GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Trey Dean's Florida career could see a new turn in 2020.

The Florida junior was thrown into a starting role his freshman season early after Marco Wilson tore his ACL in the third game of the season. Dean handled the pressure well.

He tallied 26 tackles, 0.5 tackles for a loss, one interception and was second on the team with six pass breakups. The expectations were high heading into 2019.

The Peach State native was moved to the Star position during the 2019 offseason. He was given the important, yet unenviable task, of replacing Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who made the position his own one year earlier.

Dean struggled.

He soon went from starter to a role player.

Marco Wilson was moved to Star, while Kaiir Elam and CJ Henderson lined up outside. However, Henderson is on his way to the NFL and Wilson is expected to return to his place on the outside. Amari Burney and Chester Kimbrough are two names connected to nickel this offseason, so what does that mean for Dean?

Dan Mullen told reporters on Monday that part of a coach's job is to place the player in a position he can succeed.

"It’s about how do we get our best guys on the field. That’s always my question with the defensive guys," explained the Gators head coach. "Who are our best players and are we getting them on the field at the right time? It’s going to be up to Ron [English] and Todd [Grantham] to make sure we have our best guys within different packages so we can keep our best guys on the field in the secondary... what guys can do and can’t do.

"You look at Trey Dean last year. He was more comfortable at some spots than others. We just tried him in spots where we’d never seen him before, "added Mullen. "Part of that was to try to keep the five best guys on the field and how you’re doing it, but you also have to do it by the way they’re comfortable at those spots. Obviously, he’s a much better player when he’s at spots he’s comfortable in. We’re going to do a lot of that this spring where we find who’s comfortable where and how are the different ways and combinations to always keep our best guys on the field.”

The safety position and its rotation last season received some heavy criticism in 2019. Dean could very well factor in this year.

“There’s a chance anybody can end up anywhere at this point," Mullen said. "That’s part of spring for us, where are we getting our guys in the best position to help the team. In the secondary, how are we keeping our five best guys on the field most of the time. We’re in nickel a lot of the time."

Florida will start spring practice next Monday, hoping to answer this very question.