[ad_1]
Georgia's former defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, UF defense coordinator, will play for the first time on Saturday the rivalry between Florida and Georgia.
Dan Mullen learned a valuable training lesson early in his career. This happened in 2005, his first year in Florida as offensive coordinator of Urban Meyer.
Mullen and Meyer came to UF with an innovative offensive that worked wondrously well in Utah. But he practically failed during the first half of this first season at Gainesville.
It did not work because the players did not fit the situation.
"For me, young coach, probably a little inexperience at the time," said Mullen. "You just think," I'm really smart, I know what I'm doing. We have created this great system and no one can stop in Utah. So we connect it to Florida and everything works. And the staff was not up to our abilities. "
Mindful of this, Meyer and Mullen spent the break week before the match against Georgia to reorganize the offensive. They put together a program that matches the talent of the players and helped to make the season run.
The Gators beat Georgia 14-10 and have won four of their last five games to finish 9-3. UF won the national championship the following year.
"We played Saturday (a defeat at LSU) and on Sunday I get an early call (from Meyer), around lunch time," Mullen said. "Instead of spending time with the family, it was:" Come home, we're going to rearrange a lot of things. So I went home and spent the rest of the night there.
"We were rebuilding the program. We really learned as coaches. I think you had a group of young coaches among the staff at the time. I've really learned that coaching really involves putting your guys in a position to succeed and using the staff you have, not just that you have all the interest of your project. This is how your project fits your staff. "
This is Mullen's approach since then. He adapts his schema to the players and not the opposite.
Take early Perine
While coaching the state of Mississippi, Dan Mullen was the first trainer at a major conference to offer a scholarship to Lamine Perine, a little-known hope of Theodore, Ala.
Mullen said he could not remember exactly what had drawn him to Perine.
"Before, we were very proud to evaluate the guys and not pay attention to all the stars or all those who had the most offers at the beginning," said Mullen. "But even today, we are still trying to trust our assessment. What do we see, where is a guy now, what can they become in the future?
"Trust your evaluation. So, I think that's probably why we offered it to him. What you see now is what we saw on his field in high school. "
Grantham and the rivalry
Georgia's former defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, UF defense coordinator, will play for the first time on Saturday the rivalry between Florida and Georgia.
"You obviously understand the importance for the university, for the players, for the fan base," he said. "It's a game of rivalry, it's great, but on top of that, we're still in the race to reach all the goals we have before us and to do that, we have to continue to prepare because we will play as we prepare the rest of the week.
"We just need to continue to understand that our preparation is essential. It's obviously a big game, but we'll have to do the little things well. We will have to execute and do what we have to do. "
Source link
