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Leading into Sunday NFL football games, a seemingly throw-away line from Adam Schefter sent Florida football fans into a frenzy. In the segment "30 seconds with Schefter" the NFL Insider said, "Dan Mullen, of the college ranks, is hoping to go into the pros."
The Florida Gators had just finished an 8-4 season that saw the team lose its last three games. The season, while Florida was stacking wins prior to that game, wasn't smooth. Following Florida's first loss to Texas A&M Mullen loudly stated that he hoped the Gators would "pack the Swamp." The following week. The University of Florida had long been taking the stance that they would follow the guidance of the CDC and UF Health in terms of how many fans they would allow in the stands and Mullen's statements flew in the face of his employers' stance.
Mullen was given the opportunity days later to walk back that stance but balked and doubled down. Soon the football team was forced to miss two weeks of the season due to a COVID 19 outbreak on the team, including Mullen.
Mullen's missteps behind a podium, coupled with only having three years left on his contract and the dismal finish to the 2020 campaign fueled speculation that there was tension between the football coach, Stricklin, and Florida's administration.
Little did the public know, that Mullen and Florida had already begun discussing an extension and the relationship was fine.
That much was shown when Mullen signed a three-year extension giving the coach a $1.5 million dollar annual raise.
"Scott and I have a great relationship and I love everybody questioning everything and where is our relationship at? I want to tell you, that hasn’t wavered," Mullen said last week at the topping off ceremony for the Gators' new stand alone facility. "That never wavered. It was nothing we wanted to dive into to try and play things out in the media as we were working on the contract extension that had been in work for a long time."
Mullen has earned his extension at Florida. He took over an absolute trainwreck of a team that had its coach quit on them halfway through the 2017 season. In 2018 he guided that team to a 10-3 record and a Peach Bowl win over Michigan. In 2019 the Gators were 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl, a second consecutive New Year's Six Bowl win. The 2020 season, and to be fair, the entire year was trying on everyone for a number of reasons. The Gators went 8-2 against 10 SEC opponents, including Mullen's first win over Georgia. They lost in surprising fashion to LSU, then gave National Champion Alabama the best game they got from an opponent all year in the SEC Championship before losing to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
Mullen made the decision to fire two coaches following the year, something he had only done one time since becoming a head coach. His new staff has also built a lot of momentum on the recruiting trail of late. Since the end of the seaosn the coach has done a good job of representing the University of Florida and looks to have his team primed for a good season in 2021.
"There’s a lot of people. It’s not just Scott and I agreeing on it, there are a lot more people involved in it in the administration and the university and the board here, to get all that done. I don’t think for one day and I think people kind of blew this up a lot more than it was and it wasn’t worth arguing," Mullen said. "I think now and the result that everybody sees where the relationship is, how we work together, and both of our long term commitments to being here at Florida and making this program where it needs to be.”
Mullen may, from time to time, not make everyone happy when he gets behind a microphone. That's just his style. He's not going to walk up to a podium and read a prepared statement. He's made in the Spurrier model. He's going to jab at rivals (like showing Florida's 2020 win over Georgia on a big screen during football camps in the summer). Sometimes that may bite you, but that's him.
Ultimately, if we're being honest, the Florida Gators' football program is better off now then when Mullen took over three years ago and the people that sign his pay checks agree.
"Dan has done a tremendous job in his three seasons at Florida, and we are fortunate to have someone with his obvious talents and head coaching experience leading our football program," Stricklin said in the press release announcing his extension. "I look forward to working alongside him to support his vision for Gators football and our student-athletes for many years."
