Gators' Dan Mullen Feels Players' Health, Safety Better On-Campus Than Off

With fall camps ramping up in the SEC, Gators head coach Dan Mullen addressed concerns for the health of his players admit the coronavirus pandemic.

Florida Gators football players returned to mandatory practices on Monday with the start of fall camp across the SEC. This comes after several months of long deliberations regarding the fall football season amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The major concerns regarding a football season stem from the protection of players on campus and playing a contact sport outside of a bubble. The two leading trains of thoughts come from the massive influx of students entering campus, potentially exposing athletes to the virus, hurting their health, and preventing games from being played.

However, the opposing train of thought stems from the idea that players will be safer on campus, continuing in a structured environment rather than going back home or being away from the facility which includes protocols, testing and support from medical staff.     

On Monday, Florida head coach Dan Mullen agreed with the latter point, players are safer on campus, and he cited the "simple statistics" for it being that way.

"I think the fact that when we were kind of away and having voluntary-only workouts and our guys were kind of off and about, we had quite a few positive tests. Then we got back together and started having the mandatory workouts with full team activities and those numbers greatly decreased," said Mullen.

"Statistically speaking off of that — off of those numbers, you would think the safe place to be is practicing football and doing organized team activities because that’s where our numbers greatly decreased. That’s the information we have now. That’s why I feel comfortable."

Mullen's opinion appears to be valid. At the end of July, Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin news that no athletes at the time were positive and zero football players were in quarantine at the time, back on campus for the mandatory portions of acclimation period and conditioning, stating that it wasn't always the case.

"In June, we had some positives," said Stricklin. "But they’ve done a great job of doing what we’ve asked of them not only when they’re up here working out but when they’re off on – when they have their free time. I go back to our ability to be successful in that area is going to be based on the decisions our kids make.”

UF has the luxury of having one of the best medical facilities in the nation in UF health, something that should allow Florida to be better prepared if and when any outbreak occurs. In the meantime, players will be tested three times a week, according to Mullen, something that should also help the players and keep them safe.

RELATED: Sources: Several Florida Gators Skip First Fall Camp Practice

"We have great medical staff, so there’s constant medical supervision. The setup in what we do is constantly set up to keep people in a safe environment, with a number of people that can be in a locker room at a time, and how spread out we are in the locker room and how we eat and how we meet in meetings," said Mullen.

"I think all of those things combined, away from here there is less structure - everybody is working on an individual basis. Here as a group, our medical staff has done a fabulous job of how they set things up to keep everybody safe, so as we’re in the facility, safety is our number one priority. We’ve done a good job of that.”

The players themselves have appeared to be mostly on board with how the university is conducting its safety measures.

As reported by SI-AllGators yesterday, however, four Gators did not show up to practice on Monday, including receivers Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland, along with defensive lineman Zachary Carter. While it is unclear if those players will opt out, even amid all of the safety measures, Mullen would not blame anyone who decides to go that route. 

"I wouldn't be surprised if you have guys opt out. I'm going to support them fully," said Mullen frankly. The Gators' head coach feels even coaches could feel the need to opt out, considering the higher risk factors among the older population.

"I think it's the team that's able to adapt best to whatever situation -- there's a lot of moving parts -- and the team that's able to adapt will end up holding up that national championship trophy at the end of the season."