Just as a reminder, when Nick Saban was Dan Mullen's current age, he was at 12-11-1 at Michigan State. Saban didn't win his first national title till age 52, after taking the job at LSU, where he had more resources and a much better recruiting footprint than at Michigan State.
This idea that Dan Mullen would be a mediocre hire is rubbish. He's by far the most successful coach in modern Mississippi State history. So many people here at VN are dramatically underestimating how much of a disadvantage Dan Mullen is competing with at Miss State versus teams like Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, and Auburn. He's 32-28 in the SEC West competing against teams with vastly better resources. Imagine how he'd do with the resources of a place like Tennessee.