After defeating his old team in Starkville last Saturday, Dan Mullen and the Gators will now turn their attention to No. 5 LSU.
No. 22 Florida has another chance to move up in the AP Top 25 this week, and it would be a huge win that would really get this season on the right track.
On Wednesday, Mullen joined the SEC Coaches Teleconference to preview Saturday’s game, here’s what he said:
On his success against Dave Aranda’s defense in 2017:
- It was early in the season, we spend extra time gameplanning in the summer. I thought we had a decent plan but these plans you still have to execute and our guys did that at a very high level.
How big is stability to having success in college football:
- I think it’s huge. Stability the goal at Miss State was to build a consistent team that had stability… That would allow us to have special seasons… to do that, everyone in the program has to understand what expected.
On Alabama’s success and is that due to some stability by Saban:
- Probably the same thing. You have stability, you have success and you set that standard and everyone knows what to do.
On Tim Tebow reunion and how much involvement Mullen had in this ring of honor:
- I love having those guys around the team, I love having former players around the program. I have made a big deal about having former players around, whether it was Spurrier guys or guys from the last 10 years. That helps the players that are here. When they see guys that have gone through what they are doing.
Will Tebow help the team this week?
- His schedule is pretty busy, I’ll see if he can come to talk to the guys
Follow up on facing Aranda:
- They are very multiple… he has his calls that he likes, when you do that and know the system the way he does, it’s easy to make adjustments. They don’t play defense of the week and they like certain calls against certain looks and it makes it easy for him to make adjustments in games.
On LSU rivalry:
- I think all of the LSU games I’ve been involved with have been big… the jump pass… there have been some really exciting big games but for our guys, this is why you come to Florida to play in these games.
On Joe Burrow and his comfort level at LSU:
- They do a good job, they run the ball and that opens up the play-action shots and take advantage of one-on-ones down the field. He’s not turning the ball over, he’s putting them in position to be successful with his checks and calls… he can run but he’s not dynamic.
On hiring Todd Grantham at Florida:
- When I first looked at it, the success he’s had on defense, the physicality and aggressiveness, I knew. When I met with him, it wasn’t about the X’s and O’s, it was about his personality, fast, physical and aggressive… then coming to Florida, when I came, as soon as I got the job I called him and I knew he could be MSU head coach and I told him I wanted him if he didn’t get that job.
Jordan Dajani covers SEC football for Saturday Down South and is a University of Tennessee graduate. He also has experience working in the NBA and with ESPN.
