Not a smart request.
Football coaches tend to be myopic and publicly adhere to the principle of being a football maniac and are consumed with football. It is too bad the University of Florida plays its annual game with the University of Georgia in Jacksonville, Florida. If that game took place in Atlanta, then Florida coach Dan Mullen could visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn more about COVID-19 and how packing a stadium with 89,000 screaming, drinking and eating customers might not be the best way to go in fighting a pandemic. Mullen wanted 89,000 people packed into a stadium for a game against Louisiana State University. He wanted a home field advantage. The University of Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin, his boss, politely said no. The University of Florida is a member of the Southeast Conference. The commissioner Greg Sankey is watching what coaches and athletic directors are doing or not doing during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is possible that Mullen could be fined or suspended for his request by Sankey but other than saying something stupid, there is no reason Mullen should face a suspension. After all, the University of Florida is located in Florida and the governor Ron DeSantis has pretty much dispensed with COVID-19 safety protocols and opened up the state in an effort to get people to come to the state and get the economy going.
Meanwhile Mullen will not get a full house in Jacksonville for the November 7th Florida-Georgia game. The City of Jacksonville is limiting capacity at the city-owned stadium and there will be an attempt to stop tailgating parties. Other normal game related festivities have been canceled. The bosses at big time football playing schools got the games going. Any players safety concerns? Nope. They are just meat on the hoof.
