The doors remain closed on Florida’s locker room and facilities due to COVID-19, but the work hasn’t stopped for Gators coach Dan Mullen and his team.

The staff has conducted weekly Zoom meetings amongst themselves and with players, who continue to do workouts and online classes. The coaches are still recruiting as well, holding “virtual visits” with prospects along with FaceTime calls.

Mullen’s program has top-10 finishes on the field and in recruiting over the past two years, and the ‘Gator Standard’ that produced those results has persisted amid the pandemic.

“For our team, I think the one positive thing is, we've established within our program that we have high expectations as a program and our individuals within our program have high expectations in themselves,” Mullen said this week. “So, I don't know if that makes us better equipped to handle what's going on. I don't know if anybody's really like, ‘this is a great advantage for us’ with everything going on.

“But I do certainly think the expectations that we have within our program and in our team — that our players have themselves, the experience our coaches have, that we have great teachers — that we're making the most out of this time. And so, I am really. I'm happy.”

Another positive takeaway for Mullen has been the team’s attitude. He said players are making an effort to train on their own time and retaining the information from their virtual position meetings.

Mullen noted that it’s difficult for some players who are kinetic learners and need reps on the field. Nonetheless, their work ethic hasn’t wavered.

“I think the attitude that our team’s continued to have I’m really pleased with,” Mullen said. “During football, you’re always wondering how teams are going to deal with adversity. And you know what, a lot of times you’re judged by how you deal with adversities.

“How a lot of our players, our coaches, how everybody in the athletic department is trying to deal with it in a very positive manner as best they can is great. … I think that’s the positive. When we’ve been dealt with an adversity, everybody’s handled it pretty well.”

Florida’s roster features 17 seniors and more than 30 upperclassmen, so the Gators have a lot of experience and leadership to lean on when football returns. The loss of spring practice and summer workouts will hurt the development of UF’s freshmen and 2020 signees, but early enrollee Anthony Richardson has found other ways to be productive with his time.

“It’s obviously a setback for anyone that's a young player,” Mullen said. “There's setbacks involved in it for everybody on the team. The key is not worrying about that. The key is focusing on what we can do and are we maximizing what we can do?

“You look at Anthony Richardson, he's getting a ton of meeting time. He's going to have a lot more meeting time before he hits the field than he normally would. So I think if you look at that part of it, we try to focus on all the positives of what's going on and not worry about the negatives because we can't control those.”