`GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- What a difference a year makes for Florida.
At this time last year, then Gators head coach Jim McElwain went on a tangent during his Monday press conference, telling reporters that people in the program were receiving death threats - taking the focus away from the Florida-Georgia rivalry game and his team.
“Definitely a lot of weirdness leading up to it," wide receiver Josh Hammond said about the Gator, Bulldog match up last year.
McElwain was ultimately dismissed after the contest, however, rumors were running rampant of his eventual firing hours before kickoff.
"Guys in the hotel for pre-game meal were on their phones seeing all the commotion saying Coach Mac was gonna be fired," explained Hammond. "It definitely was bringing up some confusion and guys were kind of looking around wondering like, ‘What’s really going on? Is he really getting fired? Is he not?’ He broke us up pre-game meal and let us know that he hadn’t heard anything yet and to block everything out."
According to linebacker Rayshad Jackson, McElwain's speech only made things worse.
"It made it worse because he said he's going to get fired and so we all came to the game like 'Man, our coach is about to get fired and we can't do nothing about it either because it's the last game, it's the last game he's going to do,'" said Jackson. "So we were wondering who we were going to bring in for him the whole time.”
The Gators were unfocused and found themselves 21 points down rather quickly.
"Obviously last year wasn't so fun for our team but you know just coming from then to this year, our records a lot different," said Franks. "The way the guys approached the week, preparing for a game is different.
"We went through a coaching change which turned out for the better of us," added Franks. "Just a bunch of different things have changed."
"The past is in the past," Hammond said. "We have let go of it. We are just worried about this year and worried about going out to practice and execute and get ready to compete. and try to get better."
This is definitely a new year for this team and for the program.
Florida head coach Dan Mullen and his staff walked into a program in disarray and turned a 4-7 team to the ninth-ranked team in the country.
"If you said, 'Hey, 6-1 going into the Georgia game, take it or leave it,' I might take it," Mullen siad. "I would love to be 7-0 to be honest with you, but if you threw that out there, I might, like on the game shows you hit the button, I might consider hitting that button right there and taking it."
"Am I surprised? No," added quarterback Feleipe Franks. "I always knew we’ve had really good players. A lot of people might not think that, they want to talk down our players. At the same time we’ve always had good players, it’s just been when can we put it all together, when can we make it all happen?"
The Gators have not only secured bowl eligibility but the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is essentially an SEC Championship elimination game. Two top-ten teams will square off under the national spotlight with both College Gameday and SEC Nation heading to Jacksonville for the contest.
"Guys on this team have worked and prepared for it, to have the right to play in this big game on Saturday," said Hammond. "Everybody is ready to play and we also know that we have to prepare the right way.
"Georgia isn’t going to give us anything," Hammond added. "We got to go out and ready to compete and be ready to execute at a high level and play for all four quarters.”
No one is saying Florida is perfect. The team still needs to work on several areas including quarterback and offensive line play. However, Hammond's mentality is something that has changed in the program and that is due to Mullen and company's influence.
"Honestly what I’m most pleased with is how our team has kind of bought in to what we’re trying to do," Mullen said. "Honestly, I think that results have helped that buy-in. When you look, they’re acting like a football team. They’re playing hard, they’re giving great effort, they’re seeing how practice translates to games. You don’t see finger-pointing going on of, 'Boy, the offense or the defense or the kicking or this guy or that guy.' You see guys believing in a team concept. So I think the success has helped that, but that’s probably what I’m most pleased with."
A year ago the Gators lacked mental toughness and they had nothing to play for. This year they have everything to play for.
"At the University of Florida we come here to play in big games," said Franks. "Coach Mullen and his staff is going to put us in a great position to do good this week."
"You're as good as your last game, so hopefully we’ll be ranked in the Top 10 after this week," Mullen added. "If we are, then that’s a good thing. When you win games, the next one becomes bigger."
