Frustrated Mullen Says Florida Gators Should 'Pack The Swamp' After Loss

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen wants Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at full capacity, pandemic be damned.

Pandemic be damned, Dan Mullen wants you in The Swamp next week.

Following Florida's 41-38 upset loss to Texas A&M Saturday afternoon, a frustrated Mullen met with the media saying he plans to reevaluate every aspect of Florida's defense, the main suspect in Florida's defeat. However, although he acknowledged those issues, Mullen also pivoted to saying home-field advantage helped A&M along the way and made a plea to UF for the same help.

"It was a great day of football, great atmosphere out there. [The] crowd was certainly a factor in the game, I will certainly say that," said Mullen. 

"I know our governor passed that rule so certainly, hopefully, the university administration decides to let us pack The Swamp ... Hundred percent, because that crowd was a major factor in the game, and so, I certainly hope our university administration follows the governor. Our governor has passed a rule that we're allowed to pack the Swamp. We have 90,000 in The Swamp to give us that home-field advantage that Texas A&M had today"

State of Florida governor Ron DeSantis' office cleared the way earlier this week to allow football stadiums across the state to return to full capacity amidst the coronavirus pandemic. To begin the season, UF allowed 20% of its usual capacity in the stands.

After the report surfaced from the governor's office, Gator Bait Media's Kassidy Hill shared the following statement from UF.

UF statement following Gov. Desantis' news yesterday that stadiums in Florida could operate at full capacity.

"We will continue to follow the guidance provided by our experts at UF Health as well as campus officials."

— Kassidy Hill (@KassidyGHill) October 8, 2020

Mullen is a competitor and has been known to call out unfair, competitive advantages in the past and he appears to feel the same way about crowd size. The issue is that the nation is still suffering from the pandemic, with nearly 3,000 COVID-19 cases added in the state of Florida, and 118 deaths, just on Friday according to the New York Times.

As of this story, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 214,000 Americans, infecting over 7.7 million people in the country this year.

Mullen was given a chance to walk back his statement when a reporter asked for clarification. He didn't.

"Absolutely want to see 90,000 in The Swamp," said Mullen. "The section behind our bench, I didn't see an empty seat. It was packed. The entire student-section—must have been 50,000 people behind our bench going crazy. So, hopefully, like I said, hopefully that create the home-field advantage for us next week, because now we've passed the law in our state that we can do that. "

ESPN reports that 24,709 fans attended Saturday's game between Florida and Texas A&M. The Gators will host LSU next Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, at 3:30 p.m.