GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the midst of an unprecedented year, at the end of a tumultuous summer, and at the start of the college football season, another startling development became official Wednesday when the Big Ten announced it will have a 2020 season after all.
That is 2020 for you. Another day, another shock wave rumbling from coast to coast, one day the coronavirus pandemic dominating the headlines, social unrest or the upcoming presidential election the next. Sometimes the tremors are measured not by the day, but by the hour or minute.
Meanwhile, since they began to return to campus for voluntary summer workouts in late May, the Gators have slowly and methodically prepared for a season in which many expect fireworks from those in orange and blue.
They are embracing that mindset.
"To win the SEC and national championship,'' linebacker
Jeremiah Moon said of the team's goal on Wednesday. "I think our team has done a great job of keeping everything separate."
For now, Florida still has work to do with the season opener at Ole Miss on Sept. 26 less than 10 days away. That work starts with a mock game on Thursday morning to acclimate the players and coaches to a revamped game-day routine during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gators head coach
Dan Mullen said the plan entails as many details as possible, from the pregame routine in the locker room to singing the fight song after the game. He said they "have a huge script" they review each year before the season opener but that this one will be unlike any other due to the unusual circumstances.
"Everything's different," he said. "You show up at the stadium, well, we're using different locker rooms, we're using different meeting rooms. We're going to have actually a specifically assigned seat on the buses to the airport. Different groups leave at different times. Our seating arrangements on the plane will be different than they've been. The buses, when we get off the plane, will be very different. How we travel, what we're bringing with us will be different.
"When you get to the hotel, we're going to have to tweak our routine about that for spacing at the hotel. Roommates will be different, of who you normally would room with on the road. The fact that some people won't have roommates and we'll be able to have more single rooms. The bus on the way to the stadium will be different. Pregame locker room setup will be different. There will be a bunch."
While so much is unfamiliar and uncertain – the Gators reported six new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday following a stretch of more than a month without one – what remains the same is when the team is between the lines.
It's there that the Gators want to leave their mark in 2020. That is why players say they have bonded over the past four months as they worked toward the same goal, much of that time on a quiet campus with the majority of students away and much of the UF community working from home.
Now that many students have returned and it's starting to feel and look like football season, defensive back
Kaiir Elam said the Gators are locked in.
"All of our coaches and everybody takes pride in trying to stay COVID-free,'' Elam said. "That's something that we're really working on. Everyone was just trying to elevate and have just one goal [during the break]: to win the national championship. I feel like everybody just bought in to what Coach Savage and Coach Mullen and a lot of our position coaches were saying. Hopefully it will pay off."
With so much uncertainty about how COVID-19 will impact the season on a week-to-week basis across college football, Mullen and his staff are cross-training as many players as possible so they can be ready to fill in for an absent player when needed.
Even during a normal offseason, linebackers coach
Christian Robinson faced a challenge in replacing veteran middle linebacker
David Reese, a team leader and constant presence the past four seasons.
Ventrell Miller and others have stepped to the forefront and shown improvement.
Robinson said one of the positives to come out of the extending training camp and summer workouts as the team reacquainted itself to the field, it's that players and coaches had more time to get on the same page, especially those young players looking to fill bigger roles.
"We have more time to talk and to learn," Robinson said. "That's going to allow our players to make more plays with the challenges that we're going to be facing throughout the season. End of the day, nothing's promised, but we want to take the steps necessary to be in a position where we have everybody that we need. That's just doing what you're told to do.
"We have a great medical staff that helps us. Just do your part. I think in a team setting it's easier for our guys to understand that because everything we do is team based. Just remember that's not just about you. I think that's something that gets reiterated on a day-to-day basis regardless of what we're dealing with. This just happens to be one of the greatest challenges of our time."
The next step for the Gators is to see if 2020 turns out to be their time. That is their mission and one that in 10 days launches at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.
Until then, they will continue focus on the small details with an eye turned to the big picture.
"They've got to continue to find that balance right now of making sure we're getting better, getting everything in that we need to continue to improve and get the reps we need without the 'Holy cow, game week just get here. Can we move onto game week?' I think there is a balance between that.
"I think our guys are ready to get into game week. I think our guys are ready to start playing football."
