What went wrong with Dan Mullen? How did it fall apart so quickly?
Looking back, I think Dan Mullen fell into the same trap as his two or three predecessors: even if his plan worked it was not built on a sustainable process. Maybe Mullen was not paying attention to the part where Meyer’s 2006 and 2008 teams were balanced on offense and defense, had top 10 recruiting classes and were at least in the top 40 in terms of fewest penalties. Off-field discipline was a problem he failed to fix at Florida and Ohio State. Meyer’s plan probably lacked sustainability that Saban’s plans have. Neither Muschamp nor McElwain has good plans to put in place or sustain over time.
Mullen fixed the offense, which made Gator football fun for the first time in a long time, but he let the defense and lack of discipline get worse over the years. He fixed off-field discipline for the most part. No need to rehash his lack of skill with recruiting. One thing he may take away from his experience at Florida is that loyalty to his buddies on the coaching staff should only go so far—as long as his hiring decisions do not get him fired. One thing he was never going to learn at Florida was innovation. NIL and facilities arm races may shape college football more than fancy offensive plays and exotic defensive schemes. This is not to say that innovation with offense and defense is not important, but I think innovation with talent management and facilities will overshadow innovation with new plays on the field.
What did Mullen do well? He certainly was familiar with the Gator Standard. Whether you like Urban Meyer or not, it was Meyer that restored the Gator Standard set by Steve Spurrier. Meyer elevated the standard set by Spurrier, but Meyer did not fully embrace the Gator culture that he had a hand in establishing. Mullen showed up in 2018 thinking he could dust off Meyer’s plan to succeed with high flying offense and that would have been sufficient. He knew defense was important, but he simply could not fire his buddy when the defense fell apart in 2020—as if COVID were a valid excuse for the defense. He knew offense alone could win games, but he failed to instill the foundational on-field discipline necessary to win games where the offense or defense was having a bad day. He arrogantly believed racking up more yards was sufficient to win games while overlooking the effect that penalties had on that slim margin of victory-or-defeat. He stubbornly remained loyal to a QB whose flawed fundamentals led to overthrows and interceptions.
How will Billy Napier avoid the mistakes made by Urban Meyer, Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, and Dan Mullen? I think it will be a mix of Nick Saban’s Process and Napier’s Modernization to the Process that will overhaul the Gator program in the long run.
Looking back, I think Dan Mullen fell into the same trap as his two or three predecessors: even if his plan worked it was not built on a sustainable process. Maybe Mullen was not paying attention to the part where Meyer’s 2006 and 2008 teams were balanced on offense and defense, had top 10 recruiting classes and were at least in the top 40 in terms of fewest penalties. Off-field discipline was a problem he failed to fix at Florida and Ohio State. Meyer’s plan probably lacked sustainability that Saban’s plans have. Neither Muschamp nor McElwain has good plans to put in place or sustain over time.
Mullen fixed the offense, which made Gator football fun for the first time in a long time, but he let the defense and lack of discipline get worse over the years. He fixed off-field discipline for the most part. No need to rehash his lack of skill with recruiting. One thing he may take away from his experience at Florida is that loyalty to his buddies on the coaching staff should only go so far—as long as his hiring decisions do not get him fired. One thing he was never going to learn at Florida was innovation. NIL and facilities arm races may shape college football more than fancy offensive plays and exotic defensive schemes. This is not to say that innovation with offense and defense is not important, but I think innovation with talent management and facilities will overshadow innovation with new plays on the field.
What did Mullen do well? He certainly was familiar with the Gator Standard. Whether you like Urban Meyer or not, it was Meyer that restored the Gator Standard set by Steve Spurrier. Meyer elevated the standard set by Spurrier, but Meyer did not fully embrace the Gator culture that he had a hand in establishing. Mullen showed up in 2018 thinking he could dust off Meyer’s plan to succeed with high flying offense and that would have been sufficient. He knew defense was important, but he simply could not fire his buddy when the defense fell apart in 2020—as if COVID were a valid excuse for the defense. He knew offense alone could win games, but he failed to instill the foundational on-field discipline necessary to win games where the offense or defense was having a bad day. He arrogantly believed racking up more yards was sufficient to win games while overlooking the effect that penalties had on that slim margin of victory-or-defeat. He stubbornly remained loyal to a QB whose flawed fundamentals led to overthrows and interceptions.
How will Billy Napier avoid the mistakes made by Urban Meyer, Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, and Dan Mullen? I think it will be a mix of Nick Saban’s Process and Napier’s Modernization to the Process that will overhaul the Gator program in the long run.