This week, since being named Florida's new head coach Dan Mullen has hit the ground running when it comes to recruiting.
One of the very first instate commits he visited with was Clearwater (Fla.) Calvary Christian four-star athlete Amari Burney.
On Thursday both Mullen and defensive line coach Chris Rumph went in-home with the Rivals250 member.
What was Mullen's message and what stuck out most to Burney?
“It's just the things that he told me – and - him being high energy when he walked in the room," explained Burney. "Him just saying he wants to compete. New start. He was really just talking about education. Him helping me not in football, but as a man. Just everything he teaches is going to work in the real world like when we are trying to find a job and things like that. That's what he was really telling me about.”
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Earlier in the day Florida officially announced Todd Grantham had been hired as the Gators new defensive coordinator.
According to Burney, even with that being the case, Mullen still wasn't focused on the personnel as much as he was effort and outlook.
“He wasn't even saying anything about defensive schemes. He was just like, it doesn't matter what we run on defense, we're going to be the hardest workers and we're just going to compete and outwork people on the football field. That's how we're going to win games. He was just telling me that two weeks from now, he wants me to visit so I can meet with the defensive coordinator.”
Last year several true freshmen had prominent roles in a young, rebuilt Florida secondary. However, even for them, the board has been wiped clean.
"He said if I just come and compete, then anybody can get the spot. He said since he's bringing in a new defensive coordinator, it's going to be everybody's first day and will be new to the plays. But everybody is going to be on the same battlefield to compete for a starting position. "
Burney has been solid to Florida since the day he committed said that he will visit Florida in a couple of weeks, and that will be his one and only visit before he signs in the early signing period later this month.
By the end of the evening, if Mullen hadn't made his point about hard work clear enough, he left Burney with one final thought.
"One funny thing he said was if I don't want to go to Florida, I want to take it easy, I should go to the Marine Corps."
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Joseph Hastings contributed to this report
