Everyone making a deal about the 2-15 vs AP 25

[NorthJerseyGator]

2-15 at aptly named Starkville shitehole in the resurgent SEC West during the Nick Saban Bama era. So 12 of those 15 losses were to Saban/Bama and/or Natty game winners or runners up in Saban/Bama, Cam/Aubie, Marshall/Aubie, and Honeybadger/LSU. And add in a 13th loss if Aubie makes natty game this season. So basically, aside from playing the nation's top 1 or 2 team every year he was 2-2 with POS Miss St vs top 25.

It's not like he was 2-15 vs a random assortment of top 25 ranked from 1 through 25. No, these losses were against championship caliber #1 or #2 Bama, Aubie, and LSU.

Considering he played those BIG 3 division teams 27 times total in 9 years, this 2-15 "thing" playing with a MSU is put into proper perspective.

 

[Dannygator1989]

There are some people here that are idiots.

 

[wahoodog]

Don't forget that he's lost 3 of the last 4 vs. Ole Miss and he was favored in all 3. Here's what was at stake (and lost) in those games - 2014 (CFB playoff as State was no. 4 at the time)
2015 (Sugar Bowl) and 2017 (New Years Day Bowl). Good luck breaking that streak vs Seminoles w/ Mullen.

 

[NorthJerseyGator]

Don't forget that he's lost 3 of the last 4 vs. Ole Miss and he was favored in all 3. Here's what was at stake (and lost) in those games - 2014 (CFB playoff as State was no. 4 at the time)
2015 (Sugar Bowl) and 2017 (New Years Day Bowl). Good luck breaking that streak vs Seminoles w/ Mullen.

The 2017 game they lost Fitzgerald, the straw that stirs their drink, early in the game and still almost won. And all these games you mention were against the cheating Hugh Freeze regime. And yet Mullen still finished with a winning record vs Ole Miss of 5-4.

 

[46885]

that hit on Fitz is suspect as hell

 

[PacoGator19]

Don't forget that he's lost 3 of the last 4 vs. Ole Miss and he was favored in all 3. Here's what was at stake (and lost) in those games - 2014 (CFB playoff as State was no. 4 at the time)
2015 (Sugar Bowl) and 2017 (New Years Day Bowl). Good luck breaking that streak vs Seminoles w/ Mullen.

The fact you are even bringing up CFB Playoff/Sugar Bowl and New Years Day Bowl when talking about Miss St. already tells me what kind of coach he is. When have you ever brought that up with any other Miss St coaches? Not only that but you mentioned that in 3 different years. Thanks for telling us something we already know. The guy can coach.

 

[GatorsFanYeah]

Lol, Florida State fans talking smack. Your team was preseason #3 and will finish 6-6 after a 3-6 start, congrats. You've managed a nice winning streak over UF during their worst stretch since the 1970s and the one time Florida had a good team, 2012, they handled you easily.

Mullen has coached Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, Cam Newton, Dak Prescott, and Nick Fitzgerald, his record with QBs speaks for itself. Everything in college football is cyclical, and UF is about to be back ahead in their rightful place. Worry about keeping your own coach before you throw shade.

James Franklin had a losing record at Vandy, fwiw, and I think we can all agree he is a hell of a coach. Records at crappy schools who don't win in football is irrelevant, and Mullen actually won there. 21 bowls in their history, 8 under Mullen.

 

[Michi-Gator]

Don't forget that he's lost 3 of the last 4 vs. Ole Miss and he was favored in all 3. Here's what was at stake (and lost) in those games - 2014 (CFB playoff as State was no. 4 at the time)
2015 (Sugar Bowl) and 2017 (New Years Day Bowl). Good luck breaking that streak vs Seminoles w/ Mullen.

Can’t wait to see you spin Willie Taggarts LOSING record as a HBC when you hire him

 

[Dannygator1989]

that hit on Fitz is suspect as hell

I think he faked it.

 

[rdgtr]

Don't forget that he's lost 3 of the last 4 vs. Ole Miss and he was favored in all 3. Here's what was at stake (and lost) in those games - 2014 (CFB playoff as State was no. 4 at the time)
2015 (Sugar Bowl) and 2017 (New Years Day Bowl). Good luck breaking that streak vs Seminoles w/ Mullen.

At Florida, Mullen will get much better material to work with than he had at Miss. St. In these last few years, there were times Florida had the best defense in the SEC (even better than Alabama's in some years) but the last 7-8 offenses at UF were all ranked in the 100s.

Mullen will have a chance to implement a top 50/top 25 offense at UF to go along with a usually top 10/top25 defense. In big games, that is going to make all of the difference in the world when Florida takes on the Georgia's, LSU's, FSU's, etc.

 

[keyzer soze]

I think he faked it.

Yeah, I hear he’s double jointed.

 

[rdgtr]

To put Mullen's MSU record of 2-15 mark (?final ranking?) against AP teams in perspective, here was Mississippi St's records before he took over the job in 2009:

2006: 3-9 (1-7)
2007: 8-5 (4-4)
2008: 4-8 (2-6)
----------------------------------------------------------------
So basically, the Mississippi State job was a rebuilding job. Mullen went there to try to change the culture to a more consistent, winning culture where it did not exist before since the Jacki Sherrill days of the 1990s.

That is what the Florida job has also become - a rebuilding job. Florida had two losing seasons in the last five years ('13-'17: 4-8, 4-7) when previously Florida had winning seasons from 1980-2012 (33 straight winning seasons!).
---------------------------------------------------------------

Here is MSU's records in the 9 years that Dan Mullen was there:

2009: 5-7 (3-5)
2010: 9-4 (4-4) <-- 3rd best SEC-W record
2011: 7-6 (2-6)
------ Addition of Texas A&M, Missouri to the SEC --
2012: 8-5 (4-4)
2013: 7-6 (3-5)
2014: 10-3 (6-2) <-- 2nd in SEC-W
2015: 9-4 (4-4) <-- 4th
2016: 6-7 (3-5)
2017: 8-4 (4-4) <-- 3rd in SEC-W
=====================================

With national/SEC championship powerhouses in the SEC-W (i.e Alabama - '09, '12, '14 '15, '16 Auburn - '10,'13,'17 LSU - '11), Mullen did not or could not win the mighty, competitive SEC-W division. There was also the Johnny Manziel Texas A&M teams to contend with along with a resurgent Ole Miss program (which will soon get hammered by the NCAA for recruiting violations).

However, what Mullen had ultimately achieved at Miss. St was getting the Bulldogs to have winning seasons in 7 out of 9 seasons. When previously there were losing seasons, MSU now averages 7-8-9 wins a season. That is a remarkable turnaround at Mississippi State.

Every two or three seasons, MSU had strong enough teams that could contend for the SEC-W title. Mullen is probably walking away from another good team at Mississippi St to take on the Florida job!

At Florida, Mullen will have the Gators contending for the SEC-E title almost every season. The Gators just have to find a consistent quarterback which has been THE story for the last 7-8 years.

 

[TexanNole]

Anyone should know it is very difficult to win in Starkville. DM is a really good coach to do that well there. Any realistic fan should understand this. He was competing with Bama, Auburn, A&M, Ole Miss....very tough crowd.

 

[rdgtr]

That 2-15 record against AP teams is odd because in 2014, Mississippi State defeated three straight top 10 teams in a row to achieve the Bulldogs 1st ever #1 ranking. MSU defeated the following teams that year:

@ #8 LSU: W 34-29
#6 Texas A&M: W: 48-31
#2 Auburn: W 38-23
--------------------------------------------------------------
@ #5 Alabama: L 20-25
#19 Ole Miss: L 17-31
Orange Bowl: #12 Georgia Tech: L 34-49
--------------------------------------------------------------
In the 2014 season alone, MSU was 3-3 against top 25 teams.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/schedule/_/id/344/year/2014

In this 2017 season, Mississippi State has defeated #12 LSU 37-7. These Tigers sit currently at #17 in the CFP's! Mississippi State is curently ranked #23.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/rankings
===================================================================

So in conclusion after further research,
that 2-15 stat is bogus.
Dan Mullen's MSU team actually has 7 wins total against AP top 25 teams:

2009: W #25 Ole Miss
2010: W #22 Florida
2014: 3 W's (see above)
2016: W #4 Texas A&M
2017: W #12 LSU

http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/schedule/_/id/344

 

[PacoGator19]

Anyone should know it is very difficult to win in Starkville. DM is a really good coach to do that well there. Any realistic fan should understand this. He was competing with Bama, Auburn, A&M, Ole Miss....very tough crowd.

You forgot LSU as well.

 

[TennesseeGator]

You forgot LSU as well.

And wasn't his early tenure against some Petrino led Arkansas teams?

 

[PacoGator19]

And wasn't his early tenure against some Petrino led Arkansas teams?

Correct

 

[Gator Fever]

Its a terrible stat but I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt now.

 

[wahoodog]

You can't compare Mullen's success at State to MSU's prior coaches/history. It's apples to oranges. Why? Because Mullen's arrival closely coincided with the arrival of big $$ from ESPN that prior coaches never had to work with. State now gets $40M annually from the SEC which it used to upgrade facilities. The new TV money has helped the small guys (State, Ole Miss, Vandy, etc.) more than traditional SEC powers and greatly leveled the playing field. Mullen greatly benefited from this $$ and used it to his benefit along with some hard work and good (not great) coaching skills.

Look, we've got a large enough sample size to determine what Mullen is and is not at this point in his career.

He is:

1. A good (not great) coach who can really develop QBs and 3* players in general;
2. A coach who can consistently beat SEC teams with equal or inferior talent/coaching (i.e., UK, Vandy, Arky. Missouri, A&M, S. Carolina, etc.);
3. A coach with an abrasive personality/ego that usually results in much turnover in assist coaches (as he's had a new DC just about every year, although this could be due to Starkville, who knows) and frequently rubs HS coaches the wrong way which adversely affects his recruiting.

He is not:
1. A great recruiter (see past national rankings) (again some of this may be due to Starkville but maybe not since he could not capitalize on national exposure from No. 1 ranking for 5 weeks in 2014 to improve recruiting);
2. A coach who will consistently beat top-tier SEC teams w/ superior talent/coaching (i.e., Bama, Auburn, LSU, etc.) (see 2-15 record in top-25 tilts).

And it's not logical to expect Mullen to change his stripes at this stage of his career but I guess it is possible. We shall see. It should be interesting.

 

[GymGator]

Don't forget that he's lost 3 of the last 4 vs. Ole Miss and he was favored in all 3. Here's what was at stake (and lost) in those games - 2014 (CFB playoff as State was no. 4 at the time)
2015 (Sugar Bowl) and 2017 (New Years Day Bowl). Good luck breaking that streak vs Seminoles w/ Mullen.

Let me get this straight...the coach you don't think will beat fsu is the coach that has never lost fsu?
4-0 from '05-'08.

 

[MJWilliamson]

I think the concerns about Mullen are legit. By all accounts, he was our third choice.

That said, I loved his press conference, and I am going to support the guy until he give me a reason not to support him.

 

[wahoodog]

Huh? Danny was head ball coach from 2005-2008? I didn't realize that. Sorry, I didn't do my homework. And Timmy is not walking through that door anytime soon either. But, maybe another Treon will show up on the roster soon.

 

[Michi-Gator]

Huh? Danny was head ball coach from 2005-2008? I didn't realize that. Sorry, I didn't do my homework. And Timmy is not walking through that door anytime soon either. But, maybe another Treon will show up on the roster soon.

When will your new coach with his losing record arrive? I am anxiously awaiting the awesome justifications for that.

 

[Michi-Gator]

I think the concerns about Mullen are legit. By all accounts, he was our third choice.

That said, I loved his press conference, and I am going to support the guy until he give me a reason not to support him.

My very favorite thing about this hire is it makes the pro-Foley crowd salty. Love it!

And it pisses off the old guard because we will soon have a bunch of guys with Urban ties coaching here again.

Great job Stricklin on giving Foley a huge middle finger with this hire. You the man!

 

[NorthJerseyGator]

To put Mullen's MSU record of 2-15 mark (?final ranking?) against AP teams in perspective, here was Mississippi St's records before he took over the job in 2009:

2006: 3-9 (1-7)
2007: 8-5 (4-4)
2008: 4-8 (2-6)
----------------------------------------------------------------
So basically, the Mississippi State job was a rebuilding job. Mullen went there to try to change the culture to a more consistent, winning culture where it did not exist before since the Jacki Sherrill days of the 1990s.

That is what the Florida job has also become - a rebuilding job. Florida had two losing seasons in the last five years ('13-'17: 4-8, 4-7) when previously Florida had winning seasons from 1980-2012 (33 straight winning seasons!).
---------------------------------------------------------------

Here is MSU's records in the 9 years that Dan Mullen was there:

2009: 5-7 (3-5)
2010: 9-4 (4-4) <-- 3rd best SEC-W record
2011: 7-6 (2-6)
------ Addition of Texas A&M, Missouri to the SEC --
2012: 8-5 (4-4)
2013: 7-6 (3-5)
2014: 10-3 (6-2) <-- 2nd in SEC-W
2015: 9-4 (4-4) <-- 4th
2016: 6-7 (3-5)
2017: 8-4 (4-4) <-- 3rd in SEC-W
=====================================

With national/SEC championship powerhouses in the SEC-W (i.e Alabama - '09, '12, '14 '15, '16 Auburn - '10,'13,'17 LSU - '11), Mullen did not or could not win the mighty, competitive SEC-W division. There was also the Johnny Manziel Texas A&M teams to contend with along with a resurgent Ole Miss program (which will soon get hammered by the NCAA for recruiting violations).

However, what Mullen had ultimately achieved at Miss. St was getting the Bulldogs to have winning seasons in 7 out of 9 seasons. When previously there were losing seasons, MSU now averages 7-8-9 wins a season. That is a remarkable turnaround at Mississippi State.

Every two or three seasons, MSU had strong enough teams that could contend for the SEC-W title. Mullen is probably walking away from another good team at Mississippi St to take on the Florida job!

At Florida, Mullen will have the Gators contending for the SEC-E title almost every season. The Gators just have to find a consistent quarterback which has been THE story for the last 7-8 years.

They said on tv that in the past 4 years MSU has won the 2nd most SEC games of the West Division teams behind only Bama. That's good.

 

[wahoodog]

As Spurrier once said to Foley re his resume, "look in the trophy case for my resume" or something to that effect. Well, if you look in Dan's trophy case, it's kinda bare folks. He doesn't have many trophies (if any) in there from his days as a HC. But wait, he does have a Belk Bowl trophy. And come to think of it he also has one from something called the St. Pete Bowl last year following his stellar 5-7 season.

 

[TennesseeGator]

As Spurrier once said to Foley re his resume, "look in the trophy case for my resume" or something to that effect. Well, if you look in Dan's trophy case, it's kinda bare folks. He doesn't have many trophies (if any) in there from his days as a HC. But wait, he does have a Belk Bowl trophy. And come to think of it he also has one from something called the St. Pete Bowl last year following his stellar 5-7 season.

List me all the modern day past MSU coaches who have trophy's in the case. The lone SEC West in 1998 under Jackie Sherrill...who was a known cheater. Ole Miss got the shaft from Tuberville and we're coming off sanctions, Alabama was led by Mike Debose who was too busy courting his secretary. Auburn was crumbling under Tater Tot Bowden. Wasn't Houston Nutt just getting started at Arkansas. LSU hadn't hired Saban yet.

 

[wahoodog]

Like I said in a prior post, you can't make Mullen the next Saban just because his W/L results look great vs. prior MSU coaches because MSU wasn't getting $40M per yr from SEC for Tyler, Felker, Bellard, Sherrill, Croom, etc. like they are now. State used this $$ to build nice indoor practice facility, expand stadium, add suites to stadium, pay their head coach $4.5M, etc. Earlier coaches didn't have this money and, thus, were at significant disadvantage vs other SEC teams, especially the big boys. Like I said, he's a good coach but certainly not great and he's got plenty of warts. And, of course, he's not 46-7 w/ a NC appearance like you know who.

 

[keyzer soze]

Like I said in a prior post, you can't make Mullen the next Saban just because his W/L results look great vs. prior MSU coaches because MSU wasn't getting $40M per yr from SEC for Tyler, Felker, Bellard, Sherrill, Croom, etc. like they are now. State used this $$ to build nice indoor practice facility, expand stadium, add suites to stadium, pay their head coach $4.5M, etc. Earlier coaches didn't have this money and, thus, were at significant disadvantage vs other SEC teams, especially the big boys. Like I said, he's a good coach but certainly not great and he's got plenty of warts. And, of course, he's not 46-7 w/ a NC appearance like you know who.

You sir, are an asshat.

You do realize that if State got $40m then EVERYBODY ELSE in the league got that much too? Right?
And schools that already had the stuff that MSU built with that extra money built new things that MSU still doesn’t have with that same money.

I’m not sure whose fan you are or what your agenda is. But this is a pathetic troll attempt. Nothing you have said here makes any sense.

 

[GordonGecko]

Spurs was 5-8-1 against FSU, so he sucked.

 

[PacoGator19]

Like I said in a prior post, you can't make Mullen the next Saban just because his W/L results look great vs. prior MSU coaches because MSU wasn't getting $40M per yr from SEC for Tyler, Felker, Bellard, Sherrill, Croom, etc. like they are now. State used this $$ to build nice indoor practice facility, expand stadium, add suites to stadium, pay their head coach $4.5M, etc. Earlier coaches didn't have this money and, thus, were at significant disadvantage vs other SEC teams, especially the big boys. Like I said, he's a good coach but certainly not great and he's got plenty of warts. And, of course, he's not 46-7 w/ a NC appearance like you know who.

So only Miss St was getting this "extra money" from the SEC network? You do realize so was everybody else, no added advantage there.

 

[wahoodog]

The point is State didn't have this money to begin with so it allowed them to do things they could not previously do like increase assist. coach salaries, improve facilities, etc. Most other large-budget SEC programs already had the funds from the gate, etc. to build top-notch facilities. If all of a sudden the tax code changes and Apple, Google and some $1B market cap company all get a $40M subsidy from the govt., who do you think it benefits the most? Apple? Google? Or the small cap co.?

I will leave you with another Mullen Metric. Over the last 2 years, he has had a record-setting QB who will break many SEC records, including most of Tebow's records. Dan's record over this period w/ this QB? 14-11 (and well below .500 in the SEC) and that includes a big win in the St. Pete Bowl over Miami (Ohio) when his team had to block a FG at the buzzer to pull out the win!

 

[46885]

As Spurrier once said to Foley re his resume, "look in the trophy case for my resume" or something to that effect. Well, if you look in Dan's trophy case, it's kinda bare folks. He doesn't have many trophies (if any) in there from his days as a HC. But wait, he does have a Belk Bowl trophy. And come to think of it he also has one from something called the St. Pete Bowl last year following his stellar 5-7 season.

this guy just won't stop

 

[TennesseeGator]

Like I said in a prior post, you can't make Mullen the next Saban just because his W/L results look great vs. prior MSU coaches because MSU wasn't getting $40M per yr from SEC for Tyler, Felker, Bellard, Sherrill, Croom, etc. like they are now. State used this $$ to build nice indoor practice facility, expand stadium, add suites to stadium, pay their head coach $4.5M, etc. Earlier coaches didn't have this money and, thus, were at significant disadvantage vs other SEC teams, especially the big boys. Like I said, he's a good coach but certainly not great and he's got plenty of warts. And, of course, he's not 46-7 w/ a NC appearance like you know who.

While MSU's money great to 40 mil...what the hell you think was happening at other SEC schools? It's not like MSU was getting ahead of the other schools with this 40 mil. Hell I've never looked at the donations but I'm sure Paul Bryant Jr throws near that much at Bama just from his side job of his concrete business.

Back when Mississippi State was playing with beans and peanut money the other schools weren't these rich top of the line facility places either. Remember for the longest Auburn/Alabama would play the Iron Bowl at Legion Field because it was the best stadium of the three in state. Ole Miss (,along with MSU) would play their games down at Jackson BECAUSE THEY DID NOT HAVE LIGHTS at Vaught Hemingway. I also remember VH stadium was so cheap that the players entered the field from the locker room by passing through a cattle gate. No bullshiz. For the longest the north end zone stands were similar to high school stadium seating. Arkansas played a lot of their games in Little Rock at War Memorial because at the time it was the superior stadium when compared to Reynolds.

40 million or not...MSU isn't the only school in the SEC to add suites or pay their coach 4 million. All got richer...much richer. MSU although have upgraded a ton...are still behind the Bama's, LSU',s, and Auburn's of the world...still behind Ole Miss in it's own state. All pay their coach well...and all built suites and expanded their stadium as well.