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Florida coach Dan Mullen wasted little time identifying problems after his team’s worst defensive season in over a hundred years.
Mullen fired side coaches Ron English and Torrian Gray, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Friday because the moves had not been made public. 247Sports first reported the shots.
The 10th-ranked Gators (8-4) allowed 30.8 points per game in 2020, their most since dropping 41.2 points in six games in 1917, and high school was a big part of the problem.
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The English have coached Florida safeties for the past three seasons and Gray has coached cornerbacks the past two.
Florida surrendered 52 and 55 points, respectively, in consecutive losses to Alabama and No.8 Oklahoma to close the year. The Sooners racked up 684 yards – the most a team has ever won against Florida – in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday night. Florida’s previous high was 629 yards in a 62-24 loss to Nebraska at the 1996 Fiesta Bowl.
It was the third time this season that Florida’s porous defense has yielded more than 600 yards. The unit awarded 613 in the opener to Ole Miss and 605 to the Crimson Tide in the Southeastern Conference Championship game.
Mullen apologized for both of them, pointing first to his team’s lack of tackling at preseason camp before facing the Rebels, then blaming injuries and refusals for the embarrassing performance of the team against Oklahoma.
Still, the defense has given up 35 points or more in half of its 12 games, twice as many as in defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s first two seasons in Gainesville. The unit ended with back-to-back 50-point outings, the first time Florida has done so in back-to-back games since 1917.
The Gators played without three defensive starters in the Cotton Bowl. Defensive tackle Kyree Campbell, linebacker Ventrell Miller and cornerback Marco Wilson opted out of the final to start preparing for potential NFL careers. They were also unsecured Shawn Davis and overtake rusher Jeremiah Moon. Davis has missed the last four games with injury and Moon has missed the last seven games for undisclosed reasons.
Even with these guys, Florida’s defense was mostly a debacle. Breakdowns, failed assignments, missed opportunities and mistakes at critical times have been a constant in 2020.
Mullen clearly needed to make changes.
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