A blackout in Gainesville

Dan Mullen’s into fashion statements.

Florida coach Dan Mullen hasn’t been shy about the fact that he’s willing to try some new things and form some new traditions for the Gators now that he’s back in town as head coach.

And that might include some very untraditional looks for the Gators on the field.

“Here’s the one thing I want to do and it gets into uniforms,” Mullen said Wednesday night at a spring speaking stop in Pensacola. “We won’t be able to get a black uniform this year because they’ve all been ordered (already) but we will have a blackout game.”

Florida has worn a number of different jersey combinations in recent years, with the biggest break from tradition an alligator scales, dark olive green uniform last season against Texas A&M.

That jersey met with mixed results, but it still included mostly school colors.

A black jersey would potentially represent an even more stark break from tradition, as it isn’t a school color. Still, Mullen wants to shake things up.

“We’re going to do some cool things, I’ll tell you this, because what we have to do, we can’t be afraid,” Mullen said. “We’re not going to turn our back on tradition and the great tradition that we have at Florida. But also we’re not going to shy away from the future and how do we make ourselves better and have fun.”

I can understand wanting to get away from the color orange, but, damn, son, black?

My fervent wish is that the Gators trot out black jerseys for the Cocktail Party and get their asses handed to them, just so I can hear a Georgia player derisively dismiss “fake juice”.