I was wrong about Dan Mullen...

#1

VolFreakJosh

“Don’t you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby!”
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#1
Originally, I thought he was overrated at MSU.

He wasn’t on my list of coaches that could replace Butch. Absolutely hated the idea.

Developing Kyle Trask into an elite SEC QB is truly remarkable and that comes with good coaching.

I still think he’s an arrogant prick but the man is doing a great job at Florida.

I have to give credit where it’s due.
 
#2
#2
We had a chance to get him before he went to Florida but drug our feet around too long and blew it in typical Tennessee fashion.
 
#5
#5
I always thought he was a great coach. My concern was that he wasn't a good enough recruiter to get elite talent to Tennessee. Easier to recruit to Florida.
 
#6
#6
We had a chance to get him before he went to Florida but drug our feet around too long and blew it in typical Tennessee fashion.

Seems to be our “thing”. Have a shot at a great HC, screw around, miss out, hire a loser.

Wonder if it happens again?
 
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#8
#8
The reason why anybody would think he was overrated at Miss St is beyond me. Some of the critiques of him "...but he never won the SEC there!" were just absurd. If Butch or Pruitt was HC there, they'd win about 3 or 4 games a year.

He went almost .500 in SEC play during the most dominant run any conference's division has ever seen...at Mississippi freaking State. I'm not surprised in the slightest he has Florida rolling pretty good right now. Look at what he did with Dak and Nick Fitzgerald.
 
#10
#10
The reason why anybody would think he was overrated at Miss St is beyond me. Some of the critiques of him "...but he never won the SEC there!" were just absurd. If Butch or Pruitt was HC there, they'd win about 3 or 4 games a year.

He went almost .500 in SEC play during the most dominant run any conference's division has ever seen...at Mississippi freaking State. I'm not surprised in the slightest he has Florida rolling pretty good right now. Look at what he did with Dak and Nick Fitzgerald.
he had Miss St #1 in the country, he was far from overrated.
 
#11
#11
he had Miss St #1 in the country, he was far from overrated.
I agree, but many here (maybe even over 50% of this site) were convinced he was overrated.

There's a real inability or unwillingness to grade on a curve in these types of discussions. This isn't the NFL...Miss St isn't on a level playing field.
 
#12
#12
Guilty. In mitigation of my mistake I plead that I really thought we were still in the hunt for Gruden and wasn't willing to consider the upside of a lot of other candidates.
 
#13
#13
I was wrong about him too. I preferred Chip Kelly or Scott Frost over Mullen. I didn’t think he was a bad hire by any means, but I thought he was third behind those two guys.

He has greatly exceeded my very high expectations. About to be 30-6 after 36 games and playing for an SEC title. Amazing first 3 years.
 
#14
#14
Here’s what I like best about Mullen being in the SEC right now; he’s NOT a Saban disciple. UF has been down that road and bombed with Muschamp and McElwain. Other teams have too; SC, Tennessee, UGa included. Saban doesn’t even coach like he did 4 or 5 years ago, why should people be hiring coaches from that tree?

The last team to dominate the SEC not named Saban, for multiple years, was Urban Meyer and Florida. Before that, it was Spurrier and Florida. Now other teams have had the occasional great season (Cam Newton at Auburn, Joe Burrow at LSU) but nobody has sustained dominance like Saban since Meyer and Spurrier. Urban Meyer’s dominance came with Mullen as OC. When Mullen left, Florida was never the same.... until he returned.

If Florida can find a way to beat Bama in two weeks, you may see a changing of the guard back to Florida in the SEC. Alabama people fear nobody, except a well-coached Florida. UF is the only school who has sustained dominance in the conference besides them during the last 30 years.

Florida and Bama have met in Atlanta 8 times. It’s 4-4 in those matchups (two of UF’s losses were v those McElwain teams that somehow made the game). Bama also beat UF in Birmingham in the famous pick-6 game in what was a home game for Bama, back when the conference didn’t even try to hide their Bama bias, so it’s Bama 5 wins, UF 4. This will be their 10th meeting in SEC title games, more than any other teams.
 
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#17
#17
I always thought he was a great coach. My concern was that he wasn't a good enough recruiter to get elite talent to Tennessee. Easier to recruit to Florida.


Assuming that theory to be correct, who WOULD be an "elite" enough coach to get elite talent to go to UT? Seems like that would be extremely rarified air.
 
#18
#18
I agree, but many here (maybe even over 50% of this site) were convinced he was overrated.

There's a real inability or unwillingness to grade on a curve in these types of discussions. This isn't the NFL...Miss St isn't on a level playing field.

Important point....

1. The ability to recruit talent, any talent, to Starkville.
2. The ability to get them to compete nationally in the most difficult division probably in college football.
3. The ability to do it pretty consistently over time.

UT might be easier recruiting than MSU, but it's not as easy as FL, AL, LSU, GA. He may not have wanted to come here, so we may not have missed out, but that is a track record you should look for when you have to recruit The Hill. It seems Pruitt can handle point #1.
 
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#20
#20
Mullen had a job interview set for the Sunday after the Ole Miss/Miss State game. Currie had already sent him a M.o.U.
It was obvious he was more interested in the Florida position and at that time and the info being reported was he told us no thanks. My source is the discussion on VN at the time. Maybe you can produce the source reporting with the Vol/Gator timeline of interviews and HC openings which rebuts by post.
 
#21
#21
It was obvious he was more interested in the Florida position and at that time and the info being reported was he told us no thanks. My source is the discussion on VN at the time. Maybe you can produce the source reporting with the Vol/Gator timeline of interviews and HC openings which rebuts by post.

It was in the text messages and emails that were released via the freedom of information act from Currie. Currie and Mullen and his agent were talking. He had agreed to come interview after the Ole Miss/Miss State game that Thursday.

Florida got turned down by Chip Kelly right around then, Mullen went that way and they moved on to Schiano. Had we fired Butch when he should have been weeks earlier, may have gotten Mullen locked down before the final week. But as with everything, UT admin screwed it up.
 
#22
#22
It was in the text messages and emails that were released via the freedom of information act from Currie. Currie and Mullen and his agent were talking. He had agreed to come interview after the Ole Miss/Miss State game that Thursday.

Florida got turned down by Chip Kelly right around then, Mullen went that way and they moved on to Schiano. Had we fired Butch when he should have been weeks earlier, may have gotten Mullen locked down before the final week. But as with everything, UT admin screwed it up.
I don’t believe this. Mullen knew he was going to have better options with the coaching carousel that year. Agreeing to an interview means nothing.
 
#23
#23
I don’t believe this. Mullen knew he was going to have better options with the coaching carousel that year. Agreeing to an interview means nothing.

It means he had interest in the job when you flatly stated he did not. His agent contacted Currie to set up the interview. Mullen was done with Miss State one way or another.
 
#25
#25
It means he had interest in the job when you flatly stated he did not. His agent contacted Currie to set up the interview. Mullen was done with Miss State one way or another.
He actually didn’t want to come here. You can twist the words all you want but he wasn’t going to coach here.
 

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