Scott Stricklin reveals why time was right to fire Dan Mullen

The Florida Gators announced Sunday that the school was parting ways with head football coach Dan Mullen. Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin held a press conference Sunday afternoon, where he went in depth on the decision to fire Mullen.

Firing Mullen wasn’t the only tough decision for Stricklin, but deciding on when to do it was also difficult. He said that he woke up this morning feeling like a change was needed.

“Once you get that feeling that it’s time to do something different, you need to go ahead and do it,” Stricklin said of the timing being Mullen’s firing. “And I woke up this morning with that feeling. So we moved ahead.”

Florida’s special teams coordinator and running backs coach Greg Knox will serve as the team’s interim head coach for Florida’s final regular season game on Saturday against Florida State. Both teams need a win to earn bowl eligibility.

Mullen declined the opportunity to coach against Florida State

Stricklin said that he and Mullen met Sunday morning, and that Mullen was given the chance to coach on Saturday against Florida State. Instead, he opted to make the new official now. Florida will pay a $12 million buyout to Mullen.

“I met with Coach Mullen shortly before noon today in his office, and we had a conversation. I just told him that we need to go a different direction for the Gators and our football program,” Stricklin said. “He understood, and it was actually a very productive conversation. Gave him the opportunity to coach the game Saturday against FSU, and after some discussion, he actually took some time to think about it — he made the decision that he thought he would be a bit of a distraction if he was around this week after this news came out. So, he made the decision to step away.”

Mullen’s tenure ends after a disappointing overtime loss to Missouri, dropping the Gators to 5-5 on the season.