Florida football: Dan Mullen can cement his Gators legacy in 2021

When Dan Mullen took over for the Florida Gators in 2018, I will admit I was not as thrilled as other Florida football fans.

While I thought Mullen was a good coach, I was worried about how he would recruit and if the defense would suffer. And while the defense wasn’t good last year, I believe Mullen has done a great job as the Gators’ head coach.

Mullen has a 29-9 overall record at Florida. Mullen has coached the Gators to two bowl game victories, a win in the Peach Bowl in Year 1 and an Orange Bowl victory in Year 2. We all know what happened this year in the Cotton Bowl, so we do not need to talk much about that.

The 2020 season was difficult for everyone, but I always keep saying that it seemed like the Gators were affected more than other teams. Mullen’s hands-on approach of coaching wasn’t able to be used as much, and it appeared that Florida was unable to get things right during the COVID-19 season.

Luckily we are getting back to normalcy, so Florida will have a normal offseason program and pack the Swamp on game day.

Florida did lose some of its stars to the 2021 NFL Draft, highlighted by Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney, and Kyle Trask. However, Florida fans should be excited about their new revamped offense in 2021, and the main reason for that is Mullen.

Florida football fans should appreciate how good Mullen is.

Mullen is one of the best coaches in college football, in my opinion, and CBS Sports ranked him as the No. 10 college football coach in the nation.

I think that ranking is fair, but I would have ranked him over Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald, and Georgia’s Kirby Smart. I think No. 7 would be the perfect ranking for Mullen.

Regardless of the ranking, it shows that other people agree that Mullen is on the right track. And I think the Florida football program is on the right track too.

However, while it’s nice that Mullen is getting the recognition he deserves, it’s also time for Florida to take the next step. Again, COVID-19 impacted last season, but 8-4 is extremely disappointing.

Mullen’s Gators went 11-2 in 2019, and in 2021, Florida can be even better. Florida is lucky enough to get Alabama early in the year and have a shot to take down the Crimson Tide. If Florida beats Alabama, the Gators should run through everyone else, including Georgia, and get into the college football playoff.

Quarterback Emory Jones will be the significant factor for Mullen’s Gators, but I think Jones will have a monster year. Getting into the college football playoff would be nice, but winning it would cement Mullen’s legacy as a Gator great.