Former Florida Gators head coach, Dan Mullen, may have moved on from the Swamp, but he hasn’t forgotten the significance of the annual showdown between the Florida Gators and the Tennessee Volunteers.
As the Gators prepare to face the #11 ranked Tennessee Volunteers, Mullen expressed his concerns over current Florida head coach Billy Napier’s lack of success in rivalry games.
Florida enters this highly anticipated matchup with a 1-1 record, and all eyes are on Napier to lead the Gators to victory against their SEC East rivals.
Mullen, now a college football analyst for ESPN, recently appeared on “The Matt Barrie Show,” and couldn’t help but highlight Napier’s struggles in rivalry games.
“He hasn’t won a rivalry game yet. I think that is a huge deal. At Florida, there’s really the 3 games that are rivals. There’s Florida State, there’s Tennessee, and there’s Georgia. He hasn’t gotten a win in 1 of those games,” he said.
“You want to win championships, but the rivalry games, you get wins in those, it just means a little bit more for everybody, as everything in the SEC does.”
The Florida-Tennessee matchup has always held a special place in the hearts of both fan bases. Mullen, who has spent numerous years at Florida as both an assistant and head coach, acknowledged the significance of this clash.
“This is always a big game. In all my years at Florida both as an assistant and a head coach, the Tennessee game was always such a huge game.”
“This would be a big, big win for Billy Napier and for the direction the program is headed. A loss, he could be looking at 0-6 after 2 years against his rivals. That’s not how Florida fans want to see things,” Mullen emphasized.
Despite expressing the urgency needed for Napier and the Gators, Mullen still picked the Vols to win in Gainesville. He cited Tennessee’s talent on both sides of the ball as a significant factor in his prediction.
“I’m going Tennessee. I’m still on the Tennessee bandwagon.. Joe Milton can make all the plays. I trust Josh Heupel honestly to put him in positions to succeed.. I think they’re improved defensively to shut Florida down,” Mullen confidently stated.
What are your thoughts on the matchup?
Who will win – Florida or Tennessee?