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 His defense is outdated, but he can recruit the state of Florida better than just about anybody.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.