Steve Spurrier has a lot of down time these days, at least before the start of his first season as a head coach in the Alliance of American football in 2019. With an invite to former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow recently dismissed, the Head Ball Coach can shift his attention to the Gators in 2018, who are set to embark on a their first season under new head coach Dan Mullen.

Asked what he’s most excited about this season in a recent interview with ESPN, Spurrier said he’s anxious to see Florida pull itself off the mat offensively.

"Heck, I work for the University of Florida, so I'm hoping the Gators can show big improvement, and I believe we're capable," said Spurrier, who works as an ambassador and consultant at UF. "Seeing what we can come up with this season is what most of us Gators are looking forward to. We will have a better offense than in the past. I don't think that's going to require too much. But I pull for South Carolina and Duke, too. So I have three schools, which makes it even more fun."

Florida’s offense has left a lot to be desired recent years, as Spurrier alludes to in his comments. The Gators never got off the ground under Will Muschmp, failing to finish higher than 8th in points per game in the SEC over four years, then scored the third-fewest touchdowns (107) in the league over a three-season stretch during Jim McElwain's tenure.

The infusion of Mullen’s spread concepts, his expertise with developing quarterbacks and the return of tailback Jordan Scarlett from a yearlong suspension should help Florida’s offense stay out of the SEC East cellar this fall. And the Gators are waiting to hear from the NCAA on Ole Miss transfer Van Jefferson’s waive to play immediately potentially giving th Gators a No. 1- caliber weapon on the outside.

Feleipe Franks is Florida’s projected starter at quarterback heading into camp and is expected to receive the majority of first-team reps, ahead of Kyle Trask. True freshman Emory Jones is the No. 3. Franks' leash is considered lengthy unless giveaways and lack on consistency becomes an issue.

"He hasn't been in those (game-like) situations yet," Mullen said in May. "He's really just learning the offense right now. It's hard to even judge or even talk about it because we're just spending so much time learning what to do within the offense and what your reads are and stuff like that. That's a still way down the road deal.

"I've played two quarterbacks, I've played one quarterback, I've played three quarterbacks. We had three quarterbacks in a season one time. It's hard to say. I don't know that any of them are going to have the entire playbook open to them to just call any play they want any time that you'll get in a veteran guy, an Alex Smith or Dak Prescott at the end of their career."