Dan Mullen and the Florida program have a chance to show true leadership in the wake of Huggins’ dismissal

Embed from Getty Images

Let me say up-front, I don’t think Dan Mullen is responsible for the actions of any of his players, good or bad.

Also, I want to point out that the vast majority of Gators players make good decisions. We don’t put nearly the amount of focus on how the coaches influence those players in a good way, but surely they have an impact on their lives and decisions. You can’t spend that much time together without doing so.

But you also can’t tell the story of the Dan Mullen era thus far at Florida without mentioning the five members of the program who have been dismissed for allegations of violence against women.

Partly this is because one of those people was a staff member (Otis Yelverton). Partly this is because three of the players were evaluated and signed by Mullen’s regime (Justin Watkins, Jalon Jones and John Huggins).

And partly this is because Mullen will always be tied to Urban Meyer’s tenure at UF.

Meyer presided over perhaps the most successful period of Gators football. But he also presided over teams that were perceived as being out of control, as evidenced by more than 30 player arrests and allegedly allowing an assistant coach’s wife to be pressured into rescinding a domestic violence accusation during his tenure.

It doesn’t help that two key players from that era (Aaron Hernandez and Tony Joiner) have been charged – and in Hernandez’ case, convicted – of murder.

So that’s the backdrop that those outside the Florida program have when looking at the recent spate of dismissals; a program out of control.

Again, I don’t believe you can blame Mullen for his players’ and staff members’ actions. These are people who made individual decisions and get to pay the consequences for those decisions.

But like it or not – and whether it is fair to Mullen or not – perceptions matter.

These aren’t minor accusations either.

Yelverton is perhaps the most benign of the accusations, as he is alleged to have stalked and threatened a former girlfriend. Huggins is accused of choking a woman who was tutoring him. The police report for the Watkins incident includes allegations of “wrapping his hands around her neck three times, once for 15 seconds and twice for about eight seconds.” Jones is alleged to have committed sexual battery against two women on the same night.

At some point, it is incumbent upon a leader to drive change when people under his watch aren’t meeting expectations or the expectations of the program. That’s exactly what Mullen would do if one of his players wasn’t playing well enough or one of his coaches wasn’t performing.

He didn’t hesitate to replace Peter Sirmon with Todd Grantham after only one year when things weren’t working out on the defensive side of the ball at Mississippi State. That same approach should be taken when examining player behavior off the field.

It isn’t fair to blame Tampa Bay Times columnist Matt Baker for unearthing police reports regarding Huggins. He has a job to do and with a program as high profile as Florida, a story like that is newsworthy.

And Brenda Tracy is an advocate for women who have been hurt by football players and programs. If any of these allegations are true, women have been hurt by people whom Mullen has brought to campus. I believe any criticism of those two is misguided.

Instead, I hope that those within the program see the media attention given to Huggins’ dismissal as an opportunity.

It’s an opportunity for Florida to prove that it is different than other programs out there. It is an opportunity to show real leadership and discuss the nuance of issues tied to domestic and sexual violence.

To his credit, Mullen tried to outline all that the program is doing about this issue when asked by Baker, saying, “the great thing is educating on how to make good decisions. Everything gets back to decision making, how can I make good decisions in life? If they are learning how to make good decisions and how to put yourself in good situations, that’s how we spend all our time educating our guys on those things — and trying to educate the team as whole.”

But I think this situation requires some actual specifics.

Mullen could talk about who UF invites to speak to players about domestic and sexual violence. George Wynn was the Assistant AD for Football Operations under Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain from 2011-2017. He was an advocate for an organization called Peaceful Paths and invited them to come speak to the players about relationships within the framework of prevention recommended by the CDC. Is that still in place and if not, what took its place?

Mullen could also certainly talk about how UF gathers background information about players the program is recruiting, and perhaps how they are evaluating that process to ensure high-risk recruits don’t come to campus or have support when they arrive.

If nothing else, Mullen could get up to the podium and say the following:

We’ve dismissed players and staff from the program because of decisions they made to participate in behavior that is unacceptable for those representing the University of Florida. We are re-examining all aspects of our program to prevent it from happening again. One time is unacceptable and our players need to know that, and we need to make sure we have clearly communicated that to them. The fact that these incidents have occurred indicates that we need to do a better job, and we will do so.

I disagree with the opinion put forward – as some have – that Mullen has done his job simply by dismissing these individuals.

First, there is evidence that suggests that draconian penalties like dismissal, particularly for situations involving domestic violence, actually harm the victims and make them less likely to report assaults. But second, to believe that dismissing the personnel absolves the program and the university from taking a deeper look at its policies (and clearly communicating them to the public) just raises the risk of another incident occurring.

Bill Parcells famously said, “you are what your record says you are.” Parcells was talking about wins and losses, but the same applies here.

Because of Florida’s history with Meyer – and Mullen’s connection to him – those outside the program are going to always be hyper-sensitive to these sorts of issues at Florida. In all honesty, if Mullen really has learned from Meyer, he should be hyper-sensitive to these issues as well.

Whenever people are getting hurt, good people take a look at whether they have any culpability and make changes. I believe Mullen to be a good person. This is an opportunity for him, his athletic director and his staff to lead a difficult conversation about these issues, but it requires more than just generalities for five minutes before moving on to talk about the upcoming game against Miami.

“You are what your record says you are.” The great part about that line is you can do something about it.

Here’s hoping that Florida does something about the outside perception that it is a program with cultural issues and moves the conversation forward.

That would be a much more powerful legacy than another national championship.

Featured image used via Creative Commons license courtesy Photo-Gator