Dan Mullen is no stranger to the Florida-Tennessee rivalry and the former Gators head coach will be paying close attention to the Week 3 contest at The Swamp.

No. 11 Tennessee is striving for a 3-0 start, while 1-1 Florida is aiming for a winning streak after its victory vs. McNeese.

To Mullen, this is a crucial early season test for Florida head coach Billy Napier, who has struggled particularly against the Gators’ rivals since taking over.

“He hasn’t won a rivalry game yet. I think that is a huge deal..At Florida, there’s really the 3 games that are rivals. There’s Florida State, there’s Tennessee, and there’s Georgia. He hasn’t gotten a win in 1 of those games…” Mullen said via an appearance on The Matt Barrie Show. “You want to win championships but the rivalry games, you get wins in those, it just means a little bit more for everybody, as everything in the SEC does.

During Mullen’s tenure at Florida from 2018-21, he never lost a game to Tennessee.

“This is always a big game,” Mullen said. “In all my years at Florida both as an assistant and a head coach, the Tennessee game was always such a huge game.”

Mullen explains the magnitude of Florida’s SEC opener for the perception of Napier.

“This would be a big, big win for Billy Napier and for the direction the program is headed,” Mullen said. “A loss, he could be looking at 0-6 after 2 years against his rivals. That’s not how Florida fans want to see things.”

Mullen is predicting a 2nd consecutive Tennessee victory in the series because of his confidence in the Vols on both sides of the ball.

“I’m going Tennessee. I’m still on the Tennessee bandwagon…” Mullen said. “Joe Milton can make all the plays. I trust Josh Heupel honestly to put him in positions to succeed…I think they’re improved defensively to shut Florida down.”