Notebook: Mullen details first scrimmage, 2nd half of camp

The Florida Gators had their first spring scrimmage on Friday night. Dan Mullen met with the media Monday to review what happened last week and preview the start of the third week of camp.

The first, and possibly most important update, is that the team was able to finish the scrimmage healthy.

"Quarterbacks did some things. We limit what they’re allowed to do in the scrimmage, so we really eliminate a lot of the quarterback runs and some of that stuff. We take away some of their strengths. When you take that away, they were solid. Receivers were pretty balanced across the board. O-line was pretty good. We rotate so many guys, that’s what’s hard. At the end of the scrimmage, everybody kind of has equal reps, so it’s not like a game. There are game situations to teach off of, but you’re not going to get similar to a game feel. I thought running backs were really good, tight ends consistent at times. Defensive line, defensive front everybody was good. It’s hard when you look because there’s good and bad to everybody. But in a game you’re going to have guys that play 70 plays and guys that play 15. In the scrimmage, everybody’s playing 40-50 plays on the entire roster, so it’s a little bit different that way.

Kyle Trask may be gone but that doesn't mean Emory Jones will stop being compared to the quarterback he's replacing. The two obviously have very different skillsets and Dan Mullen compared them on Monday.

"There’s a lot of throws that Emory can make that Kyle couldn’t make. That’ll allow us to tweak and change some things within the scheme.”

Given the success that Trask and the offense had last year, Mullen was asked to clarify.

"So on certain deep balls, there’s certain deep balls he can throw, I think because he has a stronger arm. It’s not a knock on Kyle. I think everybody sees with Kyle the accuracy, I mean, obviously, Kyle’s probably a much more accurate passer. I think if you look at numbers he was close to 70 percent completions, I think (68.9%), which is one of the most accurate probably in school history. So, there’s been a lot of quarterbacks that have played here at Florida. So I just think they’re very different plays, so the key is, I think the key in coaching it gets missed sometimes, I think people think, this is our system and this is what it is if you’re a square peg and we’re a round hole just keep slamming it until you become round and fit in there. Our job is to mold it as coaches and kinda tweak around the strengths of the players. So we’ll build around the strengths of the quarterbacks that are here now."

The early enrollee from Peters Township High School in Pennsylvania has made a quick impression on the staff. McMillion has added some weight and size to his frame since enrolling earlier this winter and is starting his career at safety. Todd Grantham's defense puts a lot on the safeties in terms of knowing the defense, getting the other players lined up, but that's a task McMillion has taken on with a full head of steam.

“He’s playing safety for us right now, but obviously, he’s got great size, so you never know with physicality how everybody grows into the backend of their career. But he’s playing safety for us right now. A high-energy guy. He really plays hard. I mean, I like intelligent football players. He really, one of the things you see with him is, obviously, his dad is a coach, and you can see that with his attention to detail with all the little things. Whether we’re in special teams or whether we’re on defense, his attention to detail to try to do it right really stands out.”

After every season the head coach will evaluate everything that happened from the previous season. Mullen made the decision to relieve his safety and cornerbacks coaches following the season while retaining defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

That would lead one to believe that the 2020 season autopsy revealed they believed the secondary was the issue on a historically bad Gator defense.

"I don’t think it was one specific thing or issue. I think there’s some things as a whole that we needed, that we need to fix and adjust and as the year went on, I think at times last year we played really well, there are times we didn’t in situations. And then it’s ID-ing what those situations were, why we didn’t play well in those situations, and then what are the adjustments we make for when we see these situations in the future. How are we making the adjustments to that. I don’t want to pin it on one area. There were probably multiple, a bunch of things that we needed to kind of tweak and change and improve on. I think obviously certainly having a spring practice and hopefully a little bit more of a normal year will help us do that.”

Mullen went on to say that he has and has always had confidence in Todd Grantham.

"Todd's a great football coach. I think part of that, I don't know that it's a new edge or different, I think he's as competitive now as he was last year, the year before that, and the year before that. That's who he is. I think obviously having the opportunity to have spring to identify where our players are at and putting them in the best position with the right guys on the field to be successful against all the different things that we're going to see and that we're going to have to adjust to during the course of the season. I think there's a benefit to that, of having that time and that opportunity to see those things."