VIRTUAL GATOR GATHERING WITH DAN MULLEN
Coach Dan Mullen’s 2021 speaking tour will be virtual this year! As a member of the UFAA and your local Gator Club® or Affiliate Group, we are giving you exclusive access to register until February 10th at midnight, before registration opens for the general public. You can choose from five different opportunities to hear the coach’s presentation over Zoom. Registration is limited, so be sure to secure your spot today. Click the link below to register for your FREE ticket!
After leading Florida’s program back to national prominence in his first season, Mullen and the Gators took the next step in his second and third seasons at the helm of the program, with an SEC Championship Game appearance highlighting the 2020 campaign.
Registering an 11-2 record in 2019, the Gators finished at No. 6 in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll, their highest finish in the AP Top 25 since ending the 2009 season at No. 3. The year prior, Mullen led Florida to a 10-3 record and joined Galen Hall (1985) as the first coach in school history to post a top-10 finish in his first full season. The last time Florida logged consecutive top-10 finishes in the AP Top 25 and back-to-back 10-win seasons was 2008 and 2009. In 2020, the No. 7 College Football Playoff ranking was the best in school history.
On the national stage, Mullen became the first head coach in FBS history to win BCS / New Year’s Six bowl games in each of his first two seasons with a program. Florida beat Virginia in the 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl, and routed Michigan in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The appearance in the 2020 Goodyear Cotton Bowl marked just the second time in school history that the Gators have made three-straight New Year’s Six bowl games.
Florida’s 10-win season in 2018 also marked the program’s second-largest turnaround (in terms of wins) in school history. Only the 1980 Gators, who went 8-4 following a 0-10-1 campaign in 1979, could top UF’s jump from 4-7 in 2017 to 10-3 in 2018.
One of the key aspects of the turnaround engineered by Mullen is the drastic improvements on offense. The 2020 offense was among the most prolific in the country and program history.
The Gators led the nation in passing offense for the second time in program history, as they averaged 378.6 passing yards per game (which also ranks fourth in SEC history). Florida finished the season ranked ninth nationally in total offense (509.8 yards per game), marking its highest national finish since 2009 and the Gators were tied for eighth nationally with an average of 7.28 yards per play, finishing with the third-highest average in program history. Also, Florida’s six games of 500-plus total yards against SEC opponents tied a school record set by the 1995 Gators.e will evaluate things over the summer and hopefully will be able to find a way for us to meet in person this year. If you'd like to be on the team to select the watch venue, please reach out!
GATOR NATION GIVING DAY - FEBRUARY 18, 2021
Let’s do it again! Last year, in a unified show of Gator goodness, thousands of University of Florida alumni, students, faculty, staff, friends and families set a UF record during Stand Up & Holler, the second annual Gator Nation Giving Day. On February 18, 2021, we call upon Gators everywhere to once again stand up for UF by making a gift of any size to the college, unit, research area or program that means the most to you. Our goal this year is ambitious – 20,000 gifts in 24 hours – but every donation supports UF's far-reaching work and our drive to the Top 5 of public universities.
Please use this link to contribute to the St. Louis Gateway Gator Club scholarship fund for area students attending the University of Florida.
WATCH PARTIES FOR 2021?
We will evaluate things over the summer and hopefully will be able to find a way for us to meet in person this year. If you'd like to be on the team to determine if and where we will have watch parties, please reach out!
BECOME MORE INVOLVED WITH YOUR CLUB
Please let us know if you are interested in representing the Gator Nation in St. Louis. We'd love to get some new people involved this year to represent and help us better connect with the over 1,000 Gator Alumni in the area.
In addition to being a representative of the Gator Nation in St. Louis, club officers will decide which events we host and/or promote as well as determine the process and criteria for awarding scholarships from our new Gateway Gator Club scholarship fund.
STAY CONNECTED TO OUR GATOR CLUB
For the most recent updates join our mailing list or connect with us using the links in the upper right corner of this page.
Go Gators!Gateway Gator ClubGatewayGators@hotmail.com
St. Louis Metro Area University of Florida Alumni Association
St. Louis Metro Area University of Florida Alumni Association