Cris Collinsworth made a rare return to the Swamp on Saturday and served as honorary Mr. Two Bits. (Photo: Matt Stamey/UAA Communications)
Carter's Corner: Collinsworth Sees Mullen's Talent at QB Development, Offense as One Appealing to Recruits
Monday, September 3, 2018 | Football, Scott Carter
Collinsworth opens his 10th season in the broadcast booth with veteran play-by-play man Al Michaels this week on NBC's Sunday Night Football, America's top-rated primetime television program for the last seven seasons.
A standout for the Gators from 1977-80, Collinsworth doesn't get back to Gainesville often during the football season due to his NFL-centric broadcasting career. However, prior to working games this week between Atlanta and Philadelphia (Thursday night in Philly) and Chicago at Green Bay on Sunday, Collinsworth was able to return to campus Saturday to pull off an inspiring performance as honorary Mr. Two Bits.
He was pleased to report no pulled muscles afterward. The 59-year-old Collinsworth was also impressed at what he saw from the Gators in their 53-6 victory over Charleston Southern.
In his view, first-year Gators coach Dan Mullen has the offense moving where it needs to go.
"It's all about recruiting, right,'' Collinsworth said. "I think people will see the offense, see the creativity, and see the opportunities that it presents for individual athletes at receiver, quarterback and running back, and go, 'that looks kind of fun.' "
Collinsworth showed up at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday with his eyes directed at Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks like many in the crowd of more than 80,000. While Collinsworth has not seen all of Florida's games from a year ago, based on what he saw Saturday, Franks has a better grasp of the offense due to Mullen's system.
"You can see the creativity, but more than that, the creativity and simplicity,'' he said. "He is trying to make it easy on Franks now. The skill set is off the charts. If you can narrow it down for a young quarterback like that, to where he really has one or two things – because he can always run, right … It just looked a little fast [for him last year], whereas now, it looks pretty slow for him out there.
"Some of those touch throws across the middle, where he is not taking a big windup, he's just playing point guard. Get it to 'em and let 'em go."
Collinsworth chatted with Mullen prior to the game, and while he said the two don't know each other well, he studied Mullen's offense at Mississippi State to get a better understanding of the development of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Collinsworth considers Franks and the other UF quarterbacks well cared for under Mullen's tutelage.
"I know what he did in developing [Prescott]. And Steve [Spurrier] was great at this too, developing quarterbacks and helping them understand the game. Because if the game gets too big for the quarterback, it's too big for everybody.
"If everybody is on the same page and allows him to make quick decisions, then you're not taking sacks, you're not taking those big negative plays, your quarterback is not getting hit, your offensive line is gaining confidence, and now as a defense, you've got to come get 'em a little bit. And if you've got to come and get 'em with those wide receivers they have out there, you've got a problem in man coverage. All that ties in together."
Players Mentioned
QB
/ FootballGame Time presented by Tower Hill Insurance 11-14-25
Saturday, November 15
Up Next presented by UF Health (November 14, 2025)
Friday, November 14
Up Next presented by UF Health 11-14-25
Friday, November 14
Florida Football | Interim Head Coach Billy Gonzales Media Availability | Ole Miss
Thursday, November 13
