Notebook: Mullen on Bizarro World, the 'School Up North', Lane Kiffin

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Florida coach Dan Mullen dropped a Seinfield reference when he started his Monday press conference.

Season 8, episode 3.

“The Bizzaro Jerry.”

The show’s title and plot reference the fictional supervillain Bizarro from DC Comics and the Bizarro World concepts. That's what Mullen feels like he’s living in with the season starting this week.

“Ok, kind of seems like a long time. I don't know. It’s like Bizarro World right? Like Bizarro Jerry, if you ever saw that Seinfeld episode,” Mullen said. “I'm like, this weird deal. I've never been this late in September and we haven't played.”

The weirdness won’t stop this fall, with Gators going through more COVID-19 protocols, dealing with potential quarantines and playing in front of reduced capacity crowds.

The 2020 season will be one like no other.

“Definitely a year to remember,” linebacker Ventrell Miller said. “You definitely got to create your own energy with the fans and all that kind of stuff. It’s definitely going to be a crazy year, but it's all good.

“It’s the first game, so you really gotta lock in and make sure everybody is on the right cord. … It’s going to be a test to see how we’ve been handling every day, and the adversity.”

At one point, cornerback Marco Wilson admits he was worried there wouldn’t be a season with other conferences canceling or postponing fall sports.

“It definitely was a thought in my mind, but we knew we had to just keep working and keep preparing,” Wilson said. “We're pretty relieved. I mean, it's been a long time, and a lot of uncertainty, but me personally, I don't feel anxious. Just stay calm, get prepared and focus on what I need to do.”

Mullen called this week a “huge adjustment” for his players because of all the changes to their game-prep routine. Once they hit the road for Ole Miss, he said travel will be different with how they distribute team meals, space everyone out and go about game day.

“Different types of practice, different preparation, different routine, different everything for us getting ready from what we've been doing. It's been a long time since we played, so we're excited to go,” Mullen said. “I’m excited to see how we respond and how we handle it, because I think it's a little bit different. It's going to be a different environment that we play in.”

Bizarro World.

Former Florida coach Urban Meyer refused to call in-state rival Florida State by name, instead referring to FSU as the “School Out West.”

Mullen, his UF offensive coordinator, followed suit after becoming the head coach at Mississippi State. He gave similar treatment to Ole Miss, or the “School Up North” as he called it.

“I don’t think I said Ole Miss for nine years,” Mullen recalled Monday. “I got people all worked up, too. It’s just one of those things you do. To be honest with you, it sparks the rivalry.

“It was always just little things we would do to make that game feel different and kind of stand alone in uniqueness and being our big rivalry game. So that was just one of the things we did for them.”

Mullen went 5-4 against the Rebels, winning his first three games of the series. He was victorious in his first and last trip to Oxford, taking home a 55-20 win in 2016.

Florida offensive coordinator and former MSU quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson called that ’16 game his favorite win over Ole Miss.

“I won twice there,” Mullen said. “When you play huge rivalry games, it’s hard to say I have a favorite. You embrace every single one of them. The last time I was there we had a great win. The first time I was there we had a great one. So, they were both really, really good.

“I have five great memories and four terrible memories of playing against them. Holding that trophy up when you win the Egg Bowl is something that’s really, really, really special.”

Now that he’s at UF, Mullen wondered Monday if Rebels fans don’t hate him as much. At least one was praying for his exit when he lived in the Magnolia State.

“I remember going to a high school once,” Mullen recalled, “and I had a lady come up and say, ‘Coach I pray for you every day.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s so nice of you.’

“She goes, ‘I’m an Ole Miss fan. I pray somebody comes to hire and get you heck out of this state as soon as possible.’ Now I left, so maybe they like me a little bit.”

Mississippi State fans weren’t quite sure about Mullen upon his arrival in Starkville, but he won them with the team’s success.

Mullen expects the Rebels fanbase to embrace first-year coach Lane Kiffin, who replaces Matt Luke after three seasons.

“As a northerner going into Mississippi, I think there were a lot of questions about me. I won a bunch of football games at Mississippi State, so they accepted me,” Mullen said. “Lane will do a great job. I think Lane’s a good coach, brings a lot of energy, brings confidence and kind of a swagger to a team.

“That’s something that will be really good for Ole Miss, to have a guy like that at the helm and to help give that confidence. … I think Lane will do great because I loved living in Mississippi. I really enjoyed my time there and I’m sure Lane will, too. To be honest with you, I think he’ll have a great time.”

It’s been a pain in the rear end, Mullen said, preparing for the season opener because his staff had to evaluate Ole Miss’ personnel and watch film on Kiffin’s coordinators from their previous stops. Conversely, Kiffin & Co. have plenty of tape on the Gators under Mullen and DC Todd Grantham.

“One of the hard things is when you have a whole new coaching staff,” Mullen said. “They’re looking at us and saying, ‘Hey, let’s get last year’s film.’ Same offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, head coach, special teams coordinator. All the same. Theirs, everybody’s brand new.

“So you’re kind of trying to mix and match what they’re going to do offensively, what they’re going to do defensively, what they’re going to do special teams wise. Watching all these different other teams from where people have been in the past and then trying to watch their personnel. It’s always tricky. I’m never a big fan of not watching the team you’re playing. Any time you play a team with a new staff, that’s what you have to do.”

* Mullen on fan expectations: “I’ll be honest, I always set high expectations. That’s just me as a coach, I want us to be the absolute best we can be every single day. I want us to compete for championships on a yearly basis. If that causes our fans to think … we’re better than we are, then it does. You know what, I’m not going to lower my expectation level to make it easier for our fan base to accept where we are. My expectations are probably going to be higher than our fan base’s. I also do think probably a little different because I’m viewing our expectations on a play-by-play, day-by-day basis more than, ‘Hey, the season ended at this record.’ I’m looking at expectations at a different view than the general fan. I have a play-by-play expectation.”

* Mullen on an assistant coach reportedly testing positive for COVID-19: “Yeah. That was a false positive. We did have a coach test positive and we found out, the next three days he tested negative and it was a false positive from the lab.”

* Mullen on if any players will be out Saturday with a COVID-related absence: “That’s not for me to get into, I don't think. I give you guys the injury report, but all of that stuff and how that works, I don't know. I’m gonna have to brush up on all my medical stuff of how we would let people know if there is anybody of that nature. You’ll find out Saturday.”