One of the things people talk about most with new Florida coach Dan Mullen is the way he works with quarterbacks.

From Alex Smith at Utah to Tim Tebow at Florida to Dak Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald at Mississippi State, Mullen’s past is littered with elite quarterbacks.

For a team like the Gators, that hasn’t had a solid quarterback since Tebow was working with Mullen as his offensive coordinator from 2006 to 2008, Mullen’s ability to mold quarterbacks and help them develop will be a huge key to any potential success he has in Gainesville.

A couple of Mullen’s former players — Mississippi State’s Prescott and Florida’s Chris Leak — told the Orlando Sentinel that Mullen’s personality and attitude are what makes him such a great quarterback developer:

“He’s a people person, a players’ coach,” Prescott said. “He knows his players. He knows people. He’s great with relationships — and he’s a hell of a ball coach.”

Chris Leak, another former Florida quarterback who worked with Mullen under Urban Meyer, echoed Prescott’s praise of Mullen’s personality:

“I think one of the biggest leaps that I had with Dan from Year 1 to Year 2 was our relationship grew,” Leak said of Mullen. “Dan’s ability to progress with his quarterback with whatever quarterback he had, his ability to adapt to his style I think is key.

“… He has a transparency and he has the humility to listen to others, be open to new ideas and be open to things. I think that says a lot about who Dan is.”

Florida has been desperately searching for competent quarterback play since Tebow left, but the Gators have a coach in Mullen who should be able to turn things around at that position as soon as 2018.