GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- From the moment he began to talk on Wednesday, evidence of
Dan Mullen's battle with COVID-19 was easily detected in his voice.
The usually hyper Mullen spoke in a nasal tone with an occasional sniffle mixed in during his appearance on the Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference. Mullen said he continues to recover at home and that the plan is for the Gators to reconvene on Monday to start preparing for their home game against Missouri on Oct. 31.
That is if the COVID-19 outbreak that engulfed the team following its game at Texas A&M on Oct. 10 is under control and the Gators have at least 53 players available according to SEC protocol.
"We still had a positive this morning,'' Mullen said in regard to test results from Tuesday. "I think it definitely happened with the trip. I don't think it was one specific aspect of the trip."
Editor's note: Mullen's appearance on the conference call starts around the 22-minute mark.
The Gators paused football activities last Tuesday after COVID testing revealed 21 team members and at least two coaches were positive. Mullen announced on Saturday that he had tested positive and was self-isolated at home away from his wife and kids.
Florida postponed its home game against LSU and tentatively rescheduled the game Dec. 12. Meanwhile, Saturday's home game against Missouri has been postponed and rescheduled for Oct. 31 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mullen remains optimistic the game can be played despite the recent spike and shutdown.
"Hopefully we're back Monday at this point, moving forward," he said. "We won't be at full capacity as a team, but we feel pretty comfortable that our numbers would be to the point where we could play the game."
In the wake of last week's outbreak, Gators athletic director
Scott Stricklin said that the program became alarmed the day after the loss at Texas A&M when multiple players tested positive. In researching the cases, the players told the team's medical personnel that they felt allergy-like symptoms prior to the trip but didn't suspect COVID-19.
Since shutting down operations Oct. 13 out of caution, the Gators have worked remotely and followed the NFL model in dealing with outbreaks according to Mullen.
"We've used this whole time to completely close the program to get back to zero positive tests,'' he said. "We'll take our time getting guys in. Obviously, health and safety has always been top priority within our program so it's not like Monday -- we don't act like we think nothing's happened. We'll build back up a little bit on Monday into what we're doing and getting ourselves back on track and ready to go play. I think our guys have handled everything so far this year extremely well. I expect them to handle this the same."
Meanwhile, Mullen said he is feeling better and experienced minor symptoms related to the virus. He has worked primarily from his bedroom and home office in preparation for the game against Missouri.
The Gators have reported 31 positive tests this month after controlling the virus' spread within the team successfully since players began returning to campus in late May for voluntary summer workouts.
Mullen said if the Gators need more time to be able to play Missouri, he is confident something can be worked out.
"We'd figure it out," Mullen said. "We'll find a way."
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