Florida coach Dan Mullen spoke with the media Monday for the first time in 50 days.
It was his 48th birthday, but that’s not why he cleaned up for the occasion.
“I shaved for you guys. I haven't done a press conference in a while,” Mullen said on his Zoom call. “I put a collared shirt on for y'all, and even brushed my hair. You should be excited.”
There hasn’t been much excitement for Mullen since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sports world and lives as we know it in mid-March. UF spring football was canceled before practices even started, and Mullen hasn’t met in-person with his staff since the SEC suspended all athletic activities on March 12.
Instead, they’ve been conducting a couple Zoom meetings per week and ramping up their recruiting efforts with more edits, FaceTime chats and even online gaming sessions with prospects. Mullen has started adjusting to life — and work — at home.
But during the first couple weeks of quarantine, he found himself waking up restless at 3 o’clock in the morning because he was so out of his norm.
“Probably since I was 15 years old, I’ve gone to work every day,” Mullen said. “Just kind of being thrown off in this way. Like, stay at home, don’t go to work. And I’m not someone who creates work for our coaches.
“I’m not saying we’re just going to sit here and spin our wheels to create all kinds of work. Let’s make sure we’re efficient, let’s make sure we’re getting better. Finding ways we can help ourselves improve as coaches, help in recruiting.”
Mullen’s message to players is, “When this is over, are we gonna be the team that’s prepared?” He acknowledged that having an experienced quarterback in Kyle Trask, other key players returning and a staff with continuity helps navigate through this challenging process.
Mullen watches three or four different position groups every time they hold Zoom meetings, just observing with no audio or video.
“I just sit, kind of like sitting in the back of the room,” Mullen said. “So that’s pretty good learning what our players do and what’s going on with all of them. … When I sit in on the meetings, I'm happy with what's going on.
“I'm happy with the retention level of our players and how they're learning. Almost everybody I talk to is, ‘Hey, I was training, I was doing this, I'm finding different ways to get workouts in.’ And so, with everything going on, I think our guys are handling this as best as possible.”
The third-year UF coach said his players haven’t been directly impacted by COVID-19, but some of them have needed help dealing with the psychological effects of the pandemic. Mullen even got emotional when discussing how the return of sports can help heal the country.
"I think sports in America is such a huge part of our culture. Any time we've dealt with major adversity, just the image of what sports was able to do,” Mullen said. “Seeing President Bush out there throwing the first pitch of the World Series after 9/11. After you go through massive tragedies, there's so many things that sports bring back together. Just the lasting memory of what sports are that are so special.”
The NCAA has canceled winter and spring sports for the rest of the year, and the future of the 2020 college football season is uncertain. The consensus among SEC coaches is they would like eight weeks to get ready for the season, according to Mullen, and he’s hopeful that one will still happen.
“I would say I’m much more hopeful than optimistic,” Mullen said. “To say where we’ll be in four months is hard to do. But I’m certainly hopeful, I’m sure as everybody is out there. Hopeful that we find a vaccine and a cure.
“Hopeful that people are working hard to limit the spread of everything going on. Hopeful that people are trying as best they can to follow the regulations and making the most out of each day that’s going on. And hopeful we get back to whatever our new normal is going to be, and that includes having a football season this fall.”
