Mullen Addresses Florida Gators COVID-19 Outbreak, Apologizes for Comments

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen discusses the team’s COVID-19 outbreak on Wednesday.

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen addressed the COVID-19 outbreak within the program on Wednesday's weekly SEC coaches teleconference, sharing that two assistant coaches had tested positive through Tuesday’s tests as details continue to churn out from a reported 19 total cases to emerge on Tuesday, according to The Alligator.

This comes after Florida paused all football-related activities on Tuesday out of caution due to an outbreak of coronavirus across the team. Mullen was not one of the coaches to test positive.

“We saw a spike of positive tests on Sunday,” Mullen told the media. “We’re getting a better idea of trying to trace the origin of it. We’ve not been able to do that.”

Mullen believes "we'll find out today" if Florida's upcoming home contest against LSU, scheduled for Saturday at 4 PM, will go on as planned. That will be determined by the results of COVID-19 tests taken today throughout the program.

Mullen shared that Wednesday is the fourth consecutive day the team has been tested.

“I don’t want to speculate where we are right now," said Mullen. “We’re taking an abundance of caution.”

Mullen also offered an apology for statements made following the Gators’ 41-38 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday, where he suggested the crowd was a factor in the outcome and that UF should “Pack the Swamp [Ben Hill Griffin Stadium],” with 90,000 fans for Saturday’s now-pending game against LSU. 

The state of Florida recently moved into phase three of coronavirus pandemic response, which allows stadiums to return to full capacity, despite the state reporting over 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 on a daily basis since September 27th, adding 3,000+ cases a day on numerous occasions within that span.

“I certainly apologize if I offended people or anybody out there,” said Mullen. “I think anybody that knows me, knows our program, knows how we do the things. Have great respect for all of our local health officials and for what they've been able to do and what we've been doing here since July.“

Mullen faced national backlash for his comments, provided the nature of the pandemic, which he hadn’t realized until he was chastised on national television on Monday after neglecting to walk back his comments in a press conference earlier that day.

“Head coach Dan Mullen has been in communication with football players and their parents, and I have had conversations with the Southeastern Conference office, last week’s opponent Texas A&M, and this week’s opponent LSU. These circumstances will be re-evaluated by UF Health and the athletic department’s sports medicine staff Wednesday.” - Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin on Tuesday 

The Southeastern Conference requires at least 53 scholarships roster members, including seven offensive linemen (including one center), four defensive linemen, and one quarterback in order to play a game in a weekly basis amid the coronavirus pandemic. Coaches can choose to play under the limit if they please, however.

Florida currently has 82 players on the scholarship roster, while The Athletic reports that 29 players are quarantining due to the outbreak. 

Giving UF some cushion and subtracting two from that count after Mullen shared that two assistants had tested positive, 55 players would remain available should it be 27 scholarship players that end up inactive due to the outbreak as things currently stand. And that doesn’t include other injuries, such as offensive lineman Ethan White, cornerback Ethan Pouncey, and others.

We should find out soon if the Gators will be capable of hosting LSU this upcoming Saturday. However, the odds don’t appear to be in their favor.