Dan Mullen leads the team onto the field in his first game as Florida’s head coach, against Charleston on Sept. 1 in Gainesville. Mullen has experienced four Florida-Georgia games in Jacksonville as an offensive coordinator, but Saturday will mark his first as the Gators’ leader.ATHENS, Ga. – The college football rivalry between Florida and Georgia has included head coaches throughout the years who have held the upper hand against their border foe.
Former Georgia coach Vince Dooley guided the Bulldogs into Jacksonville for 25 years (1964-88), facing four different Gators coaches and compiling a 17-7-1 record that included a six-game winning streak (1978-83). Two short seasons after Dooley retired, Steve Spurrier took the Florida reins and dominated this series like no coach ever before, guiding the Gators to 11 wins in 12 tries against a trio of Georgia coaches.
Urban Meyer later succeeded on a smaller scale, leading Florida to a 5-1 mark against Georgia’s Mark Richt in Jacksonville from 2005 to ’10, but could this rivalry ever sustain decade-long or longer coaching runs on both sides?
Saturday might be a launching point, with Kirby Smart entering his third game against Florida as Georgia’s head coach and Gators counterpart Dan Mullen making his head-coaching debut in this matchup after having served as Meyer’s offensive coordinator from 2005 to ’08.
“I think it would be great,” Smart said. “It would say that both programs are doing well for both of us to be there for 10 years, and it would bring a lot back to this rivalry. A rivalry is only a rivalry if both sides are winning, and that would mean that it’s pretty balanced.”