SEC MEDIA DAYS: Mullen mulls the future with high hopes

Florida head football coach Dan Mullen meets with the media during Monday’s SEC Media Day at the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey Hotel. (Courtesy Southeastern Conference)

By GRAHAM DUNN

HOOVER - Dan Mullen didn’t avoid the talk of thrown shoes and disappointing finishes during the first day of SEC Media Days on Monday.

Then again, no one was brave enough to breach those subjects.

Mullen did offer his congratulations to Mississippi State for winning the national championship in baseball and he gave a shout out to the Tampa Bay Lightning for repeating as Stanley Cup winners.

Otherwise, the mode was to look ahead to the future of Florida football.

“We open up at home against Florida Atlantic,” he said. “FAU is going to be a Saturday night in The Swamp, can't wait. I know the excitement, the energy. Last year was a hard year for everybody, but now as you start to see these different sporting events…

“A lot of exciting things going on for us right now. After coming off a great year, obviously, a little bit of challenge.”

After the win over Georgia early in the season, Florida was in position to do something it had not done in 12 years – win an SEC Championship.

That opportunity was literally thrown away in a loss to LSU.

“(The end of the LSU game) definitely was crazy, I'd say,” stated linebacker Ventrell Miller. “You live and you learn. One of the best things that could have happened. Like I said, we just got a chip on your shoulder for this year, and we look forward to the games coming up and looking forward to seeing the boys again.”

The Gators’ promising 2020 season came to a crashing halt in the latter stages of the loss to LSU primarily due to a decision made by cornerback Marco Wilson to pick up the cleat of LSU’s Kole Taylor and hurl it 20 yards down field at the end of the fourth-down play, resulting in a 15-yard penalty and give LSU a chance to kick what became the winning field goal on the final play of the Tigers’ 37-34 victory.

The loss ended any chance Florida had of winning a national championship, even had it pulled off a victory over Alabama in the SEC Championship game.

The misery continued with a close loss to the Crimson Tide followed by a listless performance against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

In Mullen’s mind, things are still looking up for 2021.

“Really to me the attitude of where our defense is at is what I'm really pleased with,” he said. “The energy, we play a lot of guys defensively, roll guys through to keep them fresh and healthy, and I'm really excited of the mindset, the attitude that the defense as a whole is bringing to the table and the leadership that they have within our program.”

The Gators will welcome Alabama to The Swamp in the third game of the season, which means Mullen will get his wish of a full, boisterous stadium to greet the defending national champions.

“I think that's going to be an exciting day,” Mullen predicted. “It's going to be a great atmosphere. It's going to be a fun game to be a part of, and as you said, for ten years we haven't seen it. We'd love to see that more. There's 10 teams that will visit -- there's non-conference teams that will visit The Swamp a lot more than conference teams. I think you'd love to see maybe a better rotation of those teams.”