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Dan Mullen fined $25K, 5 players suspended in fallout from Florida-Missouri brawl

Sam Cooper
·College football writer
·3-min read

Florida head coach Dan Mullen has been fined $25,000 by the SEC as part of the fallout from the brawl that took place during Saturday’s Missouri vs. Florida game.

Mullen, who was also issued a reprimand by the conference, was found to have violated the SEC’s sportsmanship bylaws for his actions. Additionally, the two Florida players ejected from the game for fighting — defensive lineman Zach Carter and linebacker Antwuan Powell — have been issued a half-game suspension. The suspensions will be served for next weekend’s game against No. 5 Georgia.

Three Missouri players, linebacker Chad Bailey, offensive lineman Dylan Spencer and defensive lineman Markell Utsey have also been hit with half-game suspensions after the conference reviewed video of the incident. Missouri’s next game is also against Georgia on Nov. 14 following a bye week. NCAA rules say that ejections for fighting carry an automatic half-game suspension for the team’s next game.

"There is no place in college football for the kind of incident that took place at halftime of the Missouri at Florida game Saturday night,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement.

“Everyone involved is responsible for meeting sportsmanship standards throughout each game. Running on the field to confront a game official, the gathering of teams in an on-field confrontation and student-athletes throwing punches are all disappointing at any time, but even more so as we work to support healthy competition during a pandemic."

Dan Mullen was fired up

The fracas occurred after a hit on UF quarterback Kyle Trask as the first-half clock expired was not penalized. Mullen ran on the field to protest the lack of a flag and a fight soon broke out between players on both sides. A bevy of punches were thrown and Mullen and Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz were seen shouting at one another.

Mullen, as he left the field and went into the halftime locker room after the fight was broken up, was extremely animated.

The two schools issued a joint statement on Sunday.

“The actions at the end of the first half of [Saturday’s] game do not reflect the values of our football program or university. We are committed to healthy competition and good sportsmanship,” the statement said. “The clean play without incident in the second half is how we expect to represent both institutions and the SEC. We believe both programs will use this moment to learn from so that future incidents like this do not happen.”

Mullen becomes second SEC coach fined

Mullen is the second SEC head coach to receive a $25,000 fine this season. Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss was fined for using social media to criticize league officials. Kiffin was upset that a kickoff play where the ball appeared to have deflected off the finger of an Auburn player was not reviewed.

The SEC subsequently admitted that the play was “not appropriately stopped for further review,” but still fined Kiffin for his “use of social media to publicly criticize officiating.”

Kiffin retweeted a Twitter user who said that SEC officiating is “absolutely atrocious.”

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