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It's starting: Potential replacements for Dan Mullen

Leakfan12

VIP Member

Unsure if the Gators would remove Mullen before Grantham or at the same time but who knows.

As for the list

James Franklin: Has experience with SEC (back to back 9-4 seasons with Vanderbilt) plus maybe a Keegan Michael-Key appearance or several.

Luke Fickell: Doing good in Cincy but was the reason why Ohio State hired Urban Meyer (he was 6-7 in 2011 as Suckeye coach).

Joe Brady: SEC experience (LSU during the 2019 season) and from Florida but no head coaching experience and doing so-so as Carolina Panthers OC

Mark Stoops: Had stops in Florida schools though I doubt he leaves UK

Jamey Caldwell: Having success in Coastal Carolina but unsure about coaches in lower-tier programs after McElwain

Also, I have some suggestions

Brian Johnson: Gators hadn't been the same after he left for Philly but no head coaching experience

Charlie Strong: Could be available after the 2021 season and was a Gator coach for a game however his tenure in Texas and South Florida didn't end well
 

DRU2012

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Unsure if the Gators would remove Mullen before Grantham or at the same time but who knows.

As for the list

James Franklin: Has experience with SEC (back to back 9-4 seasons with Vanderbilt) plus maybe a Keegan Michael-Key appearance or several.

Luke Fickell: Doing good in Cincy but was the reason why Ohio State hired Urban Meyer (he was 6-7 in 2011 as Suckeye coach).

Joe Brady: SEC experience (LSU during the 2019 season) and from Florida but no head coaching experience and doing so-so as Carolina Panthers OC

Mark Stoops: Had stops in Florida schools though I doubt he leaves UK

Jamey Caldwell: Having success in Coastal Carolina but unsure about coaches in lower-tier programs after McElwain

Also, I have some suggestions

Brian Johnson: Gators hadn't been the same after he left for Philly but no head coaching experience

Charlie Strong: Could be available after the 2021 season and was a Gator coach for a game however his tenure in Texas and South Florida didn't end well
I appreciate your suggestions, LF; Can’t say that, at least until now, I’d given most of this group consideration as having shown enough “prime promise” to displace Mullen, though, and in the case of a couple left over (notable eg being Charlie, where it’s more HIS appeal having been somewhat “tarnished” of late, as you yourself note).
However, with Mullen’s various choices and the exposed potential weaknesses in his practical strengths and values—stubbornness? QB-handling over-rated? play-calling less-than-stellar of late?—our Coach has definitely seemed to “come back to the pack” in the Coaching Race of late WITHOUT the benefit of others having overtaken him.
All in all, though, I personally would still give him at least one more year, give him AT LEAST that provided he cut loose Grantham by the end of the 2021 campaign, LATEST—
and this season is basically “OVER NOW”, let’s face it.
Not sure if our COACH sees it that way (and I suppose that sort of “Coach speak”-style of thinking buys him time and temporary “wiggle room” now).
But whatever the boosters and regents (etc) who in truth hold his contract and no doubt are discussing these and related-issues NOW, proverbially “as we SPEAK”, in fact consider the central “salient facts” worth weighing in this matter, it is still hazy trying to figure a clear picture of this Coach’s “likely worthy successor”.
IMHO, he is still more or less “protected” by that lack so far.
Unless I’m way off, there just isn’t currently any “undeniably rising star” that I’M aware of who has the experience, attention and current “sexy spotlight” to garner the kind of rep and attention to even begin to eclipse the albeit reduced stature of Mullen’s.
 

DRU2012

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By the way, @Leakfan12, the scary part in all of this, the recurring theme that threatens to cloud the whole issue and ultimately condemn us to the one “last chance” for Mullen to be FORCED (if necessary “against his will, for his own GOOD”) to make the basic “necessary changes”, is all this ridiculous talk of Grantham’s supposed “improved defense”—patently absurd drivvle that somehow (for SOME reason) seeks to rehabilitate this inept assistant’s image and reputation in the face of WEEKLY EVIDENCE of its untruth—of his unit’s lack of basic grasp of fundamentals!
My GOD that’s atrocious tackling we see by them, week in/week OUT! And his “schemes” regularly make “All Stars” of less-than-mediocre opponents’ offenses on a weekly basis now as well—even while network commentators rave about the defense’s “improvement”. It’s incompetent idiocy, sure, but WHY? Where does it come from? What is its source and aim? Frankly, I’ve given up asking and CARING: But it MUST be ignored, over-RULED in the face of practical expediency: Firing Grantham is a “minimum basic MUST-DO first step” now. Period.
 

DRU2012

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@Leakfan12, @Escambia94,
Check out Nick de la Torre’s latest on Gator Territory, “Thoughts on 42-49 Loss to LSU”...=in-depth coverage and analysis of current state of team. Frank, worrisome info.
This piece is a STARTING POINT for any serious current discussion about where we are and where we’re going.
Bottom line summation:
“Next Year is HERE”.
(And: We are now in danger of the Coach losing the players—on Defense probably already HAS; Change required elsewhere hard and fast now.)
This is what “failure” looks like.
This is what “defeat” brings.
 

DRU2012

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Another thing:
Mullen is 4-and-6 in his last 10 games—the end of last season (when it still really counted) plus the start of this one (while we managed to blow the season by OCTOBER!)...
And make no mistake: even THAT record includes games vs acknowledged “tune-up patsies”!
By now even “SEC Apologists” are beginning to wonder if Mullen is the “right guy at Florida?”
And NO ONE SEES HIM EVER really competing well in the annual stringent SEC recruiting competition.
We are STUCK right about where WE ARE, folks!
That IS “The Bottom Line”.
 

DRU2012

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It’s Tuesday after the LSU meltdown, and somewhat predictably the various “usual suspects” all over myriad Gator sites are LIGHTING UP those sites with “Can The Coach!!!” vitriol.
I’m a bit more reflective myself...but I must admit, the more I read and consider their arguments the more I am starting to “come around”...
I mean, I’m still in the “take it EASY, let’s fire Grantham but give Mullen a chance to keep and work with AR”-camp, but if he doesn’t take THAT route at the MINIMUM, or worse, he messes it up somehow the rest of the way (AR’s been a “good soldier” so far in supporting team and teamMATE, let’s see how he handles the flip side now).
I’m inclined to just sit back and hope for “the best” now—whatever THAT is!
 

Leakfan12

VIP Member

Franklin and Fickell are Holdovers from the last article. Having my doubts with Franklin (losing three straight would do that).

Jeff Lebby Ole Miss OC: Knows Florida (assistant for UCF) but no HC experience.

Jeff Hafley BC head coach: Honestly I see him more for the DC job than a head coaching job and his record is 10-8

Mel Tucker Michigan State head coach: He's in the running for the LSU job as well.
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
Remember that the athletic director hires the head coach and the head coach hires the assistants. There is no way Mullen can be fired before Grantham. This article is just as retarded as all the knuckleheads who truly thought Chip Kelly or Scott Frost were coming to Florida. The next head coach at Florida must have head coach experience, and should have SEC experience unless they are an up-and-comer. Note that there are no up-and-comers at this time as there was 15 years ago with Chip Kelly, Urban Meyer, and Rich Rodriguez. Right now the big wave of offensive innovation is in the NFL, not in college.

My list of head coach candidates:
- Lane Kiffin, HC, Ole Miss. He knows offense, he can recruit the state of Florida, and he knows the SEC.
- Bill O'Brien, OC, Alabama (former HC Penn State and Houston Texans). He can recruit through adversity (see the Penn State scandal), he knows offense, and he knows the SEC.
- Luke Fickell, HC, Cincinatti. He is a defensive coach, but he is an up-and-comer. My guess is that he wants to stay close to his home state of Ohio.
- Charlie Strong, defensive assistant, Jacksonville Jaguars. One of these days Charlie needs to come home to Florida, but he needs to bring young coaches with him. His defense is outdated, but he can recruit the state of Florida better than just about anybody. He will not leave Urban Meyer, so he keep watching for his availability over the next few years.
- Graham Harrell, OC, USC. Harrell is an under-the-radar up-and-comer. Florida is too big a program for him to get his first head coaching gig, but I put him here as the next Chip Kelly, Urban Meyer, or Rich Rodriguez.

I list coaches above who will not be available for a few years, because I think it is nonsense to believe that Mullen is going to be fired this year unless the wheels really fall off the wagon. Even the great Pat Dooley agrees with me on that point:
There are two kinds of hot seats — real and perceived. The real hot seats come when the big boosters and AD feel the need for a change, not the fan base. For Florida to make a change, it would mean setting the program back again. Mullen is in a bad stretch and needs to find his way out of it. Certainly, the post-Georgia part of the schedule will help. But clearly, changes need to be made in other areas. Like defensive coordinator. -- Pat Dooley, Gators Wire, USA Today

The fact of the matter is that Dan Mullen has raised the floor and ceiling of the Gator program considerably above the levels we had with Muschamp and McElwain. The next Urban Meyer is not out there right now. Comparing Mullen to Ed Orgeron is asinine, unless you think Mullen is as culpable in both federal and NCAA violations as Orgeron was--which the actual reason he was fired. Yes, it is true that Mullen was not brought to Florida to just be better than Muschamp and McElwain and he was here to bring in national championships. If this really is the case, then UF and the boosters need to put their money where their mouths are, because Florida is not in the top 10 of recruiting investments nor are they in the top 10 in combined football investments. Scott Stricklin would need to fire himself before firing Dan Mullen unless he increased the budget for recruiting, assistant coach salaries, and football facilities. Mullen will be in the hot seat one year from now if the Gators are not on a path to a New Year's Six bowl and a CFB spot.
 
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DRU2012

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Remember that the athletic director hires the head coach and the head coach hires the assistants. There is no way Mullen can be fired before Grantham. This article is just as retarded as all the knuckleheads who truly thought Chip Kelly or Scott Frost were coming to Florida. The next head coach at Florida must have head coach experience, and should have SEC experience unless they are an up-and-comer. Note that there are no up-and-comers at this time as there was 15 years ago with Chip Kelly, Urban Meyer, and Rich Rodriguez. Right now the big wave of offensive innovation is in the NFL, not in college.

My list of head coach candidates:
- Lane Kiffin, HC, Ole Miss. He knows offense, he can recruit the state of Florida, and he knows the SEC.
- Bill O'Brien, OC, Alabama (former HC Penn State and Houston Texans). He can recruit through adversity (see the Penn State scandal), he knows offense, and he knows the SEC.
- Luke Fickell, HC, Cincinatti. He is a defensive coach, but he is an up-and-comer. My guess is that he wants to stay close to his home state of Ohio.
- Charlie Strong, defensive assistant, Jacksonville Jaguars. One of these days Charlie needs to come home to Florida, but he needs to bring young coaches with him. His defense is outdated, but he can recruit the state of Florida better than just about anybody. He will not leave Urban Meyer, so he keep watching for his availability over the next few years.
- Graham Harrell, OC, USC. Harrell is an under-the-radar up-and-comer. Florida is too big a program for him to get his first head coaching gig, but I put him here as the next Chip Kelly, Urban Meyer, or Rich Rodriguez.

I list coaches above who will not be available for a few years, because I think it is nonsense to believe that Mullen is going to be fired this year unless the wheels really fall off the wagon. Even the great Pat Dooley agrees with me on that point:


The fact of the matter is that Dan Mullen has raised the floor and ceiling of the Gator program considerably above the levels we had with Muschamp and McElwain. The next Urban Meyer is not out there right now. Comparing Mullen to Ed Orgeron is asinine, unless you think Mullen is as culpable in both federal and NCAA violations as Orgeron was--which the actual reason he was fired. Yes, it is true that Mullen was not brought to Florida to just be better than Muschamp and McElwain and he was here to bring in national championships. If this really is the case, then UF and the boosters need to put their money where their mouths are, because Florida is not in the top 10 of recruiting investments nor are they in the top 10 in combined football investments. Scott Stricklin would need to fire himself before firing Dan Mullen unless he increased the budget for recruiting, assistant coach salaries, and football facilities. Mullen will be in the hot seat one year from now if the Gators are not on a path to a New Year's Six bowl and a CFB spot.
So YOUR view is that Mullen is “ONE year AWAY from ‘the hot seat’—and THAT “only” if he fails to have us on target and in range of a New Year’s Day Six bowl for sure and contending for a spot in the CFP. That is “BY Cocktail Party weekend”.
OK: That is quite specifically “one notch away from” what the more shrill and panic-stricken onlookers and commentators are now projecting. Their list, while it contains one or two “familiar names”, goes a bit further afield. One thing we agree about: I sure wish there were some FRESHER FACES among that crowd! And SOME are either “somewhat past their time as hot topics”, or are currently carrying their OWN baggage—something I just cannot see our administrators bringing in now.
Dan Mullen CAN weather the current “bad stretch” he has led us into—he deserves (and probably will GET, considering the alternatives) at LEAST that “one more year” to pull us out of it: Reorganize, make some key changes, play to his own strengths and preside over a strong resurgence and they’ll ALL be singing a different tune!
The question remains:
Can we GET there from here?
And meanwhile, what ABOUT the various signs that “the wheels may be coming off” indeed? That weird aftermath/snub to the fans, with only POUNCEY appearing onfield in front of the band and remaining Gator fans to sing the school fight song.
I understand “being down”, but that was A BAD LOOK, boys.
You had to wonder what, if anything, was going through our Coach’s mind. I got the same impression many others did: Right then he didn’t CARE. It was sulking, pure and simple—and by example he permitted the same in his players. What does it say about him, his locker room and the overall attitude and emotional state of the program, top-to-bottom???
What will HIS BOSSES make of it all?!!
Because in the end,
You’re RIGHT:
Make ANY change at the Head Coach position now, and even some “ideal candidate” (for example: some “up’n’comer” none of is at all currently aware of!) will mean setting ourselves back a MINIMUM of a couple of seasons, even if we GET IT RIGHT...Get it wrong, and it’ll be a WHOLE lot worse than THAT.
So for all MY bluster and disappointment, I’ve got little to offer in positive outlook from here. Seems like for now, anyway: “Hang in there and GIVE him the year” seems the safest bet.
I feel like a hypocrite for saying so, but the above, “plus a prayer”, is all I can offer at the moment.
 

Leakfan12

VIP Member
I don't know if I see Kiffin coming here especially since he would be another Mississippi coach coming to G-Ville though if he likes AR-15, should be in consideration but seriously get a DC. O'Brien wrecked the Houston Texans. Also, Harrell would want the Texas Tech job since he was the quarterback there.
 

DRU2012

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I don't know if I see Kiffin coming here especially since he would be another Mississippi coach coming to G-Ville though if he likes AR-15, should be in consideration but seriously get a DC. O'Brien wrecked the Houston Texans. Also, Harrell would want the Texas Tech job since he was the quarterback there.
And meanwhile, the calls “out there” among “the nobodies”—you know, long time fans, devoted alumni, professional beat writers, all folks who for so long have lined up to SUPPORT him—continue to spread and grow for his removal...There was that strange, sad failure in leadership right AFTER the game Saturday (heretofore to be referred to as the “Lone POUNCEY/Missing Mullen” Incident), and today (Monday) his weird responses to certain questions at his (some would argue “somewhat overDUE”) presser, culminating in absurd insistence that somehow “recruiting shouldn’t be addressed, focused on or questioned during the season, but rather be turned to AFTERWARDS” (!!!).
I must agree in this case with those who find this a ridiculous assertion—and though it SOUNDS like just an excuse (albeit one of the dumbest I’ve ever heard), taken literally it goes a LONG way towards explaining why Georgia’s #1 while WE aren’t currently ranked.
Why did Mullen even MAKE such a statement?—he knows better, for sure...Is he so desperate to fend off that area of questioning at this point?
I WANT to be able to go on supporting Dan Mullen, long as he seemingly remains our Coach “for the foreseeable” (and for all the reasons we’ve heard and discussed elsewhere here—Yes, I hear and follow your reasoning, @Escambia94, but these sorts of beyond-the-pale comments and behaviors begin to concern me—OUGHT to it seems concern us ALL!
What gives? He’s now taking the same “in denial”-stance with recruiting that he took after last season with GRANTHAM’S ineptitude.
Carry on similarly in BOTH areas and we’ll soon be “the doormat of the EAST” in the SEC!
I frankly couldn’t BELIEVE he was saying it as it came out of his mouth! He struck me then as a man DEFEATED. Just throwing whatever BS it struck him to say out there, ANYTHING to shut ‘em up, get off his BACK...
I’ll say it AGAIN: It’s a bad LOOK for us, boys. Hope I’m wrong, but these are the earmarks of things coming apart over there at “Gator Central”.
I urge you all to go back and watch our Coach, watch and listen very carefully this latest press conference, consider it all against the backdrop of the last coupla in-game performances, subsequent events and ESPECIALLY his own performance before the cameras here on Monday (Nov. 1). Tell me what YOU see. I’m HOPING you can calmly reassure us.
But I fear it isn’t ME who may need “talking off a ledge”!
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
I don't know if I see Kiffin coming here especially since he would be another Mississippi coach coming to G-Ville though if he likes AR-15, should be in consideration but seriously get a DC. O'Brien wrecked the Houston Texans. Also, Harrell would want the Texas Tech job since he was the quarterback there.
The issue with Dan Mullen coming from Mississippi State was that Scott Stricklin was an athletic director there while Mullen was a head coach. The fact that Lane Kiffin is a head coach in the state of Mississippi has no bearing on the issue. Kiffin would need to bring a different defensive coordinator. I really do not translate NFL success or failure to college success or failure without looking at extenuating circumstances. Remember that Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier are both failed NFL head coaches. As stated above Graham Harrell has no business cutting his teeth as a first-time head coach at Florida (see Will Muschamp); however, as stated above, I have to list him here as the only coach I would consider as "the next Urban Meyer". The reference for that as I have repeated on this forum multiple times is that 15 years ago there were basically three up-and-coming offensive coordinators who were predicted to have great success as college head coaches by innovating the sport: Urban Meyer, Chip Kelly, and Rich Rodriguez. Those three really revolutionalized spread and spread-option offenses that spanned college and the NFL. Right now there is no equivalent wave of innovative talent in the college ranks--that pendulum has swung towards the NFL. Graham Harrell is currently as USC, which implies he is willing to leave the state of Texas for the right job. Regardless, we do not care where he is now because he needs some head coaching experience elsewhere before Florida should consider him in a few years--and he is the only one on my list that I would categorize as "wait and see".
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
So YOUR view is that Mullen is “ONE year AWAY from ‘the hot seat’—and THAT “only” if he fails to have us on target and in range of a New Year’s Day Six bowl for sure and contending for a spot in the CFP. That is “BY Cocktail Party weekend”.
OK: That is quite specifically “one notch away from” what the more shrill and panic-stricken onlookers and commentators are now projecting. Their list, while it contains one or two “familiar names”, goes a bit further afield. One thing we agree about: I sure wish there were some FRESHER FACES among that crowd! And SOME are either “somewhat past their time as hot topics”, or are currently carrying their OWN baggage—something I just cannot see our administrators bringing in now.
Dan Mullen CAN weather the current “bad stretch” he has led us into—he deserves (and probably will GET, considering the alternatives) at LEAST that “one more year” to pull us out of it: Reorganize, make some key changes, play to his own strengths and preside over a strong resurgence and they’ll ALL be singing a different tune!
The question remains:
Can we GET there from here?
And meanwhile, what ABOUT the various signs that “the wheels may be coming off” indeed? That weird aftermath/snub to the fans, with only POUNCEY appearing onfield in front of the band and remaining Gator fans to sing the school fight song.
I understand “being down”, but that was A BAD LOOK, boys.
You had to wonder what, if anything, was going through our Coach’s mind. I got the same impression many others did: Right then he didn’t CARE. It was sulking, pure and simple—and by example he permitted the same in his players. What does it say about him, his locker room and the overall attitude and emotional state of the program, top-to-bottom???
What will HIS BOSSES make of it all?!!
Because in the end,
You’re RIGHT:
Make ANY change at the Head Coach position now, and even some “ideal candidate” (for example: some “up’n’comer” none of is at all currently aware of!) will mean setting ourselves back a MINIMUM of a couple of seasons, even if we GET IT RIGHT...Get it wrong, and it’ll be a WHOLE lot worse than THAT.
So for all MY bluster and disappointment, I’ve got little to offer in positive outlook from here. Seems like for now, anyway: “Hang in there and GIVE him the year” seems the safest bet.
I feel like a hypocrite for saying so, but the above, “plus a prayer”, is all I can offer at the moment.
I will paraphrase Pat Dooley, Chris Doering, and Gene Chizik: there are two types of hot seat--perceived (by the fans) and real (by the athletic director and boosters). Dan Mullen is not on the real hot seat, nor should he be--unless the NCAA probation was serious enough to justify firing him (which does not appear to be the case). Repeating the tired old line about Dan Mullen being on the hot seat does not make it true. Granted, Mullen is acting rather funny lately. My guess is that he just got his one-year warning on the hot seat. Fans will want the conditions for that hot seat to include firing Todd Grantham, hiring a recruiter, and magically getting a top-10 recruiting class. I hate to disappoint everyone, but I doubt all those things happen. Todd Grantham, John Hevesy, Billy Gonzalez, Greg Knox, and maybe Christian Robinson are Mullen's "ride-or-die crew". If Mullen succeeds at Florida, it will be with his core staff that he has worked with at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Mississippi State, and if he gets fired from Florida this will be he core staff at his next job. Mullen is not Nick Saban--he does not have deep connections in the NFL and college where he can grab any coach off the market. There is only one Saban, so that is not a fair comparison. Even Georgia's football staff is largely composed of Kirby Smart's core team of coaches from Georgia, Alabama, and Ole Miss.

There definitely are some bad signs in the program, but these might get swept under the rug if Florida wins out and finishes the season 8-4 and gets into a bowl game. Yeah, I get it, the Gasparilla Bowl is not the Gator Standard. Right now this is not about the Gator Standard--this is about improving the program's floor and ceiling from the depths that Muschamp and McElwain brought us. Dan Mullen has definitely improved the floor. Unless something crazy happens, the floor for Mullen will be 8 wins and the ceiling is at least an SEC appearance. Other coaches with comparable salaries are given 5 years to win the conference, so at the very least Mullen gets one more year to justify that salary with an SEC championship.

The "one more year" statement is not about surrendering or pumping in optimism. This is business calculus. Mullen's buyout is $12M. His $8M salary is comparable to coaches who won their conference within the first five years. 2022 is the year of the hot seat--the real hot seat as determined by the athletic director and boosters. If fans decided the hot seat then Mullen should have been fired in year 1 when the Gators lost to Kentucky. That sounds like a great idea--scare off every coach who dares lose a game.
 

DRU2012

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I will paraphrase Pat Dooley, Chris Doering, and Gene Chizik: there are two types of hot seat--perceived (by the fans) and real (by the athletic director and boosters). Dan Mullen is not on the real hot seat, nor should he be--unless the NCAA probation was serious enough to justify firing him (which does not appear to be the case). Repeating the tired old line about Dan Mullen being on the hot seat does not make it true. Granted, Mullen is acting rather funny lately. My guess is that he just got his one-year warning on the hot seat. Fans will want the conditions for that hot seat to include firing Todd Grantham, hiring a recruiter, and magically getting a top-10 recruiting class. I hate to disappoint everyone, but I doubt all those things happen. Todd Grantham, John Hevesy, Billy Gonzalez, Greg Knox, and maybe Christian Robinson are Mullen's "ride-or-die crew". If Mullen succeeds at Florida, it will be with his core staff that he has worked with at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Mississippi State, and if he gets fired from Florida this will be he core staff at his next job. Mullen is not Nick Saban--he does not have deep connections in the NFL and college where he can grab any coach off the market. There is only one Saban, so that is not a fair comparison. Even Georgia's football staff is largely composed of Kirby Smart's core team of coaches from Georgia, Alabama, and Ole Miss.

There definitely are some bad signs in the program, but these might get swept under the rug if Florida wins out and finishes the season 8-4 and gets into a bowl game. Yeah, I get it, the Gasparilla Bowl is not the Gator Standard. Right now this is not about the Gator Standard--this is about improving the program's floor and ceiling from the depths that Muschamp and McElwain brought us. Dan Mullen has definitely improved the floor. Unless something crazy happens, the floor for Mullen will be 8 wins and the ceiling is at least an SEC appearance. Other coaches with comparable salaries are given 5 years to win the conference, so at the very least Mullen gets one more year to justify that salary with an SEC championship.

The "one more year" statement is not about surrendering or pumping in optimism. This is business calculus. Mullen's buyout is $12M. His $8M salary is comparable to coaches who won their conference within the first five years. 2022 is the year of the hot seat--the real hot seat as determined by the athletic director and boosters. If fans decided the hot seat then Mullen should have been fired in year 1 when the Gators lost to Kentucky. That sounds like a great idea--scare off every coach who dares lose a game.
I appreciate and actually find a certain reassurance in your arguments, E—...BUT...
Here’s the thing:
He is acting more than just “funny” (even if you DO mean “funny-STRANGE”, NOT “funny-FUNNY”!). These last few days have produced some inexplicable behavior, BAFFLING moments!
That presser was downright weird; something was already “off”, and then came that statement in answer to a question about recruiting. I urge you to watch it again, man: it made zero sense EXCEPT as an argument, a reason to disagree—albeit a POOR one. And Coach damn well KNOWS it!
Yet suddenly it is supposed to be the foundation of a complete negation of long studied and acknowledged ideas about evaluating and recruiting relative talent on football’s field of competition and excellence.
“We’re in the middle of our season, so none of it counts or is to be considered or evaluated”...and of course NO ONE is doing so, meanwhile—because THEY are playing out their schedule now too!
Does ANY of this merit the slightest further discussion??!
I don’t know what YOU make of all this , E—, but it just strikes ME as more than slightly LOONY-TUNES! In other words, SO ridiculous I find myself suddenly really WONDERING about our Coach.
Hell: No WONDER I can now start throwing crazy ideas (like my latest thread about hiring Spurrier) out there for discussion. I did THAT mostly to just get the “juices flowing”—at most “just in case” it all goes to pieces beyond anything WE or ANYONE does, tries or says.
And there are ample signs now that might well be the developing situation, mark my words. Reason may be in the process of dissolving all on its own here.
 

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