University of Florida Football Media Conference
Monday, November 4, 2024
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Aidan Mizell
Press Conference
Q. You got to tell us, where did you get the nickname from?
AIDAN MIZELL: My dad came up with it when I was young. It's my initials, AM, like morning, early. It just coincides, so yeah.
Q. A lot of injuries at wide receiver this year. Kahleil, obviously Tre and so forth. How do you feel like you've tried to take advantage of your opportunity through that?
AIDAN MIZELL: Not much has changed. Even when they were healthy and everything else like that, I've been trying to always put in 100%. When I get my opportunity, I just try to make the most of it.
Q. Just what happened to you in the Mississippi State game? What was the process getting back?
AIDAN MIZELL: I just had a little injury. They just thought it wasn't the best idea for me to play the next week, and I just trust them. That's what we did.
Q. You wanted to play?
AIDAN MIZELL: Absolutely. I always want to play. Especially we played UCF next week, hometown team. I was bummed, but it is what it is.
Q. What was it like to have two touchdowns called back?
AIDAN MIZELL: It was unfortunate, but I mean, we got the win. We did our thing, so I wasn't too bummed out.
Q. What has been kind of just the path to kind of getting on the field for you? Bill has talked about you trying to build up physically, learning how to run your routes more sharply, what the defense is doing. Can you kind of discuss some of the elements that have gone into kind of getting you on the field?
AIDAN MIZELL: It's really just for me just staying consistent in every aspect, whether that be in the weight room, in the lunchroom, meeting room, on the field. Just staying consistent and just taking the knowledge that my coaches and the staff is giving me. It's helped me.
Q. What do you think you bring to this?
AIDAN MIZELL: Speed mainly, but (laughing). Yeah, I just think speed, but when the ball is in my hand, I just feel dangerous with the ball. So I feel like I can score from any yard line of the field.
Q. When did you realize that you had kind of special speed growing up?
AIDAN MIZELL: Speed? Probably elementary school. I used to beat -- we all used to race, but they used to, like, almost kick me out of the races. There was no point. I was, like, Okay, yeah, that's cool.
Q. Did you do track early on? Did you do football more?
AIDAN MIZELL: Growing up it was really soccer. That was my main sport growing up. I wasn't allow to do play tackle football because my mom, she wasn't going for it. Couldn't do that. So soccer, flag football.
I was a running back in flag football. I think that's why I'm a little shifty. Just a lot of things. I did jiu-jitsu, volleyball. Just everything but tackle football.
Q. When did you start playing tackle football?
AIDAN MIZELL: Middle school I played two years, but I was at quarterback. Then high school I made the switch to receiver.
Q. How long did you do track for?
AIDAN MIZELL: Track... like when I was young, we just used to show up to meets, like not for a team. Used to run, have fun. Middle school I ran, but it wasn't really coordinated or anything, but high school is when -- after COVID because my freshman year is when COVID canceled the track season, so sophomore and junior year is when I dedicated myself to track in the spring.
Q. What's the fastest 100 that you have run?
AIDAN MIZELL: My 100 was 10.6, but I wasn't really a 100 guy. I only ran the 100, like, three times in high school. I was more of a 400 guy.
Q. What's the fastest time there?
AIDAN MIZELL: 46 something. 46.9 I think. That was more my event, yeah.
Q. How did you get mom to relent on tackle football?
AIDAN MIZELL: I mean, I just kept asking. It was more of a thing where I kept asking and bugging her when I was young, so she was, like, Fine, when you are in middle school, we'll let you play. Then middle school rolled around, and she couldn't go back on her word, so yeah.
Q. Is she a mother hen about that as far as, Hey, you're my son, don't get hurt, don't get hurt?
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, especially because me and my brother play. We're both in season at the same time. She's deathly nervous during this time. You can tell she's got a little nerves going on. She loves the game. She loves to see us play.
Q. How much credit do your parents deserve for your speed?
AIDAN MIZELL: 100%. They definitely gave me the gift of my speed. I've definitely worked on it and everything like that and gotten faster, but they definitely deserve a lot of credit.
Q. What did they do at UF?
AIDAN MIZELL: So my mom was mainly a 400 runner. She got here and hurt her hamstring, so switched from the 100 to the 400. She was a 100 runner in high school.
Then my dad was a decathlete, so he did ten events. He was a well-rounded athlete. I think he was a better jumper than actual runner, but yeah.
Q. They met here?
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah, yeah.
Q. Was there any way you were going anywhere but Florida? What was your recruiting process like?
AIDAN MIZELL: I didn't get my first offer until midway through junior year, which was UCF ironically. Yeah, was going through the process. I wasn't trying to -- I was trying to make it more of a business than, you know, like a personal decision. So I tried to rule out just, yeah, family ties and everything like that, but it was just the love for the campus, the family feeling. Everything just brought me here.
Q. How much was weight a challenge for you early on trying to get to the weight that you -- they wanted you at or that you needed to be at?
AIDAN MIZELL: I mean, I've always been a smaller guy, a skinnier guy. It was difficult, but just consistency.
Q. What did you come in at, and where are you at now?
AIDAN MIZELL: I can't remember what I came in at. I was tiny. I don't remember. I'm about mid-180s right now.
Q. Were you in the 60s, 50s?
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah. Probably 167. Yeah, I was 160 probably.
Q. I guess from freshman to redshirt freshman year, your first two years, Bill talked about route trees and stuff like that. What was that process like translating your speed to football speed?
AIDAN MIZELL: It was just something -- I haven't played much receiver I guess as a lot of guys have here. It was just putting in work just doing the little extra stuff that really helped me out.
Q. Your senior year I think you got hurt your first game.
AIDAN MIZELL: Yes, sir, first play.
Q. That first play. Yeah, I remember reading that you were -- one of the analysts was saying if that hadn't happened, you would have been pushing for maybe a five-star ranking.
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah.
Q. How much did that set you back in your confidence, in just kind of getting here ready because you seem -- now you're blossoming, but it took a little while?
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah. It was hard just finding out the news that I wouldn't be able to play senior year. Everyone looks forward to that senior year.
Q. First play?
AIDAN MIZELL: First play, yeah. When I got here spring ball, last time I really had played football was my junior year playoffs, so it had been a minute. There was a big just -- I don't know. There was a big change with athletes and everything like that, but it just took time, but I feel like I'm here now.
Q. I'm sorry I stopped you. You said, it was very disappointing.
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah.
Q. How did you kind of get through that process and make the decision to come here and then kind of get here and feel like you were behind?
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah. At first my decision was to -- I wasn't going to enroll early. I was going to go through and run track because I love track, but once I found out I got hurt, I was, like, Oh, maybe it would be a better decision to get here, you know, get in, learn the system, get the treatment here. That just wound up being my decision. My family played a big part in my decision, but --
Q. Did you feel behind for a good while, and then when did you feel like you finally caught up?
AIDAN MIZELL: I don't think I ever felt like behind-behind, but I felt like, Oh, yeah, these people can ball. I have to step up my game.
Q. You go from Graham to DJ and then you seem like a perfect fit for DJ and his deep ball acumen, and now you're trying to get to a third quarterback, get comfortable. What's that challenge like to go from week to week to week to a different quarterback?
AIDAN MIZELL: I feel like at least for me it's not that difficult because in practice we always run like a multitude of quarterbacks. I have caught balls from every quarterback on roster. Obviously I've caught more with DJ and Graham, but I know Aidan. Me and Aidan have played. He's from Orlando. We've caught balls together. He's thrown against me. Then Clay. Everyone is -- it makes it easy to have the switch-up.
Q. A moment you had in the Florida-Georgia game, 42-yard touchdown pass, 43. What kind of confidence do you think that could give you for the remainder of the season?
AIDAN MIZELL: Oh, absolutely. Just going against a rival, high-ranked team, it definitely gave me great confidence, but I always knew I had it in me. Just showing everyone else, it was real nice.
Q. Have you thought about running track here at all?
AIDAN MIZELL: I haven't yet. I've debated about running track, but there's no decision for right now.
Q. I have to ask you, always a hot topic in the offseason be, but fastest guy on the team, your name has been brought up a couple of times. Have you had any races with Tank? How does that go in the offseason? Did you go off the numbers you put up in workouts, or do you all get together and actually race?
AIDAN MIZELL: We usually just go off the numbers we put up in workouts. Me and Tank, especially this summer, we were going back and forth because we had different lift groups, right? So he would lift in the morning, and I would lift later in the morning. We would just always go back and forth.
Real fast dude. I'm a real fast dude. So it's just good to have that competition.
Q. So miles per hour on the treadmill?
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah, yeah. We have it on our little Catapult, and we'll do sprints. Did you say what was it?
Q. Is it 23?
AIDAN MIZELL: His was 23.1. Mine was 23.2, so...
Q. At 23 in the offseason, though?
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah, it was built up. I think it was really through us pushing each other. Yeah, just me hearing -- like, I would show up to the weight room, and the weight coaches be, like, You heard what Tank ran? I was like, That's smooth, just wait to what I show you what I got. You know what I mean? There was always that competition and drive. We used to joke around with each other.
Q. At some point would you like to line up against him?
AIDAN MIZELL: I'm always down. Yeah, yeah.
Q. Do you want to race him in a 40-yard or 100 meter?
AIDAN MIZELL: It doesn't matter. I feel like we're both track guys. We can go one or 40. It don't really matter.
Q. Would you take yourself?
AIDAN MIZELL: Oh, yeah, always.
Q. We need an answer. You committed and signed holding a pair of live gators. How did that happen? Where did you get them from?
AIDAN MIZELL: Once I told my parents that I wanted to go to Florida, my dad was, like, All right, we got to do it big.
I'm, like, Okay.
Then one day we're in the car. I can't remember where we were going, but we were in the car driving, and it just hits him. He is, like, I'm going to get you some Gators.
I was, like, Ha, ha, ha, real funny.
The day of the commitment, I had to get there early. We set it up and everything. My dad takes me to this back room, and he was, like, You've got to practice. I'm thinking, What am I practicing for? You know what I mean?
I hear hissing in a bag. It's like whipping. There's like this little Gatorland lady. She had to teach me how to hold them. I thought we were just going to do one. He's like, Got to go big. So I do both.
Yeah, it was definitely an experience.
Q. Were you scared at all?
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah, I think the gator was more scared than me, to be honest because when I walked out, I walked out, and as soon as everyone started screaming, they both just started peeing all over me. Yeah, it was not -- it was not the best option.
Then I just try to keep it cool and everything like that. Made sure no one noticed, but when I handed it to my brother because once I start speaking to the mic, I had to put the hat on, but a little occupied. So I handed it to my brother, and it starts peeing on him. He starts to freak out in the back. Yeah, it was definitely a cool experience.
Q. You had a long-sleeve on?
AIDAN MIZELL: No, short-sleeve. It went straight down the arm, straight on the pants, yeah.
Q. Did you manage to keep your composure pretty well? That's a stressful thing.
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah.
Q. If you can be composed through that, what is it to go to Texas?
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah. Football is nothing new.
Q. When you committed to Florida, who was your second?
AIDAN MIZELL: It was between Florida, Bama, and Tennessee.
Q. Would have had trouble with an elephant.
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah. Yeah, elephant would not have been fun.
Q. That 41-yard touchdown with DJ at Samford, that play, that was a pretty -- it might have been the best highlight play of the season offensively from my perspective. What happened on that play? What do you recall about that one? You were blanketed.
AIDAN MIZELL: Yeah, I had a little -- basically like a hitch and go, and I seen the dude was real off. I really tried to sell the hitch route, and he didn't bite at all. I just got out of it and just tried to be as fast as I can.
I couldn't really see much because the line, the way they shifted, and then the DBs in front of me. So I can't see much. I hear something in the crowd. Everyone goes, Oh, and I look up, and the ball is just spiraling. It's a perfect ball, so I just ran under it. Yeah, it was a great ball.
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