElwain and company are a big reason why he visited Florida.

“The new staff actually helps Florida out a lot,” Mullen said. “I had interest in Florida but now I have a lot more. I’m going to stay in contact with them a lot more now and I feel like Florida is a place I could see myself going too.”

McElwain made sure to tell Mullen how happy he was that he was in Gainesville and also made sure to tell the cornerback what he thought of him.

“Coach McElwain said I’m a great dude and that he watched my film all the time and he likes it a lot,” Mullen said. “He was excited to see me up there. He told me to hit him up a lot and to stay in contact with him.”

One coach that Mullen is familiar with is defensive backs coach Kirk Callahan as the two have known each other for over a year now.

“Coach Callahan and I have a good relationship with each other since he was at UCF,” Mullen said. “He talks to me a lot and he just tells me what Florida is trying to do and where they are trying to get to as a program.”

Mullen is very confident in his game and he liked what Callahan told him about the Gators defense and where Mullen would play at in Gainesville.

“They want me as a outside corner in their defense,” Mullen said. “They say that they like that I’m a big corner that can match-up with the bigger receivers and stuff like that. They told me that I have a chance to play early there too.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Mullen is close to Florida cornerback Quincy Wilson and the two spent a good amount of time together this past weekend. Mullen also says that he plans to visit Florida for a practice this spring and that could help the Gators catch up to Florida State and LSU.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.