- Sep 8, 2014
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"We're not getting into an arms race...." - GOAT AD Jeremy Foley (sometime near the beginning of the lost decade of UF football)
I really wish the title was, "Mullen to push date of facilities up". In the meantime, the recruits can check out the great pictures of the future facilities that may - or may not - be done in 2021.
Mullen ready to push his vision for UF's facilities through
https://247sports.com/college/flori...s-vision-for-UFs-facilities-through-118728922
PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Florida's product on the field has lagged behind many of its SEC peers, but it's not just one the field where the Gators have fallen behind.
There's a ton of work to be done after a relatively passive last 10 years in terms of football facilities at UF. The Gators haven't done anything major since the construction of the Heavener Complex in 2008, with only a west concourse stadium renovation, some upgrades to the video boards and various other aesthetic features in the Swamp and the completion of a $25 million renovation to the academic center.
Simply put, Florida fell way behind.
"I think the one big thing is in the last 10 years, look, all the other schools (in the state of Florida) are great but us being in the premier conference in all of college football, we're the only school in the state in the Southeastern Conference," Mullen said Wednesday in Pensacola.
"You really start looking at those (SEC) schools and the facilities they've built and the investments they've put into the program and how they've tried to look into the future and have a great vision of what they want to build for the future."
The Gators are already working hard to catch up. Already athletics director Scott Stricklin and his staff overhauled some original plans to build a stand-alone football facility along with renovations to the baseball and softball stadiums in favor of a more comprehensive fix.
Instead, Florida will spend $130 million on those projects, with the jump in cost coming mostly from the construction of a brand new baseball stadium. Moving the stadium across campus will allow much more space for the stand-alone football facility to be built the right way.
And Stricklin and Mullen don't plan to stop when that project is done some time in 2021. They're already discussing ways to revamp the Swamp to make it a more modern and comfortable venue.
"I think that's one thing that we've got to make sure that we are doing," Mullen said. "To me, it's not just catching up in facilities, it's as we go and build them as we go, what is our vision of the future and how do we maybe not just catch up in facilities to some other SEC schools but make sure we're passing them?"
Mullen's been pretty frank so far about where the Gators' facilities stand, but he's done it in much less of a scorched-earth style than when Jim McElwain took over and publicly blasted the team's facilities upon arrival.
That created a rift with the administration early on in McElwain's tenure. There's no such issue with Mullen, who worked with Stricklin at Mississippi State.
"In some areas we're ahead and in some areas we're behind when it comes to facilities," Mullen said. "But to me, at the University of Florida, we expect to be ahead in everything. That's one of the things we need to do with having great vision moving forward.
"I think, one, I think we worked together to build a program at Mississippi State that I think saw the future and we were able to go to heights that the program's never been to before."
The goal is to do the same at Florida.
It won't happen overnight, but Mullen has been around the block. He's got almost as much head coaching experience (nine years) as Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook, Urban Meyer, Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain had combined before they took over the Florida program (10 years).
He knows how to push forward a vision and see it through to realization.
"I think the comfort level of working together, obviously it's going to be different because every school is unique," Mullen said. "How we're going to do it at Florida, there's going to be similarities and there's going to be differences. But I think the comfort level that we've worked together to do it, that helps.
"When (Stricklin) comes to me with an idea and I go to him with an idea, there's a history of us... 'we can do this, we need to do this, what about this?' We've worked very closely together to build a successful program, so I think there's that comfort level instead of -- there's a lot less questioning of why we want to do this than maybe if we didn't have that connection shared."
I really wish the title was, "Mullen to push date of facilities up". In the meantime, the recruits can check out the great pictures of the future facilities that may - or may not - be done in 2021.
Mullen ready to push his vision for UF's facilities through
https://247sports.com/college/flori...s-vision-for-UFs-facilities-through-118728922
PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Florida's product on the field has lagged behind many of its SEC peers, but it's not just one the field where the Gators have fallen behind.
There's a ton of work to be done after a relatively passive last 10 years in terms of football facilities at UF. The Gators haven't done anything major since the construction of the Heavener Complex in 2008, with only a west concourse stadium renovation, some upgrades to the video boards and various other aesthetic features in the Swamp and the completion of a $25 million renovation to the academic center.
Simply put, Florida fell way behind.
"I think the one big thing is in the last 10 years, look, all the other schools (in the state of Florida) are great but us being in the premier conference in all of college football, we're the only school in the state in the Southeastern Conference," Mullen said Wednesday in Pensacola.
"You really start looking at those (SEC) schools and the facilities they've built and the investments they've put into the program and how they've tried to look into the future and have a great vision of what they want to build for the future."
The Gators are already working hard to catch up. Already athletics director Scott Stricklin and his staff overhauled some original plans to build a stand-alone football facility along with renovations to the baseball and softball stadiums in favor of a more comprehensive fix.
Instead, Florida will spend $130 million on those projects, with the jump in cost coming mostly from the construction of a brand new baseball stadium. Moving the stadium across campus will allow much more space for the stand-alone football facility to be built the right way.
And Stricklin and Mullen don't plan to stop when that project is done some time in 2021. They're already discussing ways to revamp the Swamp to make it a more modern and comfortable venue.
"I think that's one thing that we've got to make sure that we are doing," Mullen said. "To me, it's not just catching up in facilities, it's as we go and build them as we go, what is our vision of the future and how do we maybe not just catch up in facilities to some other SEC schools but make sure we're passing them?"
Mullen's been pretty frank so far about where the Gators' facilities stand, but he's done it in much less of a scorched-earth style than when Jim McElwain took over and publicly blasted the team's facilities upon arrival.
That created a rift with the administration early on in McElwain's tenure. There's no such issue with Mullen, who worked with Stricklin at Mississippi State.
"In some areas we're ahead and in some areas we're behind when it comes to facilities," Mullen said. "But to me, at the University of Florida, we expect to be ahead in everything. That's one of the things we need to do with having great vision moving forward.
"I think, one, I think we worked together to build a program at Mississippi State that I think saw the future and we were able to go to heights that the program's never been to before."
The goal is to do the same at Florida.
It won't happen overnight, but Mullen has been around the block. He's got almost as much head coaching experience (nine years) as Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook, Urban Meyer, Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain had combined before they took over the Florida program (10 years).
He knows how to push forward a vision and see it through to realization.
"I think the comfort level of working together, obviously it's going to be different because every school is unique," Mullen said. "How we're going to do it at Florida, there's going to be similarities and there's going to be differences. But I think the comfort level that we've worked together to do it, that helps.
"When (Stricklin) comes to me with an idea and I go to him with an idea, there's a history of us... 'we can do this, we need to do this, what about this?' We've worked very closely together to build a successful program, so I think there's that comfort level instead of -- there's a lot less questioning of why we want to do this than maybe if we didn't have that connection shared."