There have been a lot of changes in Gainesville recently.
Some are obvious, like the lack of students on campus. Some are less obvious, like the football team moving the weight room to the indoor practice facility.
And the Gators are prepared for more adjustments in the future.
Coach Dan Mullen had a press conference on Tuesday, and one of the big talking points was about how this offseason has been much different because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For now, there are still some constants. Training camp is scheduled to begin on Aug. 7, and the regular season, which starts on Sept. 5 at home against Eastern Washington, hasn’t been changed.
But Mullen stressed that he and his staff have to be ready in case that timeline shifts.
“We’re worrying about what we can control,” Mullen said. “What we have to do is be prepared to adjust to whatever does happen. As we get knowledge and as we get information and some solid facts, then we will adjust accordingly at that point.”
Mullen also touched on race and social injustice. He didn’t get into specifics, but he did state that there have been conversations between himself, his staff and the players about it.
“It’s been very educational to me,” Mullen said. “I’ve learned a lot, I’ve learned from our players and learned from our coaches and learned from personal retrospective.”
Additionally, Mullen mentioned that recruiting has been different this offseason with the lack of in-person visits, which has been suspended through the end of July. Mullen actually had to pause the press conference for a minute at one point to do some virtual recruiting.
Mullen still sees the upside in virtual recruiting, even when this is all over.
"We've learned a bunch in recruiting,” he said. “In the future, I think we'll have guys that learn about Florida, can see and learn about our campus without flying across the country."
Follow Brendan on Twitter @bfarrell727 and contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org
