1. Dan Mullen must hit a home run with the new hires.

With the departures of Todd Grantham and John Hevesy, Dan Mullen and the Florida Gators have some holes in the coaching staff that need to be filled and they need to be filled with home-run hires.

Mullen has a track record of making the “safe” hire by going with people he already knows or has already worked with; well, that’s not going to work in this situation. Those moves have put him into the situation he is now. Dan Mullen has to go out and make a splash hire, someone who can not only coach and develop players well but also can really recruit.

Dan Mullen will never be the elite recruiter, but he has to be smart enough to surround himself with those types if he wants to try and turn things around. The time for safe hires is gone. Dan has to hit a home run on these replacements or he could very well be looking for a new job this time next year.

2. Florida has to finish strong.

With the Gators currently sitting at 4-5, they are in danger of having their first losing season since just before Dan Mullen was hired in 2017. The Samford game this Saturday should be an easy win for Florida, but then they close out the year with a game in Columbia, Missouri and then a rivalry game against Florida State in the Swamp.

Dan Mullen’s seat is getting hot, and should he drop another game before the end of the year, there is speculation he could be on the chopping block. The Gators need to win out in order to prevent that conversation from happening.

3. The best players have to play, period.

Something that has been long known about Dan Mullen-coached teams is that he and his staff have a favoritism towards seniority. The older players get the start or most playing time, even if the younger guys behind them are more talented. That has to stop now.

The best player at their position needs to play regardless of age, experience, etc. It’s funny to me that schools like Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia can find a way to get their talented younger players on the field, but Florida struggles to do that.

Now we as the media don’t get to see what happens in practice every day, but we do see what happens on Saturdays. And if you want to be a successful program, you have to put the best players on the field.

1. Will there be more staff turnover?

Obviously with the addition of a new defensive coordinator, there will be some additional turnover on the defensive side of the ball with the new hire wanting to bring in his guys, but will we see more on offense?

John Hevesy is not the only offensive assistant whose contract was set to expire at the end of the year. The contracts of wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales, running backs coach Greg Knox and tight ends coach Tim Brewster are all up at the end of this season, and with the way things are going and the need for change, could an offensive assistant or two be let go?

As I said earlier, Mullen needs to surround himself with elite recruiters, and if some guys on the offensive end aren’t cutting it, they need to be replaced.

2. Can Florida salvage its recruiting class?

The Gators' recruiting class is currently ranked No. 35 in the country with just over a month until the Early Signing Period. I don’t expect to see any drastic changes to the class unless Florida moves on from Dan Mullen at the end of the year, but they certainly have a lot of ground to make up.

At this point, this is one of the lowest-rated recruiting classes for the Gators in recent memory. Now they do still have two home games left to host recruits and then official visits early in December, but with what’s likely to be an entirely new defensive staff and possibly some more changes coming on the offensive end, the new coaches will only have about two weeks to really make an impact and try to land kids.

Maybe they can talk some prospects into waiting until February to try and establish those relationships further, but based on past trends, over 80 percent of recruits typically sign during the early period. The new coaches will certainly have their work cut out for them as soon as they get to campus.

1. Florida will be replacing at least one more offensive assistant.

Dan Mullen and the Gators need to completely change the culture of the coaching staff in order to turn things around both on the field and recruiting trail. The only way to do that is a complete overhaul of the coaching staff.

While I don’t expect every coach to be replaced because it is not like Dan to do something that extreme, I do think another coach on the offensive side of the ball will be looking for a new job after the season is over.