GAINESVILLE, Fla. – He played golf Sunday with son Cannon and based on his scorecard,
Dan Mullen got the best of his golfing buddy. On Monday, Mullen refocused his attention on preparing for the start of preseason camp.
Until he hears otherwise, Mullen is sticking to that plan, one that will include being able to devote 20 hours per week to football activities with his players starting Friday through Aug. 6 based on
guidelines established last month by the NCAA Division I Council.
Appearing on "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz" on
ESPN radio Monday afternoon, Mullen spoke about the importance of maintaining a schedule for the season despite the global coronavirus pandemic creating doubt about a season happening at all.
"We have prepped for July 24. We can start having walkthroughs with players, what I call getting into Phase 2,'' Mullen told hosts Peter Burns and former Gators receiver Chris Doering, filling in for Le Batard and Stugotz. "We have also prepped for Phase 3, which is Aug. 7, the start of training camp. We're kind of as a coaching staff working off that schedule right now. We're planning to start the season on time because that's the information we have."
Florida is set to open Mullen's third season as head coach on Sept. 5 at home against Eastern Washington. While many project that to be unlikely based on the latest health reports from around the country and the state of Florida, it's a way for Mullen to remain engaged with his team and coaching staff amidst uncertain times.
It's the approach that has helped the Gators win 21 of 26 games since Mullen returned to take over the program prior to the 2018 season.
"I'm a very exact, detailed, scheduled person,'' Mullen said. "I like schedules, I like details, I like exactness. That's probably been my biggest struggle, is trying to overcome the lack of structure because I'm a big structure person."
In talks with other coaches around the country and with his players, Mullen said the attitude he has encountered primarily from those inside the game is a hope that there will be a season. Still, Mullen understands the hurdles ahead for that to become a reality and the proposed safeguards to be in place should it happen.
At the University of Texas on Monday, officials emailed season-ticket holders and indicated that the plan remains for the Longhorns to open the season on Sept. 5 against USF but with Texas Memorial Stadium only at 50 percent capacity.
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Mullen has tried to stay away from the daily updates over the summer regarding the season's outlook and prefers weekly virtual meetings with his team to keep the Gators abreast of the latest information. He has watched closely as the professional sports leagues have started to reassemble.
"I think a lot of the question marks are out there,'' he said. "I've read through the NFL's testing procedure plan. The biggest one to me is the tracing policy. What are you doing for guys that have tested negative, have no symptoms, but might have walked down the hall with someone who tested positive? How are they being punished. I think they [NFL] probably has some work to do.
"I do think the players have a good understanding of it. We, to this day, have had more guys quarantined that were asymptomatic with negative tests -- but because of the tracing program, they've had to go into quarantine – than we've had positives. I think people understand it, but it does cause frustration."
The majority of UF players began to return to campus in late May as part of Phase I to begin the process of being tested for COVID-19. Once the first wave of players were determined negative and passed a standard physical examination, they were allowed to return to voluntary workouts starting June 1 supervised by the Gators' strength and conditioning staff.
Mullen said the process has been a success for the most part within the guidelines the NCAA has established over the summer. However, until a definitive return-to-play plan is developed that safeguards the health of players and coaches, an uneasiness will loom.
"The majority of the guys on our team that I have talked to, they want to play,'' Mullen said. "They want to go out there and play football. The problem is, no one has played, no one has done this. If you are at a nightclub with 500 people shoulder to shoulder in the nightclub, there is a good chance the virus will spread quickly.
"If you are out there playing football in a stadium playing a football game, I don't know if we know much about that yet. What are the ways that we can safely do that without just saying, 'no, we can't do it.' "
For now, the waiting game continues as the phases are checked off Mullen's calendar.
"We're working on the schedule that they've given us and the phase that we're in right now,'' Mullen said. "We'll continue to do that until someone gives us a new schedule."
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