Mullen’s post-spring speaking tour dates announced

[BMF]

Mullen cultivating open, inviting atmosphere around program
New Florida coach Dan Mullen has done a great job of creating an open, welcoming environment around the football program.

https://florida.247sports.com/Bolt/...-inviting-atmosphere-around-program-115594481

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As Florida coach Dan Mullen travels around the state over the course of the next few days, there's an inescapable feeling that he's extremely comfortable in his new role.

Mullen practically oozes confidence. He's thrown open the doors on his speeches to various Gator clubs around the state and he's been open with the media about his expectations and what he can and can't tell about his team right now.

In short, he feels like a guy well-equipped for the job.

And his enthusiasm appears to be bleeding over to the fanbase, as a crowd Monday night in Jacksonville stood to give him a standing ovation upon arrival and exploded in applause several times during his speech.

"I feel I'm one of the most blessed people in the world to have the opportunity to do what I do," Mullen said. "I love coaching football. I love developing young people to be successful in life. But the opportunity to do that at one of the premier, if not the premier, not just universities, but football programs in America is a dream come true for me."

Mullen's preached loyalty throughout his career, and after a nine-year stint at Mississippi State, there's certainly a feeling that if he's successful in Gainesville he could be in town for a long time.

The Gators could certainly use the stability in the coaching ranks, and optimism is high as Mullen begins building his program.

For his part, Mullen wants to make a long stay a reality.

"I loved being at Florida when I was here before. I'm thrilled to be back here at Florida," he said. "Hopefully one of these days I can have an office next to coach (Steve) Spurrier after I have a good, long career here and get an office next to him and be here the rest of my life."

The new Florida coach can't tell fans just yet what to expect. He doesn't know what type of offense he'll run just yet. He doesn't know which quarterback will win the starting role.

What he can promise, though is flexibility. Adaptability.

"Every year we're going to have a different style team," Mullen said. "Every year. We might be some years ball control, some years super up-tempo, some years we might lead the league in time of possession, some years we might be last. I don't know that dictates wins.

"We might throw it, we might be more of a running team, more of a throwing team... I'm great. Whatever our guys do well. But one thing we will always do is be a team that plays with relentless effort. In everything we do, you come watch us play, you're going to see relentless effort."

More than anything, Mullen wants to make sure gamedays are fun for fans again. He has promised that Florida will add some new traditions to go along with the old ones.

He described a vision for fall Saturdays in Gainesville. He wants it to be a combination of "a state fair, a rock concert, a Broadway show and a football game."

Something for the whole family.

Of course, winning makes gameday the most fun. And Mullen wants fans to see they're moving toward that as a program. So he's throwing open the doors to Florida football and encouraging everyone to come take a look.

It's a refreshing change of pace.

"I think some practices will be open. We're not going to open every practice getting certain things done, but I think people are excited," he said. "The Gator Nation is excited. So we want to make sure there are certain opportunities for them to get out and come see some of these new players and see how things are going to be a little different."

 

[BMF]

Dan Mullen on Florida’s offseason program: ‘They tell me they’ve never been through anything like this’

https://www.seccountry.com/florida/...eason-program-tell-theyve-never-anything-like

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As Florida coach Dan Mullen addressed a crowd of several hundred fans at EverBank Field on Monday night, the discussion turned to the Gators’ offseason strength and conditioning program.

Mullen recalled with pride one player’s reaction to the team’s grueling St. Valentine’s Day workout earlier this month.

“I think it’s been shocking for them, the offseason program,” Mullen said. “I had one of them the other day, we had our St. Valentines Day workout, he’s like, ‘Coach you guys are sick, you’re demented with how you come up with these things.’ He’s saying it as he can barely walk.”

“I kind of smile and they tell me they’ve never been through anything like this before,” he said.

Mullen pledged in his introductory news conference back in late November that he would ramp up the Gators’ offseason workouts, following a model he used to elevate Mississippi State’s football program over his nine seasons as head coach there.

That has been music to fans’ ears after the most vocal and frustrated supporters of the program bemoaned the Gators’ physical preparation and readiness as things went off course with a 4-7 season last year.

Before speaking to the fans, Mullen talked for almost 20 minutes with a group of reporters and said he’s been pleased so far with the players’ buy-in to the offseason program and new director of strength and conditioning Nick Savage.

“That’s one of the things that I’ve been most pleased with because you don’t know how they’re going to respond,” he said. “They’ve really bought in to what we’ve done. There’s been very, very little resistance. Our strength staff’s done a really good job of building them up, pushing them to levels they haven’t been pushed, but also building them up with confidence while they’re doing it. I think that’s important.

“You can come in and you see a lot of these with these programs, guys come in and go to a workout and guys are injured and this is happening and that’s happening. Nick’s done a great job of building guys up of what they can do, what they can handle, but also pushing them to the extremes that they’re not able to cruise through any of our workouts, I can tell you that much. But our guys have really responded to that, and I think they’re starting to see the improvements — both physically and the mental toughness that they have to complete the workouts.”

Savage is just 28 years old, but he wowed Mullen when he took over as Mississippi State’s 26-year-old interim strength coach leading into the Bulldogs’ bowl game after the 2015 season.




The position had come open and Mullen saw something he liked in Savage.

“I see guys that kind of have a factor. And with a guy like Nick, he was an assistant for me, he knew my standard within the program and what it was, and when given an opportunity he took advantage of it,” Mullen said. “To be honest, when I hired him, it was right after the season, we had a strength coach leave before our bowl game, I said, ‘Hey, for the next month you’re the head strength coach here and it’s a month-long interview for you to show me that you’re ready to take over this program.’ And he did an excellent job. But the thing to me that’s most impressive to me about him, as a young strength coach coming in, to see his growth from one year to the next to the next to the next to become one of the top strength coaches I think now in America is pretty special.”

Mullen reiterated that high praise in his session with fans as well.

As Mullen said, though, this is only just the beginning. The first step was establishing a new way of doing things in the offseason, a foundation to build upon into the future.

So far, so good, he says, but the process is only getting started.

“I think they’re getting bigger, faster and stronger on a daily basis right now, and they’re learning how to compete in everything that we do. We’ll see with the gains that they make,” Mullen said. “You know, we just had one offseason, so a lot of it is just getting them to be able to train at the level we want them to train. I’m excited going forward to really see the type of gains we can make in the summer now that our guys are kind of caught up to what our standards and expectations. Now they’re in shape, now they can actually do the workouts to see now the gains they make over the summer.”

 

[BMF]

Dan Mullen wants Florida playmaker Kadarius Toney focusing on his development as a WR

https://www.seccountry.com/florida/...ius-toney-focusing-on-his-development-as-a-wr

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The chatter is always there within parts of the fan base about dynamic playmaker Kadarius Toney, about whether he might get some more work at quarterback in the future for Florida — especially now in new coach Dan Mullen’s spread offense.

In fact, Mullen was asked that very question twice Monday during an event at EverBank Field, first in a session with reporters and later in a Q+A session with several hundred fans.

Mullen appreciates Toney’s versatility, but he wants him focusing on his development as a wide receiver, he said.

“I don’t know how much we’ll get into that in spring [using him at QB]. That would be something, a package maybe for him in the fall, but within the base system I want him learning how to be a wide receiver too,” Mullen said.

Toney came to Florida as a 3-star prospect from the Mobile, Ala., area, and went through his spring practice as a quarterback last year before transitioning to wide receiver. His passing was erratic in the segments of spring practice opened to reporters, and it seemed a smart move to find other ways to get him on the field.

While he was still learning his new position, he needed to touch the football only a few times as a freshman to quickly become a fan favorite.

His overall stats were modest with 15 catches for 152 yards, 120 rushing yards and a 50-yard pass, while being slowed with injuries late in the season, but it was enough to tease the potential for more — much more.

That’s the kind of all-around production Mullen would like to increase, and he will only get fans more excited about Toney with his mention of a former versatile Florida playmaker.

“It goes back to, you know, reminds me as guy that’s a playmaker, you look at a Percy Harvin that we’ve had in the past when I was here, had played a lot of high school quarterback and did a lot of different things coming in,” Mullen said. “But obviously when he has the ball in his hands is extremely dynamic.”

Harvin, of course, finished his Gators career with 1,852 rushing yards on 9.5 yards per carry with 1,929 receiving yards and 32 total touchdowns over three seasons, contributing to two national championship teams before going on to star in the NFL.

In addition to Toney, the Gators have redshirt senior Dre Massey and incoming 4-star freshman Jacob Copeland who could also fit that mold.

The more playmakers, the better, though.

While some fans may want to see Toney as an even bigger focal point of the offense, it sounds like the new coaching staff is committed to keeping him in the role he started learning last season.

“[He] also has to learn how to be a very fundamentally sound football player and that’s going to be important for me too,” Mullen said.

 

[Bernardo de la Paz]

some years we might lead the league in time of possession, some years we might be last. I don't know that dictates wins.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Dan Mullen wants Florida playmaker Kadarius Toney focusing on his development as a WR

Except thats not what he said, at least not in what was quoted.

"but within the base system I want him learning how to be a wide receiver too,” Mullen said.

 

[78]

Percy Toney.

 

[BMF]

Except thats not what he said, at least not in what was quoted.

"but within the base system I want him learning how to be a wide receiver too,” Mullen said.

Toney was close to 200lbs last year and "word" is he's beefed up a bit. Hopefully he comes in at 205-210 to give him some more durability. When Mullen realizes Franks can't hit the broad side of a barn (for accuracy) he'll likely start having visions of a 6' 210lb kid from Alabama lining up behind center.

Does anyone know what Jones' official passing stats were last year? The only thing I can find is he only threw the ball about 110 times (completing around 60%).

 

[Gator Fever]

Mullen definitely uses a run based system. Miss State stunk it up pretty good on offense when he was stuck with that crappy running QB for a little while. It will be interesting this year on offense if Jones can't start right away and play decent.

 

[divits]

He seemed pretty noncommittal and understandably so. I think he has a pretty good idea of what he's got to work with. That's why he's choosing to use terms like, "you'll see a team which will put forth a strong effort every game", "I've won games 3-0 before", "we'll use the best system based on the talent we've got", etc.. He's walking the fine line on trying to excite the fans but not build expectations too much.

 

[ATXGator]

"Every year we're going to have a different style team," Mullen said. "Every year. We might be some years ball control, some years super up-tempo, some years we might lead the league in time of possession, some years we might be last. I don't know that dictates wins."

Scoring more points than the other team. That is what dictates wins. Scary that he doesn't know that.... :-)

 

[G8trwood]

If Toney would run downfield more and less standing and juking, he would be more effective and get creamed from the backside less. The D1 speed is too great for that. Look forward to seeing more of him this year and I have said before, he reminds me of Hines Ward as a Steeler

 

[williston_gator]

@MBakerTBTimes: Mullen says the favorite uni of every kid they recruited was the Swamp green thing. He also says they’ll have a black uni combo at some point...#Gators

@MBakerTBTimes: Mullen’s reaction to Swamp green unis: “What is that? That’s awful.” But he says it’s not about him - it’s about what the players running down kickoffs want

 

[BMF]

Tampa an important recruiting area for UF
Dan Mullen calls the Tampa area 'Gator Country.'

https://florida.247sports.com/Artic...important-to-UFs-recruiting-efforts-115636535

On Tuesday, Dan Mullen visited with Florida Gators boosters in the Tampa, Fla. area. The Gators new head coach was quickly asked how important that area of the state is to the Florida program when it comes to recruiting.

“Well, it’s huge,” Mullen said. “I mean, you’re in Gator Country here. This is a place where kids dream of growing up and playing in the Swamp, playing for the Gators, and representing the University of Florida, and representing everybody in this state.

“That to us is huge. This is where we have to be really successful and get the top players from this area to play for us.”

Two top recruits Florida landed from the Tampa area last recruiting cycle were four-star offensive tackle Richard Gouraige and four-star safety Amari Burney.

The Gators just wrapped up their 2018 class. As the focus turns towards the next crop of talented high school football players, Florida has sent out a flurry of new offers.

“I think this time of year you see a lot of schools and a lot of kids start to get offers, because you’ve wrapped up the last recruiting class, you’re really diving into this recruiting class, ’19 and even into the ’20 class. You’re looking at your board and what your needs are.

“For us, getting the opportunity to somewhat get caught up. Some of the names that are on the board you’re very familiar with from the last place I coached at, some are new names, so you’re really getting familiar with those guys.”

Since taking charge of the Florida program what kind of feedback has Mullen and his staff received on the recruiting trail?

“It’s very positive, you know. I mean very positive. You know, when you go out there and you look at what we preach, the Gators’ standard, and the opportunity to come play for the premier academic institution in the state of Florida, if not the South, and one of the premier academic institutions in America, and the opportunity to win a national championship. You know, there’s three crystal balls in my office from the last 22 years. That’s pretty special. You don’t have that opportunity really anywhere else. I think that response has been really good.”

Mullen’s first recruiting class at Florida checked in at No. 14 in the nation on the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings despite being hired by the Gators in late November. Florida is looking to ink an even higher ranked class in 2019.

 

[BMF]

Familiarity easing transition for Mullen, Florida
Florida coach Dan Mullen's familiarity with the entire administration and inner workings of the program has made for a very smooth coaching transition.

https://florida.247sports.com/Bolt/...easing-transition-for-Dan-Mullen-UF-115633902

TAMPA -- Nearly three full months into his Florida tenure, coach Dan Mullen has settled in.

There's been a lot to learn, with nearly a decade between his stint as head coach and offensive coordinator in the program.

"A lot of things (are different). The team makeup, the university has obviously grown, the city of Gainesville has grown an awful lot," Mullen told reporters prior to a speaking engagement Tuesday night in Tampa. "I mean I left a team that had just won two of three national championships, so that's changed a little bit. There's a lot different but there's also a lot the same, all the special things of what the program and the university is that's still the same."

Mullen's familiarity with the program can still pay some dividends, though.

For one, he's been pitch perfect in his approach to both the media and the fans. He knows exactly what the Florida fanbase expects and what they want to here.

After all, he was around when he helped create the expectation that Florida winning on the highest stage wasn't just a Steve Spurrier thing. The Gators won two national titles while Mullen and Urban Meyer ran things.

So to have a working knowledge of the program, even a decade removed, has been very helpful.

"There's a lot of similarities. I think one of the things that's helped me out is the comfort in understanding the university, the program, the standards and expectations and how things work," Mullen said.

In a practical sense, most of Florida's senior administration in the program is still in place. There's a new athletics director, but Mullen has worked with Scott Stricklin directly before, too.

And he's familiar with the process of how things work at UF itself. All of those things have led to a very smooth transition so far.

"(I know) kind of how the inner things work, whether you're going through working with the admissions with recruiting or working through the training room with the health of the players and some of those things," Mullen said. "I think there's certainly an advantage and a comfort to having been here before that stuff doesn't come up and shock you.

 

[BMF]

What's the thoughts on the gimmick this staff is using; "the Gator standard"?

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

What's the thoughts on the gimmick this staff is using; "the Gator standard"?

I wouldn't call it a gimmick. We haven't met that standard in a very long time.

 

[BMF]

I wouldn't call it a gimmick. We haven't met that standard in a very long time.

I agree w/ you we haven't met ANY standard the last 8 years....I'm not saying I don't like it, but it's the definition of a gimmick....or at least a "slogan". Urban Meyer is the king of using gimmicks to motivate players. In 2015 his gimmick was "The Chase" (and it was plastered all over the OSU football spaces). In 2017 OSU used "One Strong". FSU used "Let's Roll" one year (after 9/11 - which caused an uproar). Clemson used "All In" in 2015. So.....all I was asking is do you like it? Does it work?

 

[oxrageous]

He knows exactly what the Florida fanbase expects and what they want to here.

Editing at its best.

 

[lizardbreath]

What's the thoughts on the gimmick this staff is using; "the Gator standard"?

It's legitimate to the extent it refers to past accomplishments and serves as a rallying cry for the players and staff. Time will tell if it actually means anything beyond coach-speak BS. We shall see.

 

[lizardbreath]

Editing at its best.

Who knew Der Fuehrer was a spelling Nazi? Gesundheit!