Dan Mullen explains why Florida won't have a full signing class in 2018

As National Signing Day winds down, the Florida Gators don’t have a full class of recruits yet.

Barring a drastic change, there will be some open spots when new coach Dan Mullen’s team takes the field this spring.

He said during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that he doesn’t expect the Gators to have all 85 scholarship players this coming fall, but added that it’s partly by design:

Key strategy here by Mullen: "We're not going to be at 85 next fall, but that's partly by design. We're going to have a full year with this staff to go recruit. We weren't going to take players who we weren't sure would fit our program just to take a roster spot." #Gators

— OnlyGators.com: Florida Gators news (@onlygators) February 7, 2018

That’s an interesting strategy from Mullen, but one that could pay off in the long run. That frees up scholarships for transfers and allows the Gators to really focus on the 2019 class over the next few months.

While it could hurt the product on the field this fall, Mullen and his staff have the big picture in mind, and it’ll be interesting to see what he can do with more available scholarships.

Even with a smaller class, the Gators currently rank No. 4 in the SEC and No. 14 in the country, per 247Sports — not bad for Mullen’s first year.