Florida Football: Dan Mullen throws shade at Georgia
Dan Mullen is a great coach, but he might want to wait until Florida football has some results on the field before he starts talking smack off the field.
New Florida head coach Dan Mullen is already talkin’ smack. On learning the news that SEC rival Georgia landed the number one recruiting class on National Signing Day, Mullen got a little snarky.
In a quote to CBSSports, Mullen stated, “Listen, winning one SEC Championship Game doesn’t make you a dominant program, you know what I’m saying? In two of the last three years, we’ve been to the SEC Championship Game. So even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.”
That’s pretty tough talk from a team that went 4-7 last year.
I get that trash talk is part of the fun of college football. But criminy, Mullen’s Gators haven’t even played a game yet. And in case you have forgotten, Coach Mullen, UF got decimated in those two SEC Championship games. To wit, a 29-15 loss to Alabama in 2015 and a 54-16 loss to Alabama in 2016. To be fair, Georgia lost the last two times they went in 2011 and 2012, but for Florida to act like they own real estate at the SEC Championship is a bit rich.
Another reminder, Coach Mullen–Florida lost to Georgia by a whopping 42-7 in 2017. Even if by some miracle your team manages to rebound, land the recruiting class of its dreams, and become any kind of force in the SEC, you don’t come back from that in a single season.
Last year, the Gators had a measly ten passing touchdowns combined from their quarterbacks. That’s pretty sad with the amount of offensive talent that team has. Lamical Perine, Jordan Scarlett, Kadarius Toney and Malik Davis are all amazing players. In addition, a great deal of the team will be back next season after the credit-card-fraud debacle. So yes, the Gators might be pretty good in 2018.
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Georgia’s resurgence as a dominant power is only going to do that side of the SEC a favor. The East has been the weaker side of the SEC for a decade, so seeing some new blood take the lead in the SEC will be great for the East and even better for the conference as a whole. Mullen has a tough road ahead of him, but expectations are pretty low after last season’s mess. I can definitely see Florida with a top-25 scoring defense in 2018–they have the tools. Mullen did it at Mississippi State, and SEC West is a much tougher division.
Mullen’s Gators are going to be a better team in 2018, but it is way, way too early for Mullen to be getting all uppity.