Florida soccer coach Dan Mullen, who said the Texas A&M crowd was a “key factor” in the Gators’ fourth-place loss to Aegis on the road on Saturday, called for his management then to allow full attendance at the upcoming weekend’s game in Gainesville . Florida.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantes recently lifted COVID-19 restrictions, allowing stadiums across the state to operate at gross capacity if they so desire.
Mullen said he “absolutely” wanted to have a whole crowd of about 90,000 fans when Florida hosts LSU next Saturday.
“I know our governor has passed this rule, so definitely, we hope the university administration decides to allow us to fill in The Swamp for LSU next week,” he said. “One hundred percent because this crowd was a major factor in the game. So I definitely hope our university management will follow the ruler.”
He added, “We have 90,000 in The Swamp to give us the home field advantage that Texas A&M has today.”
When asked if a full home would be allowed for LSU, Florida Sports Director Scott Stricklin told ESPN, “We continue to follow UF Health’s guidelines and campus safety.”
Mullen’s comments came moments after Florida lost 41-38 to unseeded Texas A&M.
Texas A&M, which previously announced it would play Kyle Field at 25% capacity, had fans in attendance for the game.
Mullen said he felt as if there were 50,000 fans in the student section of Texas A&M on Saturday.
Attendance registered at Kyle Field on Saturday at 24709; The capacity is 102.733.
He said, “The part behind our seat, I haven’t seen an empty seat.”
The Florida defense struggled throughout the match, giving up 543 yards and 12 of 15 turns down.
“We’re going to have to reevaluate a lot of things defensively,” Mullen said after the Gators fell 2-1 in all SEC matches.
ESPN’s Heather Dinesh contributed to this report.
