GAINESVILLE — At this point in his state-swirling speaking tour, there aren’t many questions from the Gators faithful Dan Mullen hasn’t heard. You can basically judge how often he’s heard a question from how rehearsed the coach sounds when he answers.
Last Wednesday night, speaking at Marlins Park to the Gator Club of Miami, Mullen fielded a question he’s heard before.
“Coach, some of the best players in the history of this program wore No. 1 (from Terrence Barber to Keiwan Ratliff to Reggie Nelson to Percy Harvin). No one has worn that number in a while (since Vernon Hargreaves III in 2015). Have you given any thought to who if anyone will take that number in the fall?”
He smiled, took a shoulder shrug deep breath and gave his answer.
“We might give it out. We might not. Thing is, you’ve got to be a baller to wear No. 1,” Mullen told the fan as the room erupted with nervous laughter. “I don’t know if I have anybody at No. 1 just yet. I don’t know if anybody’s done enough in general.”
Under Urban Meyer, the player given No. 1 set a certain standard, according to Mullen. They were always an elite player, an All-SEC or All-American type talent. But they also had to meet a taxing standard off the field, with certain GPA and community service benchmarks involved in being selected.
Steve Spurrier had a similar rule with the No. 11, which the HBC donned as a player at Florida, where he won the Heisman Trophy. Only a Gator who met certain standards on the field and off the field would be worthy of 11. Players like All-American LB Ben Hanks and All-SEC lineman Thaddeus Bullard (you know Bullard now as WWE star Titus O’Neil), met the requirements.
Mullen has indicated he plans to bring the Meyer tradition of making Florida’s No. 1 a program standard-bearer, just as he plans to bring back Meyer’s “Champions Club” grading system that rewards players who meet certain week-to-week performance benchmarks on the field and in the classroom. Both programs, Mullen said, were “player favorites” because they “rewarded honest competition and hard work.”
It’s a fine idea, and competition and hard work should be rewarded, so long as Florida promises never to wear the miserable dead-nature green Alligator jerseys again. Not even the No. 1 or the Champions Club make wearing those atrocities an award.
But coming off a 4-7 campaign that was arguably Florida’s worst season since 1979, Mullen is right. There aren’t a host of great candidates to capture the honor of being Florida’s No. 1. (Or wearing Spurrier’s No. 11, for that matter).
Here’s a list of five Gators players who might make sense if Mullen does decide to give the number away for the 2018 season.
Cece Jefferson
Don’t disqualify Jefferson simply because he’s a defensive end. The SEC has a history of imposing DLs (Leonard Little, anyone?) who have donned the number and Florida has given the number to defenders before, with Hargreaves, Reggie Nelson and Janoris Jenkins all worthy of wearing the number for Meyer (Will Muschamp was going to have Jenkins switch before dismissing him from the program in 2011).
Plus, Jefferson is a clear All-American candidate, having turned down being a certain NFL Draft selection to play his final season for the Gators. A lifelong Florida fan, Jefferson plays with fire and enthusiasm on the field and is a good student and ambassador away from it. He is, by some distance, the unquestionable face of Florida football entering 2018.
Jefferson can parlay a big senior season in Todd Grantham’s defense — a scheme he’s perfect for — into a high draft pick next April. More critically, he could be remembered as the senior leader on a team that laid the foundation for a program turnaround.
Jefferson is the obvious, and best, choice.
Marco Wilson
He’s a blossoming star at defensive back at a place that dubs itself “DBU,” on account of the over $200 million in active NFL contracts Florida defensive backs have in the NFL (most in the country). Florida has had multiple DBs wear the No. 1, and all played in the league.
Choosing Wilson would also allow a sophomore to be the program’s standard-bearer, a nod to the type of youthful sea change Mullen his hoping for with the program moving forward. Wilson isn’t just any sophomore either, having captured freshman All-American honors last year while starting every game and collecting 34 tackles and 10 pass breakups.
The younger brother of former Florida and current Indianapolis Colts CB Quincy Wilson, the American Heritage product has Florida in his blood but has been determined to make his own mark and be his own man in Gainesville. You have to respect that, and it might warrant number one.
Kadarius Toney
I think it’s too soon for this move, but there will be plenty who want to hand the No. 1 to Kadarius Toney, the speedy, shifty playmaker who will play Dan Mullen’s “H” spot (flex and slot receiver) this fall. The “H” is for Harvin, of course, the No. 1 who, along with a QB who preferred No. 15, helped Mullen collect two consecutive top 10 offenses at Florida and two national championship rings as the Gators offensive coordinator.
Toney has received Harvin comparisons since he walked on campus, and the fact that when healthy, he averaged nearly a first down a touch (9.6 yards) last year did little to convince Florida fans he wasn’t.
Let me tap the brakes.
Mullen’s offense requires receivers to block down field, and the “H” player needs to be durable (Toney hasn’t been yet) and a versatile, even if not elite, route runner (Toney struggled with route running).
Good things are coming for the sophomore from Eight Mile, Ala. But handing him the No. 1 before he taps into his gargantuan potential isn’t the right call, and Mullen probably won’t make it.
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
An immense recruiting win for Randy Shannon in 2016, Gardner-Johnson has mostly lived up to the hype his first two years, making an immediate impact as a rotational DB as a freshman and building on that campaign as a sophomore, despite being pressed into emergency duty as the leader of the secondary following the injury to senior captain Marcell Harris. Gardner-Johnson’s finest moments have tended to come at pivotal moments, as well, such as his interception for a touchdown return against Iowa in Florida’s January 2017 Outback Bowl win, where Gardner-Johnson earned MVP honors.
Beloved in the locker room and vocal on the field and off it, Gardner-Johnson has told anyone who will listen that the situation at Florida is “night and day better” than it was under the McElwain regime and that the Gators are poised to surprise America in 2018.
If they do, it will largely be because Gardner-Johnson, a likely team captain, seamlessly completes a move to the nickel in Grantham’s defense, where he can use his improved tackling skills to help Florida in the run game and serve as Florida’s physical yet fast, rangy, press corner in red zone and third down situations.
Gardner-Johnson’s versatility has him listed as a high first-round draft pick next April by both ESPN (16) and Pro Football Focus (12), and that’s precisely the type of elite talent Florida wants to wear the number one.
Malik Davis
Call him the dark horse. Make fun of this shout because Davis is still recovering from a leg injury and might start the season on the injury report or as low as third on the Florida depth chart.
Whatever you do, don’t forget that with all due respect to Jordan Scarlett, Malik Davis is the best running back on Florida’s roster.
Davis tallied 526 yards in just over a half season as a freshman before suffering a season-ending injury early against Georgia. A capable runner, pass catcher and the previous staff’s second most-trusted pass protection option at tailback, Davis was impressive enough in that limited time to earn All-SEC Freshman team honors. With great vision and NFL-ready speed on the second level, Davis’s running style is a perfect fit for Mullen’s zone blocking seam, which relies on tailbacks being active enough with their feet to hit creases at high speeds when zone blocks open them.
Mullen hasn’t given No. 1 to a running back before, but maybe Davis, a quiet kid who leads by example, will break the mold.
Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
