Spring Speaking Tour Presented by UF Health & GEICO: Mullen to Make 10 Speaking Appearances
Friday, January 18, 2019 | Football
Gators football coach Dan Mullen will start his 2019 spring speaking tour in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 16.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Head football coach Dan Mullen opens Florida's spring speaking tour, which is Presented by UF Health & GEICO, on Feb. 16 with the D.C. Gator Club in Washington, D.C. That event is less than two weeks after National Signing Day where he and his staff have already signed 20 players.
This year's speaking tour has eight appearances by Mullen.
Florida's No. 6 ranking in the final 2018 USA Today Coaches' Top 25 Poll marks its highest finish since it ended the 2009 season ranked No. 3. It is the Gators' first top-10 finish both the Coaches' and AP Poll since 2012, when they ended the year at No. 10 and 9, respectively. In addition, this was the second time in school history (1983) UF finished in the AP Poll's top 10 of after starting the year unranked.
Mullen joined Galen Hall (1985 - No. 5) as the only other first-year head coach in school history to post a top-10 finish in the AP Poll.
Overall, the Gators achieved their second-largest turnaround in school history, in terms of wins. Florida's six-win turnaround this season could only be topped by the 1980 Gators, who went 8-4 following a 0-10-1 campaign in 1979. Mullen also became on the third coach in history and second since 1939 to win 10 games in a debut season with a current Power Five program after inheriting a team that won less than five games the year before.
Mullen's imprint was really felt on offense as UF recorded the second-highest jump of any FBS team in scoring offense. Florida rose 86 spots (from tied for 108th in 2017 to 22nd in 2018).
Mullen, who served four seasons (2005-08) as Florida's offensive coordinator and was a major factor in the program winning two Southeastern Conference and BCS National Titles (2006, 2008), spent nine seasons as Mississippi State's head coach (2009-17) prior to his return to Gainesville.
The speaking tour is a collaborative effort by the UF Alumni Association, GatorBoosters Inc. and the University Athletic Association.
Below is the complete schedule for Coach Mullen:
| Date | Location | Group |
| Saturday, Feb. 16 | Washington, D.C. | D.C Gator Club® |
| Wednesday, Feb 27 | TBD | Palm Beach County Gator Club® |
| Wednesday, March 13 | Tallahassee, Fla. | Capital Area Gator Club® |
| Wednesday, March 20 | Jacksonville, Fla. | Jacksonville Gator Club® |
| Tuesday, April 9 | Gainesville, Fla. | Gainesville QB Club |
| Monday, April 22 | Lakeland, Fla. | Polk County Gator Club® |
| Tuesday, April 23 | Daytona Beach, Fla. | Daytona Beach Gator Club® |
| Wednesday, May 15 | Tampa, Fla. | Tampa Gator Club® |
| Thursday, May 16 | Orlando, Fla. | Central Florida Gator Club® |
| Thursday, May 23 | Gainesville, Fla. | Fightin' Gator Touchdown Club |
For more information, please visit http://connect.ufalumni.ufl.edu for Gator Club appearances, http://fgtc.org/ for the Fightin' Gator Touchdown Club appearance, or http://www.quarterbackclub.org/ for the Gainesville Quarterback Club Appearance.
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