It’s been a tough 48 hours for Dan Mullen and the Florida football program.

First, the Gators were rocked 34-7 by No. 1 Georgia in the Cocktail Party, as a 3-0 Bulldogs lead with just under 2-and-a-half minutes to go before halftime suddenly ballooned to 24-0 behind 3 Florida turnovers.

As if Mullen didn’t take enough of a PR hit with his comments after the game by suggesting the gulf in talent between his program and Georgia’s wasn’t as wide as it looked, he further hurt his cause by his response to a question on Monday regarding his recruiting strategy.

That’s the last question Mullen will get from the media for a while. At least until Saturday, that is, when the Gators take on South Carolina, as he has elected not to make players and coaches available for the rest of the week. Mullen will appear on Wednesday’s SEC media teleconference, an obligation for conference head coaches.

It’s certainly not the first time a head coach has done this and it won’t be the last. But as criticism of Mullen grows in the midst of a 4-4 season that sees the Gators sitting at 2-4 in the SEC and in 4th place in the East division a year removed from a SEC Championship Game appearance – the presence of Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts on that team notwithstanding – the questions about the direction of the program, especially as Georgia continues to distance itself from its chief rival, aren’t set to die down any time soon.