As the Florida Gators hit the road for the spring evaluation period, coach Dan Mullen has a goal.
"It's really important for me that we try to get into every school in the state of Florida," Mullen said Monday before a speech to the Polk County Gator Club.
That's a big task. The Florida High School Athletic Association has almost 800 schools. Divide that among 10 assistants over the six-week period, and that's two schools per coach per day, excluding any trips outside the state line.
Is that even feasible?
"It better be," Mullen said. "You better hit them all."
Mullen's philosophy comes from experience; saturating the state has helped him find some overlooked prospects.
Like Jeff Demps, whom he recruited at South Lake High in Groveland.
"He wasn't really being recruited," Mullen said. "There was something about this kid that I love."
Demps scored 25 touchdowns in his Gators career and had a brief stint with the Bucs.
An even better example is Chris Jones, a defensive lineman Mullen coached at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs don't have the recruiting power of UF or Alabama, so they had to discover and attract top players differently.
Mullen's staff found out about Jones when assistant John Hevesy stopped by his high school in Houston, Miss. A coach there told Hevesy about this big talent — a basketball player who didn't play football the year before but planned to play this fall. Hevesy stayed for practice and was impressed.
Hevesy, Mullen said, was the only recruiter who saw Jones that spring.
"He committed to Mississippi State before he even had a profile on Rivals or Scout or 247," Mullen said.
Eventually all those recruiting services found out about him. He finished as a five-star prospect and the nation's No. 18 recruit in 2013. Then he played in all 39 games in his Bulldogs career before the Chiefs drafted him in the second round of the 2016 draft.
"Go find those guys," Mullen said. "They're out there. Go find them."
If you hit every school in the state, your odds of finding them are a lot better.