First-year coach Dan Mullen wants to break records at Florida, starting with the annual Orange and Blue Game this Saturday.
According to FloridaGators.com, the highest attended Orange and Blue game came in 2009 when 65,000 filed into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to see the Gators take the field one last time before spring camp ended.
"We want a lot more than that,” Mullen said during a press conference on Monday. “If we have a packed stadium… you feel the energy. It lifts up your level of play.”
Mullen was the head coach at Mississippi State in 2009, but was present for the second- and third-most attended spring games in 2008 and 2005, respectively, when he was UF’s offensive coordinator.
Filling the stands is about more than just making a good impression on a fan base expecting a quick turnaround from last season’s 4-7 record, though. Mullen said that the gameday environment on Saturday, as well as this fall, has a big impact on potential recruits visiting the school.
“They’re going to go to other top programs and compare the two,” he said. “We want to get all the top prospects here, get them excited to get Florida back.”
The game will be coached by “guest head coaches” who will be announced later this week. Both guest coaches will pick their squads on Friday in the form of a draft.
Redshirt sophomores Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask – frontrunners for the starting quarterback job – will likely be selected to opposite sides, giving each player a chance to make their case as spring practices come to a close.
Trask (three touchdowns, one interception) outperformed Franks (two touchdowns, three interceptions) in a March 30 scrimmage, but Franks’ performance improved in Saturday’s scrimmage.
Mullen said he thought Franks’ decision-making — his biggest issue as a redshirt freshman in 2017 — was better during the second scrimmage.
Emory Jones, a four-star quarterback from Mullen’s inaugural recruiting class, will also try to compete for the job. Jones’ mobility makes him a better fit for Mullen’s offense on paper, but it could be a while before he catches up to the experience levels of Franks and Trask as a true freshman.
"I think he's working and learning how to be a college player,” Mullen said of Jones.
But according to Mullen, Jones and the rest of the team will face an even bigger adjustment in the near future: “Recollection.”
Mullen said it’s imperative that all the team’s gains this spring not be lost during the summer.
“We can’t take any steps back,” he said.
Follow Andrew Huang on Twitter @AndrewJHuang and contact him at ahuang@alligator.org.
Quarterback Feleipe Franks and the Gators will play in the Orange and Blue game this Saturday.
