Florida responds to Dan Mullen’s plea to pack The Swamp against LSU
By SDS Staff
Published:
Dan Mullen got the attention of sports fans and media members everywhere with his call for Florida to allow for a full Ben Hill Griffin Stadium starting with the upcoming UF-LSU game. Mullen’s boss, however, doesn’t appear to see eye-to-eye with the Gators head coach.
For an article ripping Mullen, Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi reached out to Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin for comment.
“We continue to follow UF Health and campus guidelines. I’ve not heard anything about campus adjusting [its] guidelines,” Stricklin told Bianchi via text message.
Mullen felt crowd noise at Kyle Field was a factor in his team’s 41-38 loss to Texas A&M.
“The crowd was certainly a factor in the game,” Mullen said of Texas A&M’s fans during his press conference. “I know our governor passed that rule so certainly, hopefully, the UF administration decides to let us pack the Swamp against LSU — 100% — because that crowd was certainly a factor in the game. I certainly hope our administration follows the governor. The governor has passed a rule that we’re allowed to pack The Swamp and have 90,000 in the Swamp to give us the home-field advantage Texas A&M had today.”
It was Bianchi who asked Mullen to clarify those comments. The coach reiterated his hope for 90,000 Gator fans in The Swamp.
“Absolutely I want to see 90,000 at The Swamp,” Mullen said. “The section behind our bench [today], I didn’t see an empty seat. It was packed; the entire student section; must have been 50,000 people behind our bench going crazy. Hopefully, that will create a home-field advantage for us next week because we’ve passed a law in our state that allows us to do that.”
While true that Gov. Ron DeSantis has lifted all state-restrictions relating to stadium attendance, it appears UF administration won’t be giving him his packed Swamp, for now.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
