Florida football: Gators keep their NFL Draft streak alive

It’s a good streak to have in college football. Florida football keeps their draft streak alive by having at least one player drafted to the NFL.

Since 1967 the Florida football program has had at least one player become selected to go pro. This 53-year streak is one of the most impressive in sports, as only three other colleges have accomplished this feat.

In addition to this streak, Florida football has had five players drafted in six consecutive drafts, dating back through 2015.

Florida football had an outstanding weekend with seven players selected from all over the NFL — including a couple of unrestricted free agents who weren’t drafted. The 2020 draft was special, not only because of it being done via video calls but because of the circumstances the combine didn’t really matter. What mattered was the effort you displayed in college.

Leaving everything you had on the field for your alma mater was most important. The Florida Gators program overshadowed any drills the NFL was using to test these players. Florida football was the measuring stick with which you were judged.

Coach Dan Mullen is paramount for Florida football 

Dan Mullen has brought a certain recruiting swagger to the Swamp. Florida football boasts the eighth-best recruiting class in the nation in 2020, which is up one spot from the previous year.

Of course, recruiting isn’t everything, you need to be able to coach kids up once they enter your program. Dak Prescott is a shining example of a player Coach Mullen has gotten to excel in his program and become a pretty good NFL quarterback.

Florida football’s continued success under Coach Mullen couldn’t have come at a better time. He hangs his hat on players’ work ethic. When asked about his players headed to the NFL, Mullen had this to say:

"“Now they’re looking at these guys going to the NFL, what are they doing to get there? Well, hey, you know what? These guys worked hard, they practiced hard, they did the right thing, they carried themselves the right way, had a great attitude within the program,” said Mullen. “I think that shows a lot for the young guys in the program, if I do that and listen to the coaches and follow the program and buy all in, I’m going to have success.”"

Hard work has been paramount to Coach Mullen having success, and the trickle-down effect it’s having for players and fans alike has been a splash of cool water on a hot summer day.

Can Florida football’s streak continue?

Of course it can, but the recruiting landscape has changed. There will be recruiting challenges because of our current pandemic. There will be travel restrictions, university visit cancellations, and a slew of other obstacles. Selling speculative freshman to your program will be difficult, but not impossible.

In fact, one can argue Florida football is in prime position to continue shelling out NFL talent.

They can sell potential players on this past season’s success and how they become a part of something special. Dan Mullen can email them his portfolio to help prove hard work pays off. They can sell sunshine; besides football, Florida and sunshine have been synonymous.

I have great confidence this streak will continue.

A winning culture like Florida has all the tools in place to survive a societal hiccup. Next year we’ll be talking about a 54th straight, and maybe sending 10 players. The one thing I’m sure of is we’ll send at least one!