It appears Stoops will be here next year. So this is wildly hypothetical. If he isn’t…Thoughts on Mullen? He said yesterday on Finebaum he loves doing TV and it would have to be the right HEAD coaching position to get him back on the sidelines. He had been linked to OUs OC job, amongst others. Sounds like he’s shutting down the possibility of anything but a HC gig. I get Sumrall is everyone’s LOGICAL choice. Thoughts on Mullen?
Dan Mullen
- Thread starter Eagles_Ball
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If someone couldn't kill it at Florida, they cant succeed at ky. Its really that simple imo.
In his defense in his four years he finished in the top 12 three times. Only had 1 bad seaosn
That's always been my thing about him. Man, they had a quick hook. His last two years the trajectory wasn't good, but mercy. I bet they'd love a do-over given what unfolded since they fired him, huh?
How about someone that did pretty darned good at Mississippi St? Back when the West was FAR superior to the East. I'd say Hail St and UK are solid comparisons, no? At least as far as difficulty to succeed.
Winning record, 103-61, as HC in SEC is pretty good. Not too mention all the work he did as OC under Meyer.
Thing about Mullen is he’s probably past the era of the game in which he can be consistently successful at a high level. At least in SEC. He may have maxed out at State. Very similar to stoops seemingly having maxed out here.
Also, if it were to come to a coaching search, you have to look at guys coming up in this era with their best ahead of them. The time to get Mullen was 15-20 years ago after Utah and during the Tebow run.
Brian Kelly. Great coach, has about the same amount of wins if not more than Saban. Game may have passed him up. Time to get him was 20 years ago.
Our next list of calls needs to be dudes late 30s-mid 40s who are thriving and producing at a high level in this era.
Thing about Mullen is he’s probably past the era of the game in which he can be consistently successful at a high level. At least in SEC. He may have maxed out at State. Very similar to stoops seemingly having maxed out here.
Also, if it were to come to a coaching search, you have to look at guys coming up in this era with their best ahead of them. The time to get Mullen was 15-20 years ago after Utah and during the Tebow run.
Brian Kelly. Great coach, has about the same amount of wins if not more than Saban. Game may have passed him up. Time to get him was 20 years ago.
Our next list of calls needs to be dudes late 30s-mid 40s who are thriving and producing at a high level in this era.
I think they are fair comparisons as far as the programs...he had 1 season where they finished above .500 in the SEC and an overall 33-39 record in conference. I think he's a decent coach, but I don't believe he is the guy to try and get us to the next level. Probably similar results to Stoops tbh. How many guys get fired for performance by P4 programs and succeed elsewhere? That list is probably pretty small.
Ironically when he was at Mississippi State people were saying "if he can win 8 games at State just think what he could do with Florida talent".
My take is Mullen is a good coach and Florida just gave up on him too quickly. He would be a low risk pick for UK, but I would rather they shot for someone with higher risk but higher potential rewards like Sumrall who is in the upward climb of his career and is highly motivated and energetic. Mullen is a good coach but I'm just am not a fan for these retread situations, they sometimes work out but it just seems nothing spectacular ever emerges.
I get that he did well previous stop but not succeeding at Florida is just unthinkable. If you can't win there you definitely cant here.
To be fair he killed it at miss state which is a similar type program and at Florida he would have been in this new playoff every year but one I believe. It wasn’t like he was bad at Florida.
He did have a 10 and an 11 win season there, but things seem to unwind quickly the last two years and they dumped him. But I agree with you that he would probably not be the guy for UK.
Make a case where UK would pay Stoops off only to hook up with Mullen over Sumrall? I just can't find one.
My wildcard would be Art Briles....got blackballed a bit iwth the rape accusations on his team...and if we can get past that drama.....he's a dang awesome coach.
Mullen did pretty well at State, but he never got over the top, but State was happy with his results. But at UF his biggest weakness become clear. He didn't want to recruit. Add that to him not being very likeable and things went south quick. Players and him quit on each other.
If the recruiting thing is accurate, I can completely understand why schools would want to steer clear. With NIL, that just can't be an issue. It's the thing, alongside the portal, that allow the have-nots to go toe-to-to with the haves.
Only way I'd consider Mullen is if he brings a healthy Dak Prescott with him for 3 years.
The problem now is instead of just having to recruit from the HS ranks, you now have to actively keep recruiting every damn player on the roster you desire to keep around pretty much on a 24/7 basis.
Facts. And that's the part that would drive me batty. No way I'd be excited about doing that, especially when the really good ones can just walk away or move on to the NFL in some capacity or another.
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