Why did Dan Mullen get the job?

[PlutoDroid]

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/florida-football/dan-mullen-florida-zach-smith-2019/


According to the Zach Smith podcast, it is down to Florida not being an elite job anymore. We don't sell out our stadium, and recruiting has fallen ever since Urban left..

Why did Dan get the job in November 2017? Well simple according to Smith, Scott Frost didn't want the job(no mention of the circumtances at his alma mater).

According to Smith, Florida was a top 5 job in 2005, but no longer in '18.(Yeah those Zook years sure were great)

Dan Mullen didn't get the job based off his on field results. He got the job because he was our best option(I agree with that last part)

Mullen will never be a great coach, or recruiter because he doesn't have swagger(Top ten classes aren't good enough I guess. Neither is a top ten finish in year one of a rebuild).

So according to a guy who got fired for drinking, and allegedly beating his wife just can't seem to see as a top program anymore. I guess we should trust his judgement and settle for good not great seasons. Thanks for tempering our expectations Zach.

I think I'll trust Stricklin and Dan over you though.

Got any beer drinking advice, I hear you have ample experience in that department.

 

[instaGATOR]

 

[gatordad3]

Didn't he also turn on the only man who gave him a job while no other coach would even touch him after Urban Meyer gave him a, well, recommendation to coach elsewhere?

 

[Jeff from Jax]

I "borrowed" this from Gatorgrad12 on Saturday Down South, where original Zach Smith article turned up.

Scott Frost took Nebraska from 4-8 to 4-8
Chip Kelly took UCLA from 6-7 to 3-9
Willie Taggert took FSU from 7-6 to 5-7
Dan Mullen took UF from 4-7 to 10-3

Not hard to see who had the best hire of 2018.

 

[PlutoDroid]

Didn't he also turn on the only man who gave him a job while no other coach would even touch him after Urban Meyer gave him a, well, recommendation to coach elsewhere?

He is now just like any other shock jock, little substance. I doubt he has any real insight into what the hiring process entailed. I would guess Mullen was at worst our third choice.

Scott Frost likely gave notice of his intentions early to "come home".

Chip Kelly is more of a west coast guy at his core, and he isn't a better recruiter than Mullen anyhow.

Mullen was a top choice after Stricklin was hired.. If we hadn't hired him, Tennessee surely would have.

 

[sadgator]

The first few Zach Smith podcasts were admittedly interesting (mainly because he is unfiltered and kooky)...

But the interest faded quick when he started to run out of good stories (around episode 4), and sadgator, along with pretty much everybody else, gave up on it...

When thinking about the credibility of Zach Smith, just remember, this is the same dude who ordered $2,200 worth of sex toys and had them shipped to the Ohio State Athletics Department offices (and took a picture of his penis at the White House)...nuff said...

 

[PlutoDroid]

The first few Zach Smith podcasts were admittedly interesting (mainly because he is unfiltered and kooky)...

But the interest faded quick when he started to run out of good stories (around episode 4), and sadgator, along with pretty much everybody else, gave up on it...

When thinking about the credibility of Zach Smith, just remember, this is the same dude who ordered $2,200 with of sex toys and had them shipped to the Ohio State Athletics Department offices (and took a picture of his penis at the White House)...nuff said...

The guy is most likely never going to get another coaching gig. Maybe he can start doing videos on demand.

 

[bradleygator]

He might be right that Florida wasn’t a top 5 job when we hired Mullen. I bet it is a top five job in the next three years though. Mullen knows how to run a program and knows how to get guys loose on offense, period. There will never be another Spurrier, but Mullen has some similar qualities. We were lucky to get him.

 

[bradleygator]

Since Spurrier you see the same pattern. The UF program falls off when a great coach leaves because nobody wants to follow the guy. But then It falls off to the point where someone who knows they can coach grabs it because they know they will be able to recruit and they know that the program’s ceiling is top top in the country. I think we’ve got one of those guys now.

 

[Just32]

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/florida-football/dan-mullen-florida-zach-smith-2019/


According to the Zach Smith podcast, it is down to Florida not being an elite job anymore. We don't sell out our stadium, and recruiting has fallen ever since Urban left..

Why did Dan get the job in November 2017? Well simple according to Smith, Scott Frost didn't want the job(no mention of the circumtances at his alma mater).

According to Smith, Florida was a top 5 job in 2005, but no longer in '18.(Yeah those Zook years sure were great)

Dan Mullen didn't get the job based off his on field results. He got the job because he was our best option(I agree with that last part)

Mullen will never be a great coach, or recruiter because he doesn't have swagger(Top ten classes aren't good enough I guess. Neither is a top ten finish in year one of a rebuild).

So according to a guy who got fired for drinking, and allegedly beating his wife just can't seem to see as a top program anymore. I guess we should trust his judgement and settle for good not great seasons. Thanks for tempering our expectations Zach.

I think I'll trust Stricklin and Dan over you though.

Got any beer drinking advice, I hear you have ample experience in that department.

After he said Scott Frost is better than Mullen I stop listening. I think Mullen is a elite playcaller

 

[PlutoDroid]

After he said Scott Frost is better than Mullen I stop listening. I think Mullen is a elite playcaller

Scott Frost runs a varietion of the Chip Kelly offense. With him it was always going to be more of a long term projection of what he could do. He won four games his first year, recruited a top 25 class.

Florida is easier to recruit to then Nebraska, but we also play a tougher schedule imo.. All things being a wash I prefer who we got.

 

[PlutoDroid]

Since Spurrier you see the same pattern. The UF program falls off when a great coach leaves because nobody wants to follow the guy. But then It falls off to the point where someone who knows they can coach grabs it because they know they will be able to recruit and they know that the program’s ceiling is top top in the country. I think we’ve got one of those guys now.

It will be interesting to see what Ohio State does this year.

It will be even more interesting to see what happens to Alabama when Saban walks away.

 

[gatordad3]

After he said Scott Frost is better than Mullen I stop listening. I think Mullen is a elite playcaller

I've said it a while back I wanted Frost and only Frost because he knew and stated after he completed his first season at UCF, it was so much easier to keep recruits within the state of Florida than it would be to recruit players to come to Nebraska. Why he went against the grain(I know I know, he went home), is beyond me. My problem with Frost was he would have brought his entire staff from UCF to UF only because he wanted to make sure they had jobs.
I have never been so happy to be wrong about Mullen. I also thank God he didn't end up at Tennessee.

 

[sadgator]

Mullen is our guy.

Frost never would have been our guy.

Kelly didn’t want to be our guy.

 

[instaGATOR]

Mullen was my 1st choice, (and I believe it was also Strickland's real 1st choice).
He only spoke to Kelly and Frost for appearances sake...

Frost would have been at least acceptable to me,,, if not Dan.
At Neb, he'll be given about twice the amount of rope to succeed I'm guessing.

Cow-chip Kelly would have been an unmitigated disaster.
I might have had to burn one of my Gator T's on the front lawn if he'd been hired...

 

[PlutoDroid]

Mullen was my 1st choice, (and I believe it was also Strickland's real 1st choice).
He only spoke to Kelly and Frost for appearances sake...

Frost would have been at least acceptable to me,,, if not Dan.
At Neb, he'll be given about twice the amount of rope to succeed I'm guessing.

Cow-chip Kelly would have been an unmitigated disaster.
I might have had to burn one of my Gator T's on the front lawn if he'd been hired...

I was actually intrigued with the Chip Kelly prospect.I remember reading reports around Thanksgiving time that officials were discussing a contract offer. The thought of Florida athletes running the quack attack was interesting to me. Little did I know that this iteration of Chip Kelly couldn't be concerned with recruiting.

Needless to say I am glad we got Mullen, he wanted this job most likely after Urban left. Too bad we had to get Muschamp and McElwain first.

 

[Dannygator1989]

I was actually intrigued with the Chip Kelly prospect.I remember reading reports around Thanksgiving time that officials were discussing a contract offer. The thought of Florida athletes running the quack attack was interesting to me. Little did I know that this iteration of Chip Kelly couldn't be concerned with recruiting.

Needless to say I am glad we got Mullen, he wanted this job most likely after Urban left. Too bad we had to get Muschamp and McElwain first.

I'll keep saying it, Mullen was a different guy a decade ago when he left for Miss State. Brand new to coaching when he Urban left.

I don't think it would have worked out. Guys have to mature and learnt he ropes, go through the hard times to get to where they are and it be the right fit.

A decade ago he would have been too much Meyer and not enough Mullen, if that makes sense.

 

[sadgator]

I'll keep saying it, Mullen was a different guy a decade ago when he left for Miss State. Brand new to coaching when he Urban left.

I don't think it would have worked out. Guys have to mature and learnt he ropes, go through the hard times to get to where they are and it be the right fit.

A decade ago he would have been too much Meyer and not enough Mullen, if that makes sense.

...and we wouldn’t have appreciated him as much back then...

 

[GADAWGinIraq]

Mullen was my 1st choice, (and I believe it was also Strickland's real 1st choice).
He only spoke to Kelly and Frost for appearances sake...

Frost would have been at least acceptable to me,,, if not Dan.
At Neb, he'll be given about twice the amount of rope to succeed I'm guessing.

Cow-chip Kelly would have been an unmitigated disaster.
I might have had to burn one of my Gator T's on the front lawn if he'd been hired...

Lol... Mullen wasn't Florida's first choice, but if it makes you feel better keep telling yourself that.

 

[ih8f$u]

Lol... Mullen wasn't Florida's first choice, but if it makes you feel better keep telling yourself that.

No, but given the choices we had made prior, maybe it was best that we didn’t get who we wanted. If we’d brought in Kelly and he’d had a 3-9 type season, that would have done some really severe damage. Worked out much better for us.

 

[instaGATOR]

Lol... Mullen wasn't Florida's first choice, but if it makes you feel better keep telling yourself that.

Nuttlickers gonna sniff butts and then lick nutts... It's what they do....

 

[oozie7]

Lol... Mullen wasn't Florida's first choice, but if it makes you feel better keep telling yourself that.

Both Kelly and Frost have said UF never offered them. Are they lying or were you in the meetings?

 

[oozie7]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.12...s-florida-never-offered-him-head-coaching-job

 

[ih8f$u]

Both Kelly and Frost have said UF never offered them. Are they lying or were you in the meetings?

I’m guessing it’s a matter of semantics. I’m pretty sure we had talked to Kelly, and everyone with a opening sent out feelers to frost. It may have never gotten to an official offer though.

 

[instaGATOR]

Cow-chip Kelly and Neb-Frost were both for PR confetti only.

Former MsSt AD Strickland was going to hire former MsSt HC Mullen all along.
The UF planning was all laid out when they hired Strickland.

BGSU President was hired by Utah.
The following year he hired BGSU HC Meyer to join him.

Utah President was hired by UF.
The following year he hired Utah HC Meyer to join him.

MsSt AD was hired by UF
The following year, he hired MsSt HC Mullen to join him.

Even the village idiot jawja numbnutts should be able to follow that train...

 

[sadgator]

If Kelly had wanted to be the UF Coach, he would have. He didn’t.

Stricklin has acknowledged that he wanted to hire Dan, but needed to vet it out properly. He did.

Frost wanted to go home because “mama called.” He did.

Everybody wound up where they were supposed to go and the process went down exactly as it should have.

 

[instaGATOR]

Everybody wound up where they were supposed to go and the process went down exactly as it should have.

Yep, great forward planning by the UAA/UF in hiring former MsSt AD Strickland...

Scott Frost took Nebraska from 4-8 to 4-8
Chip Kelly took UCLA from 6-7 to 3-9
Willie Taggert took FSU from 7-6 to 5-7
Dan Mullen took UF from 4-7 to 10-3 ---

From a recent SDS article...

Let’s pretend that what Mullen did at MsSt was nothing. Like, leading a program to 6 bowl victories when it had 6 bowl victories in the entire post-World War II stretch wasn’t significant.

According to Smith, Mullen leading MSU to No. 1 in the country in the first Playoff poll in 2014 wasn’t a résumé-boosting accomplishment.

Nor was accounting for as many 9-win seasons (4) as the program had in its entire post-World War II history. Anybody could do that, right?

That’s why when Mullen turned 4-win Florida into a 10-win team and led the program to its best ranking (#6) of the post-Meyer era, he was clearly just lucky, right? --------- Give me a break.

 

[PacoGator19]

Frost was always going to Nebraska. That deal was done the minute the job became open. I like Frost. I wouldn’t have been a fan of him bringing his entire staff from UCF with him though.

 

[oozie7]

I’m guessing it’s a matter of semantics. I’m pretty sure we had talked to Kelly, and everyone with a opening sent out feelers to frost. It may have never gotten to an official offer though.

Stricklin did what he was supposed to do...talk to every qualified candidate on the market. If he had just went straight to Mullen and hired him without talking to anybody else like Foley did with Muschamp and McElwain everybody would have roasted him and it would have made for shitty appearances.

In the back of his mind he was always gonna hire Mullen because of their past relationship. Plenty of people have reported that. My opinion is he wanted any of those other two to convince him they were better choices than Mullen. If they couldn’t, he was gonna hire Mullen like he wanted to.

 

[ih8f$u]

Stricklin did what he was supposed to do...talk to every qualified candidate on the market. If he had just went straight to Mullen and hired him without talking to anybody else like Foley did with Muschamp and McElwain everybody would have roasted him and it would have made for shitty appearances.

In the back of his mind he was always gonna hire Mullen because of their past relationship. Plenty of people have reported that. My opinion is he wanted any of those other two to convince him they were better choices than Mullen. If they couldn’t, he was gonna hire Mullen like he wanted to.

Sorry to rehash this, but surely foley talked to someone besides mcelwain before he made the hire? I get that he screwed us by going with a “cost effective” hire that essentially screwed over the biggest most valuable asset the athletic dept had, but at least tell me he talked to someone else first

 

[oozie7]

Sorry to rehash this, but surely foley talked to someone besides mcelwain before he made the hire? I get that he screwed us by going with a “cost effective” hire that essentially screwed over the biggest most valuable asset the athletic dept had, but at least tell me he talked to someone else first

Nope. McElwain was the only coach he talked to.

 

[GatorNation79]

Lol... Mullen wasn't Florida's first choice, but if it makes you feel better keep telling yourself that.

Oh...this guy again...I wanted Kelly but glad we got Mullen. Either way some people on this board's opinions have no effect on what "our first choice was" from the athletic department/universities decision down.

Since you seem to know...who was UF's first choice genius?

 

[sadgator]

sadgator remembers lobbying hard for Mullen when we were about to hire Mac...

Perhaps LakerGator can find the thread.

Mullen was absolutely sadgator’s first choice, for whatever it is worth.

 

[ih8f$u]

H

Nope. McElwain was the only coach he talked to.

Wow.

Well I don’t think anyone here needs any further reasons why that was the only choice to lead your national power football program back to glory, right? I mean, what school wasn’t clamoring for the coach at Colorado st after their brilliant run of national prominence? Why would you even need to approach anyone else? Great thinking, Foley

 

[oozie7]

H

Wow.

Well I don’t think anyone here needs any further reasons why that was the only choice to lead your national power football program back to glory, right? I mean, what school wasn’t clamoring for the coach at Colorado st after their brilliant run of national prominence? Why would you even need to approach anyone else? Great thinking, Foley

The two best coaches in UF history Foley had nothing to do with hiring. His track record picking football coaches was trash because he always had to be the smartest guy in the room.

Even though I understand why he kept Muschamp that fourth year that decision set the program back years. Everybody knew he was a lame duck so we had two shitty recruiting classes in a row. Then McElwain took over and drove recruiting even worse into the ground. Those two decisions alone set us back almost 5 years. Dude had no foresight.

 

[kb851]

Frost will likely do pretty well at Nebraska, but will he do any better than Bo Pellini?

Pellini has them back to good, going something like 9-4 every year.

If Frost gets them there in the next year or two, how patient will those same fans who tired of Bo be. Basically if Nebraska does not get to double digit wins and Big Ten title contention they will not be satisfied.

It seems incredibly likely Florida WILL be SEC title contenders most years for the foreseeable future

Would love to see Nebraska get there, they may be helped by playing in the West, with only Wisconsin and maybe Iowa consistent winners

 

[sadgator]

Nebraska will be Nationally relevant again for as long as Frost is there. He is perfect for them.

sadgator knows the world has been very chalky lately, but he can’t seem to shake the feeling that a seismic shift in program successes and the cfb landscape is coming....

 

[PlutoDroid]

Frost will likely do pretty well at Nebraska, but will he do any better than Bo Pellini?

Pellini has them back to good, going something like 9-4 every year.

If Frost gets them there in the next year or two, how patient will those same fans who tired of Bo be. Basically if Nebraska does not get to double digit wins and Big Ten title contention they will not be satisfied.

It seems incredibly likely Florida WILL be SEC title contenders most years for the foreseeable future

Would love to see Nebraska get there, they may be helped by playing in the West, with only Wisconsin and maybe Iowa consistent winners

Don't count out Northwestern or the severn time national champion Gophers. I think Fitzgerald and Fleck are good coaches.

Frost would have had an easier time had he come here, but I think he is where he wants to be.

Mullen is where he wants to be, and Kelly is where he wants to be.

 

[PlutoDroid]

I'll keep saying it, Mullen was a different guy a decade ago when he left for Miss State. Brand new to coaching when he Urban left.

I don't think it would have worked out. Guys have to mature and learnt he ropes, go through the hard times to get to where they are and it be the right fit.

A decade ago he would have been too much Meyer and not enough Mullen, if that makes sense.

I agree with you to a certain extent, he is a much better coach now then he was in '09. Going up against Saban every year in Starkville is much like running up a mountain wearing a 200 pound vest.

It's got to be refreshing to be at a program where you don't have to constantly play with less at your disposal.Our offense was never really as dynamic after Dan left, that was even before Urban left.

I think he still would have been a better hire than Muschamp though. That man made Florida football boring, he set our program back for years(He did clean up a lot though off the field).

I think that had Dan been our coach going into his ninth year instead of his second, that we would be in a much better place right now.. Just my opinion of course