Next week, Florida will take on rival Florida State in a situation with the Seminoles having an interim coach.

“For us, knowing the personality of that coach… they can be different on offense and defense… that’s the challenge of facing these types of coaches,” Mullen said on the SEC media teleconference.

That game will come after Florida’s third bye week of the season, so he was asked about coaching to avoid a slow start out of a bye.

“Well, I don’t know if we did,” he said. “We only had seven possessions in the game. We want to score on the opening drive and stop them from scoring. That’s how we will address it. I don’t know if anyone has ever had 3 bye weeks before, I don’t mind 2 byes… the first one was unusual and it didn’t really feel like a bye week.”

Mullen was asked about QB Nick Sproles’ status after he entered the transfer portal recently. Is he still on the team?

“Absolutely, he is,” Mullen said. “He has been one of the most valuable players on the team. He is going to graduate in the spring… he is going to wrap up, be on the team throughout the season and transfer and play at some other school next season. He is trying to let everyone know that he is out there.”

“He’s why they put the transfer portal in. He really would like the opportunity to go play next season.”

Here’s what else Mullen said on the call:

  • On not being able to talk about recruits: I don’t think you need to talk publicly about recruits. Recruiting already gets enough media hype… it should be about finding the right place for these players… I think that’s the most important part of recruiting, not the hype.
  • On players leaving early for the NFL, how do you address that? I think the bye week this week allows us to sit down with some of those guys, get a jump start on the process with what they need to do, gather all the information they can so they can make good decisions for their future. That’s all we want, guys to make good decisions and have success.
  • How many are considering it? I think everyone has that dream, I meet with everyone and share that info. I think we have about 8 guys considering it, and 2-3 that could get serious about it.