Built for Speed: Aidan Mizell’s Moment Awaits for Florida at Miami
In the midst of dancing the Macarena after scoring Florida’s lone touchdown in Death Valley a week ago, Gators wide receiver Aidan Mizell was also celebrating his first touchdown in 315 days and just the third of his career.
The Gators offense this season has started the season sluggish, averaging only 13 points per game against FBS opponents.
To turn this season around, Florida (1-2) knows its stars must play like it, and Mizell is no exception.
“Y’all have seen it. The offense has been disappointing. We need to score points. That’s the whole point of the offense. We ain’t been doing our job,” Mizell told WRUF’s Kevin Winter on the Gator Sports Network from Learfield. “I feel like the defense has been keeping us in the games and we gotta step up and take that role. I feel like practice-wise, everything’s been about the same. We just gotta do it again.”
Mizell, an Orlando native, comes from an athletic household where speed reigns supreme.
His father, Wil Mizell, and mother, Ebony-Robinson Mizell, were both track stars at UF. His brother Isaiah played soccer most of his life before making the transition to football during his sophomore year in high school. He now plays wide receiver at the University of Arizona. Last but not least, his sister Charlie has wheels, too.
Mizell ran track throughout middle school and high school days, which has translated to the football field.
“I feel like it’s in the blood,” Mizell said. “Everyone that has that blood is going to be fast.”
Even though Mizell did not start playing football until middle school, he fell in love with the game before he could walk.
“He was always into football since he was itty-bitty, before he could like, walk or talk, really, he was kind of mesmerized by the game,” Wil said. “We didn’t let him play until we finally let him play in sixth grade, then we skipped seventh and let him go back in and play. … He played quarterback. He was a really good, really good quarterback, had a great arm.”
Unlike some of his teammates who started at the varsity level right away at Boone High School, Mizell played his freshman season on junior varsity, but his electric speed still drew the attention of his teammates and coaches.
“Even when [Mizell] was a ninth grader, just doing in practice stuff with the varsity kids, he was just pretty much faster than anybody we had,” said Andy Johnson, Mizell’s former coach at Boone. “I mean, there were a couple of kids that were comparable, but his speed and explosiveness were next level, even in that grade, you could see it.”
In his second season at Boone, Mizell made the jump up to varsity, where he hauled in 13 catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns. In 2021, Mizell had a breakthrough junior campaign that put him on the map as one of the best receivers in the country. That year, he caught 47 passes for 1,006 yards and 18 touchdowns.
College offers started pouring in. Mizell’s first offer came in October 2021 from the hometown UCF Knights, and before it was all said and done, he had received 39 offers from the fall of his junior year until May 2022.
Narrowing down that many schools can be challenging, but the Mizells had a plan in place and knew wherever the budding star landed would be the right fit.
“A lot of it was being comfortable with the system, being comfortable where you’re going,” Wil said. “I think some of it obviously is the style of playing, some schools kind of counted themselves out just because of how they ran their football program as far as offensively.”
After months of offers and visits, Mizell cut the list to three: Alabama, Florida and Tennessee. The family discussions regarding his commitment went back and forth, but ultimately, he chose Florida.
Before making the announcement to the world, Wil hatched the idea to bring his decision to life — with baby alligators.
“Once he decided that’s where he was going to go, I was just trying to figure out like something different,” Wil said. “Well, you know, Tennessee has the Volunteer dog, so obviously we couldn’t do that. Obviously, we couldn’t do Alabama because we ain’t getting no elephant.
“Alligators are easy, because I know you can rent alligators from Gatorland, so once he realized that’s where he was going to go, I was like, I can make this happen.”
Following his commitment, Aidan received a disappointing piece of news. Entering his senior season, he was set to play with his brother Isaiah, who was a sophomore at the time but got hurt on the second play of their opening game, which kept him out the rest of the year.
“Often, you know, I have fantasies about having the two of those kids together on the field at the same time,” Johnson said. “But it never came to fruition.”
In 2023, Mizell redshirted his freshman year at UF after appearing in two games and making two catches for 25 yards. He started to see a bigger role in his second year, appearing in 12 games and reeling in 17 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns.
He got his first career score in Week 2 against Samford off a 41-yard touchdown pass from quarterback DJ Lagway and had two more coming against Mississippi State, but they were both called back due to penalties.
Unfortunately, Mizell got hurt in the week leading up to the UCF game and sat out due to an undisclosed injury, but he returned the next week against Tennessee.
Mizell found the end zone one more time that season with a 43-yard touchdown catch against Georgia. This offseason, Mizell missed some time, which led to him missing the season opener against Long Island.
Gators coach Billy Napier raved about Mizell this week and believes that if he can continue to stay healthy, he is going to be a big contributor to this offense. Napier said Mizell’s physical characteristics really stand out among his fellow receivers and credits Mizell for never letting the moment get to him.
“As he has been healthy, his role has always been present. He made three really good plays [against LSU]. The touchdown, the third down in the fringe area. And then obviously the big explosive play, really good contested catch where DJ fit one in there,” Napier said, before mentioning Mizell’s key assets. “So, yeah, his speed, his length, and now that he’s played a little bit of ball, his experience. I do think that it’s not too big for him. He kind of rises to the occasion on the big stage and we’re going to need him to continue to do that.”
This season, Mizell has only five catches for 59 yards and one touchdown. A big talking point around Gainesville has been the limited usage of Mizell.
So far this season, Mizell has done most of his work on third downs, but when targeted, too, he has been productive. In last week’s loss to LSU, Mizell only played 14 snaps despite PFF grading him an 88.7, making him Florida’s highest-graded offensive player.
Mizell has always put the team before himself. He was adamant that he would do whatever it takes to get this team back on track offensively, but did hint toward a possible breakout coming soon.
“For me, I control what I can control and I do what I’m told. If they need me on third, second, I’m going to be there,” Mizell said. “Y’all going to see it this season. I’ve been more of a possession receiver, but we’re going to open that up.”
Johnson shared similar feelings to Mizell’s lack of playing time and wished the coaching staff would start using him more in the offense.
“I would love to see him get even more with the Gators,” Johnson said. “I think he’s just a dynamic player that, if I was the coach, I would make sure he got the ball even more than he’s getting it for sure.”
Regardless of how much playing time Mizell gets, his and the rest of the Gators’ attention is geared towards their primetime showdown at No. 4 Miami Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Florida desperately needs a win to get its season back on track and avoid a 1-3 start for the first time since 1986.
“We need it bad,” Mizell said. “We need to start this train off and play how we know we can, you feel me. So, just getting this train rolling.”
Category: ACC, College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, SEC
