The eyes of the college football world will be on the Florida Gators this week as the team kicks off the 150th celebration of college football in a Week 0 game against in-state rivals the Miami Hurricanes. There’s a lot to prepare for with the game quickly approaching and Gator Bait Media is here to keep you up to date with it all. Here are some of the quicker news bits in your Monday news recap. GAME WEEK EXCITEMENT IS FLOWING The Gators are pretty much going to be the only show on television this week (save Arizona vs. Hawaii on the late slate) so ESPN and the SEC Network is going all out to given ample coverage to their Week 0 opener. As such the team has had an accelerated schedule this fall camp and are rolling into game week while other teams are still in training mode. After going 10-3 in 2018 despite being doubted for most of the season, quarterback Feleipe Franks says no matter the outside noise this season, they have clear expectations for themselves. “Within the team, I think, going into a year I think that you would be wrong if you weren’t going with expectations of winning a national title. I think that you’d be selling yourself short and I think this team is really special. I think that we expect to win games, I think that’s the Gator Standard and we expect to go out there and win every Saturday and try to make it a playoff contender and win a championship here again. That’s the expectations here every year.” With the opportunity to renew the once revered rivalry against Miami, Mullen and players say the excitement has already been flowing. Says Mullen, “Everybody in the country is ready for college football, excited for college football. It's Saturday so a lot of teams aren't practicing and a lot of teams haven't started their game week yet. To me one of the great things is not just the fans but all the other teams are watching us. What are they going to see? What's our stamp? When every college person in the country turns on their TV what's their thought when they see the Florida Gators. We have to go out there and live up to that on the field. Everybody is watching…what do you want them to think about you?” Adds redshirt sophomore corner Marco Wilson, “We’ve always been focused. Mind’s been wired on getting better every day, going hard every day, giving your all. Because in the back of my mind, we know what’s ahead of us and we know we have a team to go play. So I think if your mind was changing today then you’re too late.” And from Lamical Perine, “If the coaches got to get us excited for this game, then we shouldn’t even be able to play it. I feel like everybody’s excited right now and juiced up, tired of hitting each other and ready to go hit some Hurricanes.” GATORS RANKED 8TH IN AP POLL The Gators open the season ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press pre-season poll. Dan Mullen’s squad finished the season at No. 7 after defeating the Michigan Wolverines 41-15 in the Peach Bowl. The Wolverines are one spot ahead at No. 7 in the preseason poll. As the poll currently stands, the Gators will face three Top 25 teams (No. 3 Georgia, No. 6 LSU and No. 16 Auburn). Their season opener, Miami, is not ranked but is in the “others receiving votes” subsection. This is the the Gators first preseason Top 10 appearance since 2013 when Florida was ranked No. 10. Ironically that season featured a week two loss to Miami. This is the highest preseason ranking for the Gators overall since 2010 when UF clocked in at No. 4. Senior running back Lamical Perine admit that the ranking is a nice recognition of what this team has done and is expected to do this season. “I feel like now we’re getting a lot more respect than we’re used to getting in the AP polls. We probably would be ranked 20, 25th in the nation, maybe not even ranked. It’s good that being No. 8 in the country, man, and showing a lot of hard work paying off. There’s just more to come from this team.” That should come, according to Perine, thanks to the off the field effort the guys have put in this summer. “A lot of guys bond with each other real well. A lot of guys outside of football hang together and things like that, building a lot of chemistry. That’s something Coach Mullen has been trying to build since he got here, so just being able to have chemistry between the team helps out when we’re in games.” DEPTH CHART RELEASED Mullen and company have released the unofficial depth chart for Saturday’s game. There aren’t too many surprises as all returning starters still have a lock on their position. Those that were going to see turnover have stayed consistent with what we saw in spring practice and fall camp. In everyone’s favorite depth chart game, we counted 15 “OR”’s indicating there were two—and sometimes three—players all considered on the same string at their given position.

By: FRANZ BEARD “It’s déjà vu all over again” – Yogi Berra History, which has a distinct way of repeating itself, is on Dan Mullen’s side. Going all the way back to Bowling Green where he transformed a sledgehammer of what was essentially a single wing tailback into a functioning quarterback who was as dangerous with his arm as his feet, Mullen’s history is that every second year starter gets better and every team with that second year starter is a better team than the year before. Josh Harris was listed at 6-1 but that was in his cleats. The 245 pounds of muscle he carried was very real and made him a beast in short yardage, frightening if he ever broke loose with a head of steam. The trick for Mullen was to refine him into a legitimate dual threat. By year two Harris was lethal and Bowling Green was the team nobody in the Mid-American Conference wanted to play. Mullen’s come a long way since Bowling Green, but at every rung on his ladder of success there has been a repeat of the process where both quarterback and team improve substantially in year two. That, precisely, is why Florida fans should be optimistic that the Gators will improve on last year’s 10-3 and Feleipe Franks will take his place among the elite quarterbacks in the SEC. Here is a look at Mullen’s track record with starting quarterbacks dating back to his days as an assistant coach at Bowling Green under Urban Meyer: Josh Harris, Bowling Green (2001-02): When Harris became the starter in 2001, the spread option concept began to take shape. As the part-time starter, Harris threw for 1,022 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for 641 and eight more as the Falcons finished the season with three straight wins go to 8-3, a huge improvement from the 2-9 of 2000 the year before Urban Meyer became the head coach with Mullen tutoring the quarterbacks. Bowling Green went 9-3 in season two with Harris as the established #1 guy. Harris threw for 2,425 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 737 and 20 TDs. Alex Smith, Utah (2003-04): Utah went 5-6 with Smith on the bench in 2002. Enter Meyer and Mullen in 2003 and the Utes improved to 10-2 as Smith threw for 2,247 yards and 15 touchdowns while running for 452 and five more. Year two was magical as the Utes ran the table (12-0) with Smith throwing for 2,952 yards and 32 touchdowns while rushing for 631 and 10. Utah went from 28.7 points per game in 2003 to 45.3 in season two. Chris Leak, Florida (2005-06): This was a huge challenge since Leak was a reluctant runner who had been groomed since he could walk to be a pocket passer. Square pegs don’t fit into round holes, so Mullen adapted the offense to fit Leak’s skills. In a year when they were still trying to figure out what worked and what didn’t, the Gators improved from 8-5 to 9-3 in 2005 with Leak throwing for 2,639 yards and 20 touchdowns. He ran for six TDs but that was the result of 81 reluctantly positive yards. The Gators improved to 13-1 and won the national championship in 2006 as Leak threw for 2,942 yards and 23 touchdowns while running for three more. Leak was the Most Outstanding Player in Florida’s 41-14 blowout of highly favored Ohio State in the national championship game. Tim Tebow, Florida (2007-08): Tebow was a valuable commodity on the 2006 national championship team as a situational player who ran for tough yards and threw sparingly. He took over the team as the starting QB in 2007 and promptly put together one of the greatest statistical seasons ever for a college player, throwing for 3,286 yards and 32 touchdowns while rushing for 895 and 23 more. Tebow won the Heisman Trophy as the Gators went 9-4. The stats weren’t better in 2008, but Tebow was a vastly improved quarterback. In leading the Gators to a 13-1 mark and the national championship, Tebow threw for 2,746 yards and 30 touchdowns and ran for 673 and 12 more. The Tebow of 2008 was a mature QB who knew how to get every one of his teammates involved which had everything to do with the Gators winning the national title. Chris Relf, Mississippi State (2009-10): Relf worked his way into a starting job during Mullen’s first year at Mississippi State when the Bulldogs went from terrible to respectable. Relf was the running QB while Tyson Lee was the thrower. Relf passed for 283 yards and five TDs while running for 500 and two more scores. As the full-time starter in 2010, Relf threw for 1,789 yards and 13 TDs, ran for 713 yards and five TDs and led the Bulldogs to a most surprising 9-4 record that included a 52-14 thrashing of Michigan in the Gator Bowl. Dak Prescott, Mississippi State (2013-14): A year after backing up Tyler Russell, Prescott, who chose Mississippi State because Mullen would let him play QB, put up good but not great numbers while leading the Bulldogs to seven wins including three in a row at the end. Prescott threw for 1,940 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 829 and 13. Then came his second year as a starter when the Bulldogs spent four weeks as the #1 team in the country and finished 10-3. Prescott literally exploded as a playmaker, throwing for 3,449 yards and 34 touchdowns while running for 986 and 14 more. Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State (2016-2017): With Dak Prescott gone on to the NFL, there were predictions of doom and gloom for the Mississippi State offense since Nick Fitzgerald, he of the 14 pass attempts in 2015, was heir to the Prescott throne. Coming out of Richmond Hill, Georgia, Fitzgerald’s best offers were Chattanooga and Samford until Mullen came along and offered a Division I scholarship to Mississippi State. In his first year as a starter, Fitzgerald threw for 2,423 yards and 21 touchdowns while rushing for 1,375 yards and 16 TDs. The stats weren’t as good in 2017 as they were the previous season, but Mississippi State was a better football team with a more balanced offense. The Bulldogs went 9-4 with Fitzgerald throwing for 1,782 yards and 15 TDs while rushing for 984 and 14 in a season cut short by a dislocated ankle. Feleipe Franks, Florida (2018): It was only a year ago that Franks was thought to be transfer material because there was no way even a noted quarterback whisperer like Mullen could salvage his Florida career. Well, here we are about to start year two and Franks is coming off a season in which he threw for 2,457 yards and 24 TDs and ran for 350 more with seven touchdowns, the best QB stats since Tebow in 2009. To say the transition for Franks went smoothly would be a lie, but at some point the lights went on and when they did the entire Florida football team responded. The Gators went from 4-7 to 10-3 and laid waste to FSU and Michigan (Chik-fil-A) Peach Bowl as the finishing touches of a season-ending 4-game winning streak.

Call him Professor Reese. David Reese has become a proven commodity for the Florida Gators and a beacon of veteran experience. He led the team in tackles his sophomore year and came in second on the team his junior year, despite missing three games. He also joins Brandon Spikes and Antonio Morrison as one of only three Florida linebackers since 2007 to have 100+ tackles in a single season (Spikes in 2007, Morrison in 2014 and 2015, Reese in 2017). The middle linebacker is the quarterback of the defense and heading into his senior season, he’s the guy position coach Christian Robinson most often looks to as a conduit for the rest of the unit. “He’s in the front of the film room coaching us up sometimes,” explains sophomore Amari Burney. “Coach [Robinson] will stop talking and just ask David Reese to tell us what we got and things like that. He’s a big help…he’s like the professor in the film room. Everything he tells us, we know he’s right. We don’t second guess him or anything like that. Whatever he tells you, that’s what we’re playing.” Out on the field, Reese is relied upon as the field general on defense, a position he has grown into naturally. With Vosean Joseph now with the Buffalo Bills after an early departure for the NFL, it’s up to Reese to pull a young, somewhat less experienced unit along with him. “I like that he's vocal like when we playing, being vocal and communication, just makes everybody else's job easier,” explains sophomore Ventrell Miller. “He's one of the guys that we look at for leaders but he's just like us just being in the defense new but he just, on the field he's a better communicator. He's getting everybody else where they need to be and talking and alerting stuff before the play so it makes us play faster." For Reese, who came up under the tutelage of current league players like Jarrad Davis and Alex Anzalone, passing along what they taught him is the least he can do for those that now look to him. “I try to just get them boys everything that I got from different players here and growing up the same as them. So kinda know the system a little bit better so I just wanna get them to think as fast as I do on the field,” says Reese. He’s already seeing improvement in new faces. “I feel like everybody’s got on it; we even bring in young guys like Jesiah [Pierre], [Ty’Ron] Hopper along, they’re getting better. Hopper’s really been standing out. He’s had a great camp. He’s one of those guys, his speed is like Bureny, he’s one of those type of guys.” The senior also knows this is his last year to help shape the future of the Gators so the Michigan native has become fully immersed in different teaching techniques, doing whatever he can (minus the glasses and tweed jacket) to impart wisdom on his charges, as Burney reveals. “He’s watching, even when I go out there and he’s not on the field with me, he’ll pull me to the sideline and just talk to me and tell me what I did wrong, things like that. “He puts us to the test. Sometimes he won’t say anything and I’ll be like ‘David, what do I got?’ and he’ll be like, ‘You should have known’. You just got to know your position and be helpful to him, too.” The latter is an evolving learning technique—something Burney compares to not only a professor but a parent—but one that Reese says has actually been working. "I want them to learn for themselves. I just don’t want it to be easy cause they’re all competing also. So they don’t need cheat codes all the time. If they’re in with one person, they need to talk, get to know each other.” And like a proud parent or teacher, he can stand back and see his protégé carrying on the legacy he’s shaping in them for years to come.

Buddy Martin's Blog/GatorBait 8-8-19

By KASSIDY HILL GatorBait Special Reporter “The strength & conditioning [coordinator] is the most important guy on your staff.” Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen laid out that declaration more than a year ago. He was holding court at his first SEC Media Days as the Gators head coach but the veteran SEC skipper knew how to spin a phrase and he caught attention with that statement. This was the summer before Florida had played a game under Mullen, before fall camp had started, before anyone really knew what to expect from this new era. But with that proclamation the coach made clear how this program was going to be built; on the backs of the strength and conditioning plan. In the time since, it’s proven to be somewhat prophetic as Nick Savage has transformed the Florida roster. From the quarterback to the punter and everyone in between, the Gators lost body fat, bulked up and found an endurance that had been missing. In a trenches league, perhaps the biggest impact came from the offensive line not losing a starter to injury during the 2018 season. “Coach Savage knows how to take away fat and put on good weight,” explains defensive lineman Zach Carter. It’s more than just putting the team through a different regiment though; Savage has helped transform the Gators mindset. “Don’t let go of the rope” has become a mantra and a rallying cry, stemming from an offseason workout that asks teams of six to run the entire campus while all holding on to the same rope. The practical application is simple. During games, don’t forget about the person in front of you and behind you, the person depending on you to hang on to the rope, to not give up and to keep pushing so as to keep the entire team moving. When dealing with 18-22 year old kids, it takes a certain nuance to relate. And that perhaps more than anything concerning lift numbers or nutrition is what sets Nick Savage apart, with an energy that never seems to cease. “From start to finish, he has the most energy probably in the building,” says wide receiver Trevon Grimes. “He’s a phenomenal coach. He makes sure his players are at their highest point at all times. For example, if I come in a little tired, he’ll make sure I’m up, he’ll wake me up, he’ll scream, he’ll yell until I’m up. So he just demands the best out of you and I feel like players see that and that makes players respect him the most because at the end of the day he just wants the best out of you.” Adds receiver Van Jefferson, “He just can relate to us. I think he comes in, he demands respect so I think we give him that same respect back and he’s all about the grind and when he came in you know, he just gave us what he’s all about and we just followed him. So I think now that we’re under him, and we’ve had a year under him I think now he just elevating the program and he’s just does a good job and everybody respects him.” Savage’s ability to demand the most out of the guys while simultaneously earning that aforementioned respect should be a staple for a S&C coach, but as the college football has all to unfortunately learned in recent years, that isn’t always the case. Before Dan Mullen would hire Nick Savage, he had to make sure the young coach had the right balance. So he made him “try out”. Savage was in his mid-20’s, just on the backside of 25, serving as an assistant strength coach at Mississippi State, when his predecessor moved on to a new job. With a Belk Bowl quickly approaching, then State head coach Dan Mullen told Savage he had the bowl prep to prove himself. And he did. “I kind of gave him an interim position at the beginning of December. ‘You have through the bowl game to prove that you’re ready to be the head strength coach. You have the next month. And then after the bowl game I’ll make my decision on what I’m going to do.’ You know, because he was very young,” recalls Mullen. “I wanted to see that he was going to be — in a condensed version, but you touch on a lot in a bowl game. You have kind of a developmental lifting week and then you kind of have a mini- spring ball development training camp week. Then you have a game week and then a recruiting weekend. In that month of December, there is a lot going on that kind of touches on each little thing. “He had great energy and juice. The players liked him. The players liked him, but he didn’t change. He was demanding. He wasn’t going to give an inch. But he understood. He didn’t push too far. He didn’t try to cross the line to impress me or cross the line to impress the players or anything it. He was just him and that kind of fit.” “Just him” is an infectious personality that doesn’t rely on gimmicks or clichés that don’t feel true to himself. If he sees a guy walking to practice, he’ll race him. If he wants to give a theme to a workout, he’ll hang posters and make it a party. If he thinks it’s going to be hotter than normal, he’ll strap on a water backpack and walk around spraying guys down during an entire practice. And when he thinks they need a little extra inspiration, he’ll pull out Winston Churchill quotes, as evidenced by a recent video put out by Gator Football social media. That last thing is a common occurrence according to STAR Trey Dean. “Savage, he's not going to put nothing on the videos he don't preach. What he says off the camera, he says on the camera." At just the ripe young age of 30, and therefore one of the youngest S&C head coaches in the country, Nick Savage is now a seasoned vet. His three years at the helm so far have helped shape two programs and fuel inspiring seasons. His fourth football season is on the horizon but his work is largely done in the offseason, creating a foundation that can withstand an SEC grind. He proved himself at a young age, in a finite amount of time and has continued to do so since, earning respect from a tough crowd and never taking for granted the reins he’s been handed. Explains Mullen, “Despite being young, I thought here’s a guy, I gave him the opportunity, he took advantage of it. He had juice, had energy, handled whatever got thrown at him in that time period. He knows what my expectations are and what I want, so a great opportunity for him. He hasn’t let me down since.”

By: Franz Beard WILL COX BE ELIGIBLE? DON’T BET AGAINST MULLEN Tom Mars, the attorney who helped several prominent undergraduate transfers gain waivers for immediate eligibility, doesn’t seem to think much of the University of Florida’s petition to gain immediate eligibility for Georgia transfer Brenton Cox. Speaking to Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday, Mars stated, “Unless there’s some well-kept secret that would qualify him for a waiver, I’d say chances of Brenton Cox getting a waiver are approximately zero.” Zero? That seems odd when you take into consideration some of the prominent waivers granted by the NCAA in the last few months. The NCAA granted a waiver for quarterback Justin Fields to transfer from Georgia to Ohio State essentially because a former Georgia baseball player hurt his feelings using racist slang. That triggered Ohio State quarterback Tate Martell to transfer to Miami all because he was scared to death of a little competition. The NCAA, of course, granted Martell a waiver and there have been many others granted for equally silly reasons. All things considered, getting that waiver from the NCAA might not be all that tough. Florida coach Dan Mullen said at his Monday press conference, “We feel good about it, of having him be able to play. You look at all the previous scenarios that are out there around the country. We feel we have a good opportunity.” Yes, there is an opportunity with the NCAA. The Southeastern Conference? That’s likely the larger obstacle for Mullen and the Gators because even if the Gators get a waiver from the NCAA, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey would have to sign off on it and that would go against rules that are in place regarding transfers from one SEC school to another. League rules stipulate that an intra-conference transfer has to sit a year with two exceptions, none of which apply to Cox, who is a redshirt freshman: (1) The player has an undergraduate degree, and (2) the school that the player is leaving has been hit by NCAA sanctions. Florida was able to get Van Jefferson immediately eligible last year under scenario two since Ole Miss was facing a bowl ban and other restrictions. Conventional wisdom says Cox will have to sit this season but for all we know he may very well have serious legal representation, something Mars knows all too well. When he petitioned for waivers he had the unspoken threat of serious legal action unless a favorable ruling was issued. So, since we don’t know all the reasons Cox has transferred and we aren’t 100% sure what kind of legal help he’s getting, don’t bet against Dan Mullen. MARTELL STILL AT MIAMI … FOR NOW A day after he didn’t attend football practice following HBC Manny Diaz naming Jarren Williams his starting QB, Tate Martell back at practice Tuesday. Whether skipping Monday practice was just Martell needing time away to address his disappointment or a tantrum by someone who’s about to begin his third year of college football and still hasn’t won the starting job, this is the kind of distraction that can’t be good for a team that is less than two weeks away from its season opener. While Miami will try to gloss it over and spin this as the emotional reaction by a fiery competitor, it’s just the latest sign of immaturity on Martell’s part. Remember the stern warning Martell issued when Justin Fields was on the verge of announcing he would be transferring to Ohio State from Georgia? As soon as Fields made the transfer official, Martell blew out of Columbus like a runaway freight train for The U where it was expected he would lap the competition for the starting QB job even before spring practice was over. When that didn’t happen, Cane apologists blamed it on Martell learning a new system. Well, he’s had the spring and summer to learn it and he still can’t beat out a QB who played in one game and threw one pass in 2018. Now Martell might elect to stay at The U and he might eventually become the starting QB and do well. Maybe. But what if he doesn’t? Can Manny Diaz think for one second he’ll have a happy camper on his hands? This has all the makings of a wound that is going to fester. SOME GOOD QUOTES FOR WEDNESDAY From David M. Hale of ESPN, talking about how Georgia fans hope and pray Jake Fromm will lead the Poodles to the Promised Land: “To be a Georgia fan is to smell success like the faint stink of stale beer and cigarettes on your clothes after a long night on Clayton Street. It's a hazy memory of happier times, supplanted by a pounding headache and nausea. And yet, here they are, ready again to embrace a new hero, a guy who's already endured his share of near misses ... It's hard to not to lump Fromm in with the rest of the lingering "what if" moments in recent Georgia lore -- if only D.J. Shockley hadn't gotten hurt before the Florida game in 2005, if only Georgia hadn't flubbed the Tennessee gamein 2007, if only Chris Conley hadn't caught the pass to let time run out in 2012. "If" has defined Georgia, and for all his success through two seasons in Athens, it's still written in big, bold type on Fromm's résumé, too.” From Matt Fortuna of The Athletic, Coach O, who transferred from LSU to Northwestern State back in his playing days, talks about the transfer portal and it’s impact on today’s college football: “I regretted it. I promise you right now. Every day that I was at Northwestern (State) I loved being there, but I regretted leaving LSU. So I think you need to make it tough for the guys, to tough it out. There are going to be experiences that they have to go [through]. You know there’s 400-some guys in the portal right now that don’t have a scholarship. The grass is greener on the other side of the fence. They left a good school, and they have nowhere to go. So I think the guys really need to think twice before doing it.” More from Fortuna, this from South Carolina coach Will Muschamp: “As far as transfer portal, it really doesn’t matter what I think because the rules aren’t going to change. So I think you just have to do a good job as a head coach of managing your roster. If somebody wants to be at South Carolina, great; if they don’t, go somewhere else.” From The Guardian, Atlanta United manager Frank de Boer speaks out about equal pay for women in sports like soccer and tennis: "I think for me, it's ridiculous. It's the same like tennis. If there are watching, for the World Cup final, 500 million people or something like that, and 100 million for a women's final, that's a difference. So it's not the same. And of course they have to be paid what they deserve to [earn] and not less, just what they really deserve. If it's just as popular as the men, they will get it, because the income and the advertising will go into that. But it's not like that, so why do they have to earn the same? I think it's ridiculous. I don't understand that." From Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com on the NCAA and its Commission on College Basketball: “The Commission on College Basketball was formed as a response to the FBI investigation that placed a negative light on the sport – but good luck trying to find anybody who thinks they've accomplished much. Truth is, they've done more harm than good. They've broken more things than they've fixed. They've taken an imperfect system and made it less perfect. And, at some point, and sooner rather than later, the NCAA must move them to the side, let them disappear, and start taking recommendations from people who actually understand the issues within college basketball and possess thoughtful ideas about how to fix them.” SEC FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL STUFF South Carolina tight end Evan Hinson tested for an irregular heartbeat after complaining about difficulty breathing. He will have surgery to correct the issue and will be out for six to eight weeks. Linebacker Joshua McMillon injured his right knee and will require surgery. Al.com reports that McMillon could miss the entire 2019 season ... Freshman O-lineman Pierce Quick is wearing a walking boot and did not practice Tuesday. The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Tennessee led the nation in buyout payments in the fiscal year that ended in June 2018. The Vols spent more than $13 million on fired coaches. Nebraska, Florida, Arizona State and UCLA all spent more than $12 million. Tennessee linebacker Jordan Allen is recovering from hip flexor surgery that could keep him out a few weeks of the 2019 season … Meanwhile defensive back Baylen Buchanan, who started all 12 games for the Vols last season, is dealing with a spinal issue that could keep him from playing this season. Andy Burcham takes over as the play-by-play voice of Auburn football and basketball for the late Rod Bramblett, who was killed in an auto accident earlier in the year. Quarterback D’Wan Mathis, who had surgery to deal with a cyst on his brain, is practicing at Georgia but he hasn’t been fully cleared. Missouri tight end Albert Okwuebunam continues to be limited due to injuries. He missed Saturday’s scrimmage and Monday’s practice dealing with a sprained knee. Arkansas has added home-and-home games with Oklahoma State in 2032-33 with Arkansas traveling to Stillwater in 2032 and Okie State returning the favor in 2033. Offensive lineman Calvin Ashley, who transferred from Auburn to Florida Atlantic back in February, has elected to transfer from FAU. The injury bug seems to be hitting LSU hard. On the defensive side of the ball, All-American safety Grant Delpit has missed six consecutive practices while linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson has missed seven in a row. Corner Kristian Fulton, who missed five practices last week with a lingering foot problem, was absent Tuesday. Freshman DB Maurice Hampton has missed two straight practices and has a protective cast on his right wrist. Three O-line starters missed practice Tuesday – LT Saahdiq Charles, LG Chasen Hines and RG Damien Lewis. Wide receiver Derrick Dillon has missed the last two practices and four of the last five. RANDOM THOUGHTS: Even though he was acquitted on sexual assault charges, the University of Wisconsin doesn’t want wide receiver Quintez Cephus to return. Cephus missed the entire 2018 season after he was charged with second and third degree sexual assault … As a high school senior in Linden, California, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge had 954 yards and 17 touchdowns as a receiver on the football team and 18 points and 13 rebounds per game for the basketball team ... Oakland Raiders’ wide receiver Antonio Brown lost his appeal and will have to wear an NFL approved helmet. Brown had threatened to sit out the season if he couldn’t use his old helmet but has elected to play. Perhaps the guaranteed $30 million of his 3-year $50 million contract had something to do with it …Just a day after a new rule that required an agent to have a bachelor’s degree to maintain good standing with the NCAA, the nitwits who run the organization reversed course and amended the “Rich Paul Rule” so that agents without a bachelor’s degree but are certified and in good standing with NBA Players Association can represent college players ... And since we’re on the subject of what Brian Bosworth once deemed the “National Communists Against Athletes,” the organization has placed Utah basketball on two years probation for multiple recruiting violations deemed major but none of which rise to the heinous level of Dwight Adams buying Dale Dorminey a pack of Juicy Fruit and a Sprite at the Gainesville airport back in the 1980s … Just in case you follow Major League Baseball, the Boston Red Sox are a mere 17-1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East. The Yankees need to go 20-21 the rest of the way to get to 100 wins. For the Red Sox to get to 100 they would need to go 37-3.

Freddie Swain was shocked, Trevon Grimes was floored and one can only assume defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has been smiling. Linebacker Brenton Cox Jr. has officially been added to the Florida Gators roster after transferring from the University of Georgia just last week, and began practicing with the team on Friday. “He’s phenomenal; he’s good, he’s fast, he’s quick." Cox played in 13 games as a true freshman with the Bulldogs, including a start in the Sugar Bowl. Primarily used as a backup depth player, he totaled 20 tackles, including seven solo, and had a career high six stops in the Sugar Bowl against Texas. After only a handful of practices with the Gators, the second year linebacker has made a quick impression. “He’s phenomenal,” asserts wide receiver Tre Grimes. “He’s good, he’s fast, he’s quick. He actually has some move that I’ve never seen before but he’s phenomenal and I feel like he’ll be a great add-on to our defense.” The “move” in question, according to Grimes, is a reverse spin move. “I don’t even know what to call it cause I’m not on D-line but it was some crazy spin move thing that he did like ‘whoa’ and all the receivers seen it cause they were doing like inside one-on-one pass pro. So it was pretty cool to see him.” It’s a move Grimes admittedly wishes he could mimic but can’t. Yet it’s another skill that has Cox standing out to Swain. “His get off is just—it’s the get off. Gets off the ball so fast and kinda shocks you. Really ain’t expecting it then he comes off spinning,” laughs Swain. "He moves kinda like a receiver…you can kinda tell he’s more seasoned than some guys. So I think he’ll do pretty good.” A quick jump off the block is arguably one of a rushing linebackers greatest assets. Coupled with Grantham’s penchant for blitzing, Cox’s 6’4” frame could easily fit into the aggressive scheme. First though, he’ll have to be allowed to play. Bylaws implemented in both the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference would indicate Cox will have to sit out a year—a residence year as it’s called—while in school at Florida before being allowed to play a snap for the Gators. He can practice and be with the team during this time; he just can’t play. No matter what you think your chances might be though, the first course of action is to always apply for a waiver, asking to be granted immediate eligibility. Head coach Dan Mullen says the Gators will “definitely” be applying in Cox’s case. “We feel good about it, of having him be able to play. I think you look at all the previous scenarios that are out there around the country, we feel we have a good opportunity.” As the transfer portal has become part and parcel with college football, the scenarios Mullen mentions have increased ten-fold. When as recent as three to four years ago, the NCAA was prone to deny any and every request, they have recently loosened the hold. This has come with its fair share of criticism since the governing body has elected to grant waivers for some cases where little hardship or reasoning existed for the player other than seemingly being unhappy with their current team; then turning around and denying waivers like that for Luke Ford, who left Georgia for Illinois in order to play closer to home since his grandparents health is ailing. Or that of Brock Hoffman, who left Coastal Carolina to attend Virginia Tech and be closer to his mother after she had a brain tumor removed. The NCAA denied the latter because the Hoffman home is five miles outside the 100-mile radius that the NCCA (oft hypocritically) says they honor for hardship waivers. Despite the confounding whims of the NCAA, the perpetuity to now grant waivers to most all seeking them, leaves Mullen feeling confident enough to say publicly he feels they will smile favorably on Cox and the Gators. The biggest question though will come with the waiver that must also be filed with the SEC (which is the same waiver, just to a different body). The league has strict guidelines for intra-conference transferring with the main office known to rely on recommendations from the school and/or head coach of the team which a player is leaving. Meaning feasibly, UGA head coach Kirby Smart could block the waiver. In the past Smart could have gone as far as blocking the transfer but the league has loosened up their policies in recent years. Well, loosened up comparatively. The official SEC bylaws state that a waiver for the year in residence is granted for students who are leaving a school that is facing a post season ban and for graduate transfers. Any others must abide by the NCAA exceptions. The latter don’t list a situation that would seem to encompass Cox and therefore could give the league a reasonable explanation for a denial. However if the NCAA, abiding by the same criteria, grants a waiver, it will be more difficult—though not impossible or unheard of—for the SEC to say no. A lot of it will depend on the intricacies of Cox’s argument, of which Mullen isn’t willing to share at this time. “We’re not going to get into that part of it; we’re doing, gonna do it how we do it, do it through the NCAA, it’s not something we’re gonna try to play out publicly to influence anything one way or the other. We’re gonna just go through the channels and do it the right way.” Whether Brenton Cox Jr. will play with the Gators in the 2019 season or if he will have to wait until 2020, the future looks bright for a guy who Mullen sees fitting right in with the roster. "As soon as he went in, they reached out. Some of the players reached out and said he had called some of the players to ask about us…with what he knew of the guys on the team it was a good fit for him talking to guys on our team with how our program is run and what we do and how that would fit him.” Adds Grimes, “At the end of the day business is business and we’re gonna embrace him, love him like a brother and that’s what he is to us now, he’s a brother. At the end of the day he’s on our team now and we look forward to having him and we’re gonna embrace him just like anybody else.”

By: Kassidy Hill Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen addressed the local media Monday afternoon, less than a week after he last spoke at the podium. It’s been a long week for the coach though if outside perception is to be believed. The coach was asked last Tuesday about the status of defensive back John Huggins who had not to that point practiced with the team during fall camp. Mullen gave the stock answer of a “family issue” but then was asked about an incident involving the then freshman last October choking a female tutor. Mullen revealed that a five game absence last fall was part of the DB’s punishment and his absence now was unrelated. Over the weekend it was reported (first by the Orlando Sentinel) that Huggins had been dismissed from the team. As for that decision, Mullen says it wasn’t a university decision but instead a program call: “That was ours’.” The decision, at the end of the day, came down to one thing. “Not living up to what we expect of the Gator standard…[the decision] was evolving. There were things we were looking at him having to do. It was a constant process.” Huggins was the fifth guy in the program to be accused of violence against a woman during Mullen’s tenure in Gainesville. Only one player, Justin Watkins, was arrested and in each other case the player (and in once case a staff member) was released from the program. Despite this fact, there was an onslaught of criticism about both Mullen and the program, questioning the culture of the program. Last Tuesday Mullen said they try to educated their guys on right from wrong in those situations but also touched on the difficulty of sorting through the complexities of those same situations. “Now we do a lot of education on our team with that stuff. Obviously I’m a big anti-violence against women person. I’m also a person that I really want to have all of the information as I make decisions and what happens in different situations and that’s one of the toughest deals. Because, it’s a jump to conclusion on every detail that happens sometimes. It’s something that obviously, it outs us as coaches sometimes in a really tough decision as you deal with that stuff. Because you want to give people an opportunity to have rights, like everybody else in the United States are supposed to. But everybody wants to see ‘what are we doing’ instantly. And we try to gather the facts. "We spend a lot of time in educating our guys. Obviously we are very anti-violence against women, but as you try to investigate the situations, as you try to educate guys on what happens. The great things is educating on how to make good decisions. On Monday, the head coach remained confident in how he’s handled each situation. “I’m comfortable with me, and I’m comfortable with how we run a program. People outside are going to have their opinion on me I’m sure good or bad. I don’t pay much attention to it.” Now both Mullen and the Gators are ready to move forward, even if it’s with a depleted secondary. Huggins is the third defensive back to leave the program this offseason, along with Chris Steele and Brian Edwards. Corner CJ McWilliams will also be out for the season now with a torn Achilles heel. “Next guy’s got to step up. I’m concerned with the depth on our entire roster,” admits Mullen. "You’re always concerned with the depth on your roster going into the season. I think you see most teams that have great years tend to stay healthy. I think that’s such a huge aspect of it. So for us staying healthy allows you to have a better season. And to me that’s such a huge challenge because you’re trying to control, you’re trying to put guys in good situations to stay healthy.”

By KASSIDY HILL GatorBait Special Reporter In this corner, weighing in at 330 pounds, from Mount Dora, Fla. — Brett Heggie! In this corner, also weighing in at 330 pounds, from Hanover Township, Pa. — Chris Bleich. This matchup hasn’t been kind to Bleich in the past; he’s only 1-30 against the veteran Heggie, but he’s tenacious, something he’s picked up from Feleipe Franks. Speaking of his quarterback, he’s currently waiting on the side with long snapper Brett DioGuardi, tight end Lucas Krull and the rest of the offensive line unit, led by Nick Buchanan. Before getting to tonight’s action, let’s hear from the players in the matchup. We recently sat down with all of the participants to find out how these pool fights came to be, who they least want to face and the ways these smackdowns have begun to affect their lives outside the pool/ ring. It all started with a pool party at offensive line coach John Hevesy’s house. The game — in its original form — was pool basketball. Buchanan is a center on the football field but steps into the point guard role in the pool and fulfills all of his duties as the units leader. “So, I’m out there running the show like Magic Johnson at point guard,” said Buchanan. “I wasn’t trying to get too into the deep end too much because we have some tall guys on the O-line and I’m one of the shorter guys. So I stay in the shallow and dish and pass the ball, throw alley-oops, stuff like that.” The role is a natural fit for Buchanan, who has become the most experienced voice for this rag-tag group. While he may not jump into the fights as much, he helps prepare guys in the water and on game days with his offensive line knowledge. “It’s just when you see a guy struggling to learn something or you see he might not understand what is going on, you just go over there and you try to help him. It’s just I understand it, and if they don’t, I can explain it to them. It’s not anything too special. It’s just as simple as that. I get it, they didn’t, so I try to help them.” Back in the pool though, he sends out orders from the shallow end because it’s the deep end of pool basketball that changed the nature of the game. “I try to stay from the deep end because that’s when they start ... there are no fouls in pool basketball, you know what I mean? So grabbing and dunking ... try to stay away from all of that. I try to stay in the shallow area where I belong.” Down in the deep end, things began to heat up; and when several guys moved in together in a new house that came with a pool, wrestling matches became a nightly occurrence. “Just two big guys ‘sumoing’ it out,” explains the redshirt freshman Bleich. “It’s not a pretty sight to see, but I mean we lose a few pounds in the pool every night.” Determining a winner, says Bleich, is easy. “You’ve got the (shallow) end. Then you know like where it goes right to the deep end. First one to knock them into the deep end, head under, wins.” Bleich has become well known around the waters edge for his Johnny Cash intro music and a busted nose from one of the matches. But it’s quarterback Feleipe Franks who is working his way up the winners list. “Feleipe is just weird, he has leverage, he’s long,” explains Heggie, but not before adding, “I still got him beat. He’s got some work to do to get to my level.” Adds Bleich, “[Feleipe] just wants to win. He doesn’t loose.” The tight end, Krull, gets little credit to his pool wrestling prowess according to Bleich. “I don’t want to put him at the bottom, but he doesn’t pool fight with was that much. He’s usually chilling, making fun of two fat kids wrestling. So, he’s number five of course.” But there’s little debate as to who’s number one: Brett Heggie. In both wrestling and other aquatic acrobatics. “[The cannonball], that’s a work in progress. I’m not giving up on it. I’m a big belly flop guy though. Definitely the leader in the house.” The redshirt junior has battled injuries on the football field the past two years but coaches and teammates all maintain he’s back to 100 percent and ready to go in that regard. As the only one besides Buchanan with significant starting experience, his expertise will be crucial this fall on the field. The attitude that makes him valuable in that regard also makes him the champion in the pool. “Heggie is a tough guy. It doesn’t matter what he’s got going on. He could have three different injuries on his body, but he’s still going to find a way to get it done. Fighting, tussling or arm wrestling, he’s going to find a way,” says Jean Delance. “He’s one of those guys who shows up and’s that one guy in the room you don’t know what he’s going to do. But when does it, you’re like ‘..., okay he’s doing it.’ He comes with it every day.” Due to past Heggie injuries though, pool wrestling matches are generally closed to the public and aren’t widely shared as the man himself explains. “I don’t know if I can put anything on Twitter anymore because people want me in bubble wrap.” Being a valuable commodity at this point, that’s a safe bet. But the guys feel confident that each match in the pool this summer will show itself on the football field this fall. “Anytime you’re going out there, just having fun with the guys, it’s a bonding moment,” postulated Buchanan. “You get to learn more about people. You get to have fun with kids. Switch up the teams and we do older guys versus younger guys, people from South Florida versus everywhere else. It’s just a different way to learn about guys, talk to them and have fun with them.” Heggie agrees; “It is definitely fun. We get close to guys, especially the offensive linemen up front. We get close as a group. It makes you want to go out there on Saturdays and play harder for the guy to the left and the guy to the right. I think it’s really important to grow that bond. And it’s translating to preparations already according to Heggie. “I think we worked really hard this offseason. We did a lot of extra work on our own as a unit. Me, Stone and Nick ran practices basically for us to go through fundamentals and things like that so we can get ahead of the game so we can perform as one unit up front and get comfortable with working with each other. I think that really helped us.” The expectations around college football for this unit are admittedly low, due not too lack of future talent possibly, but just an acknowledgment of the current experience level on a line that lost four starters following the 2018 season. After a summer full of technique work and pool wrestling, Jean Delance has high expectations for what he and his teammates can do this fall. “I see it as a challenge. Live up to the expectations. You’ve got a great ceiling, you’ve got a great team, you’ve got a lot of different positions that got a lot of experience. So, I see it as a challenge. Every day, step up to the plate and get it done. Like, there is no ifs, ands or buts. We have to get it done. You know what I’m saying? You’ve got a great team, you’ve got a great foundation and you can’t just say, ‘Oh, this one position was holding us back.’ That’s not acceptable. We have to get it done. We have good guys, good skill players and good defensive players all across the board. So, we have to get it done, protect Feleipe, give him time and do our jobs.” The time for talk is over though. There’s a heavyweight battle ready to be fought and the participants are pacing in the corners. So gentlemen, let’s get ready to rumble... And then it’s gotta translate on grass or turf.

By FRANZ BEARD GatorBait Senior Columnist The memories come and go. It’s easier, most of the time, to remember what happened 30 years ago than what happened 30 minutes or 30 hours ago. That’s the price Scot Brantley pays for being a tackling machine. There was contact on every play. Shots to the head were simply part of playing the game he feels he was born to play, which is why he doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him now. “I’m in a good place,” he says. “I’ve had a really good life. I got to live out my dreams. How many people can ever say they did that?” Living out his dreams is one of the reasons the brain short circuits these days. All those blows to the head from playing football from the time he was a kid through high school, the University of Florida and more than eight years in the National Football League are one of the reasons he is the early stages of Alzheimer’s. He knows there will come a time when even the distant memories will either be distorted or gone completely. While he still has lucid thoughts, he wants everyone to know one thing about his days of being a sideline-to-sideline guy who felt driven to make every single tackle. “I really wouldn’t change much, maybe not anything,” he says. “I think I’d want more time with my wife and with my family. Yeah, I’d change that, but the other stuff? I’m good with it. God’s got a plan and I know God’s in charge. I’ve got peace with where I’m at even though I can’t remember things and I can’t do stuff I’d like to do. I’ve got peace.” * * * It is when Brantley put God in charge that he began to feel he truly had a mission in life. He was already the biggest thing that had ever hit Forest High School in Ocala, probably the best high school linebacker the state of Florida had ever seen and the center fielder on the baseball team. Life was good, he says, but it was a trip to North Carolina for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp that changed him both on and off the athletic fields. “We all got on a bus in the summer and we drove up to Black Mountain, North Carolina for an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) camp up at Blue Ridge Assembly,” Scot recalled. “It changed my life. I started praying for people. During games, I prayed for my teammates that they could play their best and wouldn’t get hurt. I prayed that I could play hard but play the right way.” From the moment he came back from Blue Ridge, Scot Brantley became determined to continue his own path to greatness but to also bring out the best in his teammates. He became more of an encourager, less of a critic. He wasn’t afraid to get on the case of a teammate who maybe didn’t give total effort, but he learned to temper the criticism with encouraging words. The better he became as a teammate, the better he became as a player, which only fed his desire to be great. He played linebacker like nobody had ever seen, leading Forest to back-to-back state championships in 1974-75. He hit .442 while leading the state in home runs while getting Forest to the state baseball semifinals. The New York Mets drafted him in the fifth round, offering him a six- figure bonus but football was where he wanted to be. “I always had this belief that I was born to play football all the way back to when I first started as a kid,” Brantley says. “I didn’t just want to be good. I really wanted to be great. I wanted to make every single tackle. I wanted the contact. It was like I needed the contact. Once I got hit hard – I wouldn’t say dinged or even stunned, just hit hard – I felt like I was ready to play harder and do better.” Against Leesburg his senior season, Brantley made 31 unassisted tackles in the only game Forest lost all season. The Wildcats went on to win the second of their two state championships with Brantley making Parade All-American the second straight year all the while becoming the hottest recruit in the country. Bear Bryant had him first on Alabama’s recruiting list. He was a must get for Woody Hayes at Ohio State. Barry Switzer at Oklahoma, Tom Osborne at Nebraska, Joe Paterno at Penn State, Frank Broyles at Arkansas and Bo Schembechler at Michigan all made their pitch as THE place to be. There was only one place he wanted to be, however, and that was 40 miles up the road in Gainesville at the University of Florida. “I listened to everybody else and I was respectful, but I always thought why go somewhere else when I can take that beautiful drive from Ocala up to Gainesville and play for the Gators?” he says. It helped that older brother John was a freshman quarterback at UF. On the night he said yes to Douglas Adair Dickey to commit to the University of Florida, there was football royalty in the Brantley household. Woody Hayes was in his living room, Bear Bryant was on the phone and Dickey was in his kitchen. He jokes about that night and says, “You try saying no to Bear Bryant and Woody Hayes!” * * * At Florida, Brantley was a starter from day one. He was a first team All-SEC middle linebacker in 1977-78 and would have easily made first team All-American in 1979 except for the season-ending concussion in the second game against Georgia Tech. In his three seasons and two games with the Gators, Brantley made 467 tackles, an average of more than 13 per game. The school record is 475, a phenomenal total, for sure, but that was set in four full seasons. “I might have gotten to 600 tackles if I had played all of my senior year,” Brantley says. The Tampa Bay Bucs drafted him in the third round. He almost certainly would have been a first rounder if not for the concussion. He spent the next eight years playing for the Bucs and carving out an impressive NFL resume but injuries took their toll. He’s lost count of all the surgeries but offers a guesstimate of 12. There will be more to come. He still has a hip and a shoulder to be replaced. “I got enough scars that I kinda look like a road map,” he says. * * * There were too many blows to the head to count. “You play linebacker there’s contact and a lot of it’s to the head,” he says. “The helmet only protects so much.” He was doing radio in Tampa and was an analyst on the University of Florida football radio network when all the blows to the head began to cause the brain to short circuit. “I started losing my chain of thought and I started having problems putting some sentences together,” he says. “That was the sign that something wasn’t working right.” The something turned out to be early onset of Alzheimer’s, not uncommon among former pro football players. Combined with the medication he has to take for the various aches and pains from his many surgeries, there is a regimen of more than 60 pills he has to take every day. Barring some sort of breakthrough in treatment and medication, the Alzheimer’s will eventually rob Brantley of his memory. It’s not a pleasant thought but he’s at peace with his circumstances. “I wish I still had the ability to do some of the stuff I used to do,” he says. “I’d still like to work, but I can’t do that. I spend a lot of time here at the house reading my Bible and praying. Sometimes I read the words and I just don’t know what I’m reading but I keep on anyway. I know that I’m growing. “I’ve got my dog and my cat. I’ve got the pool. Soon we’ll be moving into a new house. I’ve got a great wife (Mary). She’s sent straight from God. I’ve got two daughters, two grandkids and I’ll have a third one soon.” Is it the way he planned it? Not really. Nobody ever wants Alzheimer’s and nobody ever wants a body that’s “all wore out from all that football” but these are mere circumstances that he can live with. Instead of talking about all the negative aspects of a memory that loses a little bit more every day and instead of dwelling on the aches and pains of just rising from a chair and walking, he’s quick to point out all the good things that have happened. He points out that so many people reach a point in life when they are consumed by regrets or feeling unfulfilled because there were so many dreams that went unrealized. It’s easy to sense the joy in his heart when he talks about Mary, who is his soulmate, or the time he gets to spend with his daughters and grandchildren. And, since he believes that God has a plan and a purpose for everything that happens, he feels he is fully prepared for whatever happens next. “If it all ended up today, I’m good with that,” he says. “I’ve had a good life. God gave me plenty of blessings. I don’t know too many people who are as blessed as I’ve been.”

From Chip Towers, AJC Brenton Cox, a Georgia linebacker who entered his name in the NCAA's transfer portal Monday, has landed with the Florida Gators. The move was first reported by Swamp247.com's Blake Alderman, who noticed Cox was added to Florida's roster. At Florida, Cox will play for former Georgia defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach Todd Grantham. Grantham reportedly contacted Cox soon after his name was entered as a transfer sometime Monday afternoon. He will wear the No. 6 for the Gators after wearing No. 1 for the Bulldogs this past season. It is not yet clear whether Cox will be immediately eligible or have to sit out a season to meet the NCAA's standard transfer requirements. Intra-SEC transfers usually include a year-in-residency requirement. Cox, a sophomore who played in 13 of 14 games last season abruptly left the Bulldogs before the fourth practice of preseason camp Monday. Neither coach Kirby Smart nor anybody from Georgia has made an official comment on his absence from Georgia practices. Cox is from Stockbridge and was one of seven 5-star prospects to sign with the Bulldogs last year. He backed up senior D’Andre Walker at the “Jack” outside linebacker position. Cox made one start, when Walker was out with an injury in the Sugar Bowl. He finished the season with 20 tackles and 1.5 sacks. ——- From Dawg Nation ATHENS - Five days after his departure from UGA, Brenton Cox is now a Florida Gator. Florida announced the move on Friday. The former 5-star outside linebacker will wear No. 6 for the Gators and is listed as a sophomore. It is the latest in an up-and-down off season for Cox who was arrested earlier in the spring on marijuana charges. ——- Tony Barnhart replied to my query about Cox: “Don’t know anything other than what has been published in media. Got into scuffle with another player during game last year. Pot charge. Was going to sit out first game. That’s all I know.” —Buddy Martin The move adds to what appears to be a boiling over of the rivalry between the Gators and Dawgs this off season. Florida coach Dan Mullen, who has been dealing with in several offseason problems of his own regarding violence against women, has taken shots at the Bulldogs early and often in 2019. Those quips have included commentary on players transferring from UGA, and making fun of the Bulldogs for not winning a consensus national title since 1980. Mullen has lost to Kirby Smart and UGA in back-to-back seasons by double digits. He’s 1-4 all time against the Bulldogs as a head coach. Still, the addition of Cox means the Gators are adding one of the most talented players to their roster, and doing so from their biggest rival.