Dan Mullen continues to play the waiting game with his signal-callers

ATLANTA, GA. -- In a perfect world, Dan Mullen would have loved to tag one of his quarterbacks as the starter by now, but the position remains somewhat of a waiting game with camp set to kick into gear just a couple of weeks from now.

"I would love to name one today if we could," Mullen said. "That's a comforting thing for everybody; this is the guy. But we got to see who separates themselves out to be the guy."

All eyes have been directed in the attention of Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask, and based off their experience in college, it's not much of a surprise, especially during the first year of a coaching transition.

Both of the aforementioned signal-callers are best suited in a pro-style offense, while freshman Emory Jones, who arrived in Gainesville as a decorated dual-threat, fits their vision for the long-term.

With that being said, can UF fans anticipate multiple quarterbacks taking snaps during their week one matchup with Charleston Southern?

"Fifty/fifty," Mullen replied. "There is a good chance you can see one, you can see two, you can see three right now coming out of spring. It will be interesting to see. I haven't been through an offseason with these guys; that's when you see it.

"Alex Smith, in the summer of 2004, went from being a solid quarterback to being one of the best in the country. Zak Prescott went from being a guy that was a rotational guy to being a big-time quarterback, then the next summer went from being a big-time college quarterback to being one of the best players in college football.

"It happened between spring and the start of fall camp. You saw it change everything they did in the summer to work on his game. Just little things that we don't have time to get done in the middle of the season. It will be interesting to see."

Mullen says it's always tricky when you can't simulate a game, but plans to put his quarterbacks in "adverse situations" throughout the fall.

"Oh, they'll get hit a couple times," Mullen said. "I think one thing, the defensive coaches that coach with me are always amazed that I don't usually yell much if the quarterbacks get hit. I might yell at him if he doesn't get up fast.

"'Get up fast, get in the huddle and go play the next play.' Now I don't know that I always make them live, but I don't treat them in a fragile way. I make sure that they've got to be tough, too."

The Gators obviously don't have an answer in regards to their starting quarterback situation, and the same can be said regarding the eligibility of Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes, which would certainly help the situation.

"Nothing yet," Mullen said. "We will announce to you guys as soon as we do."

Dan Mullen's staff is currently restricted from working with the team, despite the season being right around the corner, but UF's head man has received nothing but positive vibes regarding his quarterbacks.

While the staff can't personally work them out, college quarterbacks have took advantage of their time away from the team by working out with quarterbacks gurus all across the map.

“Yeah. You can get stuff out of that," Mullen said. "What’s funny – I can’t do that for them over the summer. I’m their coach. That’s the rules. Those are the rules we have to live by.”

There are going to be ups and downs when attacking a whole offseason, but it's difficult to provide a true judgement when the head coach takes the back seat between spring and fall camp.

"I can’t be with them while they’re throwing the ball. They seem to be working hard," Mullen said. "But I mean, to me that position, it’s on the field. I’ll see. If I could go out there and coach them all summer and throw routes with them all summer and see their footwork and all of that stuff all summer, then I’d probably have a better answer for you.”

When it's all said and done, what's the perfect recipe for a signal-caller in Dan Mullen's system?

"Who’s going to give us the best opportunity to win football games?" Mullen said. "It’s pretty obvious when you get on the field. The biggest one to me, when you get on the field, this guy’s going to give us hands down the best opportunity to win football games.”

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