CC: Grantland article on Dan Mullen
The article focuses mainly on recruiting, and how Mississippi State has not been conventionally good at it, but under Mullen has still produced very good results.
It would be interesting to see how he'd recruit at a place that could actually draw 4 (and some 5) star talent.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/dan-mullen-mississippi-state-into-big-time/
October 9th, 2014 at 11:26 PM ^
"It would be interesting to see how he'd recruit at a place that could actually draw 4 (and some 5) star talent."
If Brandon is left in place then I'm sure Florida will find out - not us.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:35 AM ^
It wont matter if Brandon is in place or not. He's Florida bound after this season.
October 9th, 2014 at 11:39 PM ^
Excepting the Harbaugh brothers, Mullen's track record makes him one of the more desirable candidates right now. He took a perennial bottom feeder and now appears to have them on the precipice of greatness. Plus, a popular argument against him is that he was "on the hot seat" after last season, which, if true and not media generated, speaks more to fan irrationality and impatience than his coaching acumen.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:45 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 1:25 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 7:39 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
Precipice of greatness? I'd characterize it more as having a good maybe great defense and a special QB. In other words, I doubt it's sustainable in the SEC west. Not to diminish his job as a coach, but don't think Miss St. has ascended the firmament yet.
October 10th, 2014 at 1:54 PM ^
that one year. Yeah I agree with you.
October 9th, 2014 at 11:40 PM ^
cowbells are not part of the total package, I hope Michigan takes a good look at what Mullen might bring. Assuming, of course that 1) Brandon departs, and 2) Hoke is let go if he doesn't produce a miracle turnaround.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:15 AM ^
MOAR cowbell!
October 9th, 2014 at 11:51 PM ^
October 9th, 2014 at 11:56 PM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 12:02 AM ^
We don't have to go as insanely small with spread players as Rich Rod did. Look at teams like Oklahoma and OSU, they aren't exactly lacking in size.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:02 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 12:19 AM ^
Adopting the spread is probably the best course of action even if Michigan goes through another laborious rebuilding. There's a reason why there's a shortage of high-caliber "Manball" coaches, it's a dying form of football. Just because Michigan won a lot of games in the 70s and 80s doesn't mean they have to play like it's still the 70s and 80s.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:23 AM ^
to succeed would go a long way. A quality coaching staff (even if the coach is a spread guru) can quickly turn the program around with the talent we have. It does not mean 3-4 more bad years.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:23 AM ^
to succeed would go a long way. A quality coaching staff (even if the coach is a spread guru) can quickly turn the program around with the talent we have. It does not mean 3-4 more bad years.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:34 AM ^
Junior Hemingway put up virtually identical numbers playing in the RR spread (59.3 ypg and 4 TD in 2010) as he did playing for Borges in 2011 (53.8 ypg and 4 TD). Gallon was the prototypical "slot ninja" and his huge success all came under Borges.
Good players are good. The spread guys RR brought in on the line in 2008/9 (Omameh, BWC, Lewan, Schofield) are all in the NFL (as "pro-style" as it gets). His leading receivers at Arizona are two bigger guys.
The issues Michigan football has and had in the past are not style related. The team wasn't good early in RR's tenure because he walked into a broken program at numerous positions. The team isn't good now because the slow manball guys just aren't very good at football, outside of Funchess. The problem isn't that we are trying to find the next Jason Avant, but that the guys we have aren't Jason Avant.
Looking at the current roster and the size of the recent recruiting classes, any new coach is going to have a rebuilding job in the near future no matter what. Might as well hire the right guy.
October 10th, 2014 at 6:23 AM ^
We have no idea how good or bad the current players because the coaching has been so subpar.
RichRod inherited some decent players. Graham, Trent, Warren, Matthews, Hemingway, Brown, Minor, Molk, Martin, Van Bergen..he had enough talent to win 7-8 games in his first year yet he decided to forcefeed his players into his system. RichRod made numerous disaster decisions here, but this was by far the worst one. Great coaches adapt to their players talent and don't jam a square peg into a round hole.
October 10th, 2014 at 9:40 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
Graham played like an absolute beast under RR. He shared league MVP honors and posted 20.5 sacks in two years. Donovan Warren was first team all-conference, despite dealing with an ankle injury. Stevie Brown led the team in tackles and played very well as a senior. Brandon Minor played fantastically well when not injured (which unfortunately was most of the time). Hemingway missed virtually all of the 2008 season due to mono. When healthy in 2010, he did just as well as he did in a "pro-style" offense in 2011. Molk, Martin, and RVB were all freshmen in 2008. By 2010 Molk was a Rimington finalist, Martin was 2nd team all-conference despite playing half the year with an ankle injury (the same honors he would receive a year later under Hoke), and RVB was a very solid player.
Who was forced into a hole where they didn't belong? Those players all played at their talent level under Rich Rodriguez. The problem was guys like Ezeh, Threet/Sheridan, John Ferrara (2-star DT who had to move to offense and immediately enter the starting lineup), and a complete lack of safeties. So guys were starting simply because they existed, not because they beat anyone out for a position. I.E. the major roster issues left behind by Lloyd Carr and exacerbated by Mallett/Boren jumping ship.
There's a reason Arizona went to a bowl game in RR's first two years while Michigan didn't. Hint: it ain't because he just remembered how to coach football. And that's at a traditional bottom-feeder Pac-12 program (never been to the Rose Bowl) coming off a 4-8 season and losing an NFL QB (not to mention top three receivers and top RB).
Stop trying to justify your stupid opinion by spouting nonsense, especially when all current evidence proves your judgment to be nonsense.
October 10th, 2014 at 8:55 AM ^
Agree with the first part, disagree with the second. I think the current players are good, or at least potentially very good. But the problem is that outside of the DL coaching probably, I just don't see the coaching staff ever making anyone better. I think we have good players, but the only ones who seem to turn into great players are the ones who are so good that they get there themselves. That's my feeling. I think the right coach will be able to take the potential in the current roster, and the depth, and churn out some more than the occasional great player.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:37 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 12:44 AM ^
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October 10th, 2014 at 3:40 AM ^
Rich Rod runs more of a MANBALL at Arizona than Michigan does right now.
October 10th, 2014 at 6:09 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 9:41 AM ^
I'm not sure what type of spread Mullen runs but Lloyd Carr was able to run a passing spread in that Capital One bowl game after the 2007 season. It's not like we were a spread team the rest of the season but they were able to sling the ball around after 15 bowl practices.
Our receivers and quarterback position have to get better although hopefully next year with some more upperclassmen and some talented underclassmen we can have great units. The OLine is starting to look better so hopefully if the OLine and DLine can both finally come online we can field a pretty decent team in Year 1.
That offense was so fun to watch and it seemed to incorporate both manball and spread elements to create an Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow beating symphony. That was probably my all time favorite game as a Michigan fan thus far although finally beating Ohio State is up there.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 12:26 AM ^
Recruiting classes very similar to Nebraska-ish (slight step behind) and better than MSU, Stanford and Wisconsin who are usually late 20s to 40ish. Kudos to Mullen but they are making it sound like he is recruiting at Kansas State level (in the 60s). I understand the SEC west is a different animal so adjust for competition.
Curious if they oversign at MSU or is it more like Georgia than Bama - it was not addressed in the story
Right now the SEC is tiered for recruiting
- (1) Bama - a zen level of recruiting unmatched nationwide; very USC like a decade ago
- (2) FL, LSU, Auburn, GA
- (3) SC, TN, A&M, Ole Miss
- (4) Ark, Miss State
To put it in Big 10 perspective, OSU and UM would be in Tier 2 of the SEC. I ran Les Miles classes versus UM's last week and it was a 2 rank difference over 7-8 years. LSU 8, UM 10. [LSU has generated 26 NFL draft picks in rounds 1 thru 4 since 2009; UM has generated 6]
PSU and Nebraska are in Tier 3.
Arkansas and Miss State are a bit ahead of where MSU/Wisconsin recruit ... but those 2 Big 10 schools are well ahead of where Missouri / UK recruit.
I don't know - it is just difficult to tell what the hell is going on with Mullen. It's been 5 years without a significant win. In 5 years his best win was a 8-5 Georgia squad and a lot of wins against baby seals and Kentucky and Vanderbilt and a bad Tennessee team. Is he building to a great singular team or has he finally built a top notch program in year 6. Scares me because in a parallel universe this is what you could say about Brady Hoke; 5 years of meh leading to a great 6th year - obviously in a much poorer conference. And I am sure Mullen could outcoach Hoke by miles but its no so simple as this is the next great thing.
11 months ago Mullen was 4-6 ten games into his 5th year of a rebuild with 2 games to go; those wins were Alcorn State, Troy, Bowling Green, Kentucky. Yes at a craphole school but as the 'crooting rankings show, he has talent better/similar to what MSU/Wisconsin gets so its not like he is working with Illinois/Northwestern talent. I just think elite coaches get more out of their teams in years 3-4-5.
October 10th, 2014 at 1:49 AM ^
Sheesh, 93 4- and 5-star recruits across 5 classes (that's 19 studs per class, folks)? Oversigning or not, that's just silly.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^
Last year Auburn, a team that played in the NCAA game, needed a TD in the last 30 seconds at home to beat Mississippi State. Usually he gets blown out by Bama and plays most others teams right down to the wire.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:18 AM ^
List of wins year by year
- 2009: Jackson State, (2-10) Vanderbilt, Middle Tenn State, (7-6) Kentucky, (9-4) #20 Ole Miss.
- 2010: Memphis, (6-7) Georgia, Alcorn State, Houston, (8-5) Florida, UAB, Kentucky, (4-8) Ole Miss, Michigan
- 2011: Memphis, LA Tech, UAB, Kentucky, Tennessee-Martin, (2-10) Ole Miss
- 2012: Jackson State (3-9) Auburn, Troy, South Alabama, Kentucky, (5-7) Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, (4-8) Arkansas
- 2013: Alcorn State, Troy, Bowling Green, Kentucky, (3-9) Arkansas, (8-5) Ole Miss, (10-4) Rice
I highlighted his best wins in 5 years.
Until the past 2 weeks I'd rank his greatest wins: 9-4 Ole Miss (2009), 8-5 Florida (2010), 8-5 Ole Miss (2013) and 10-4 Rice (2013). I mean you'd put that RR disaster in 2010 as his 5th best win? That or 7-6 Kentucky.
I dont believe he beat a single Power 5 conference team with a winning record in 2 of the 5 years.
So again - has he built a program ready to roll the next 3 years, or does he have the right combination of QB and surrounding talent to have 1 great year. No way to know of course.
October 10th, 2014 at 8:54 AM ^
beating a completely overmatched Conference USA team in a de facto home game is Mullen's 4th best win. Almost any SEC win is better than that.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:48 AM ^
Dan Mullen looks like a decent candidate, but I'm not buying the enormous hype quite yet. His record as MSU has been a big improvement for sure. I'm just not sure there's enough there to hire him given his 7-win-per-year average. If he finishes this year strong, obviously he should get a good look.
October 10th, 2014 at 2:09 AM ^
In the 39 seasons from 1970 - 2008 (modern era before Mullen), Mississippi State had won 7+ football games in a season just 12 times. Mullen is 2 wins from the fourth straight consecutive season as such. So, if he "only" wins 8 this year, it's not good enough for you?
By the way, they still play Auburn, at Alabama, and at Ole Miss (who, in case you were wondering, just beat Alabama and is loaded w/talent).
October 10th, 2014 at 7:46 AM ^
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October 10th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^
I don't care about what coaches in the 70s and 80s did. I care about what Mullen does, and before we hire him, I'd like to see him take a program above 7 wins for a few years.
October 10th, 2014 at 3:41 AM ^
My favorite quote:
"My goal is to make everybody a five-star walking out the door, regardless of what they were coming in,”
He sounds like the John Beilein of football.
October 10th, 2014 at 8:39 AM ^
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October 10th, 2014 at 7:44 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 7:47 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 9:34 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 8:08 AM ^
The Michigan arrogance is really strong. Why do we automatically think he would want our job? He has the run of his school, he is having great success and he is in the SEC. I don't see why he would rush to a job were the factions ran RR out of town because he wasn't a Michigan man, also we are, if you haven't noticed in the Big Ten. Not exactly the cadillac of conferences right now.
October 10th, 2014 at 8:36 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 8:39 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
Michigan pays Hoke $1 million more than Mullen right now. That kind of raise could have a lot of pull, as could the improved recruiting landscape, and the potential of being a conference champion rather than a perennial second tier team (even though the B1G is clearly inferior).
It's conceivable that a very good coach at Michigan could make the playoffs a few times. That seems like a much taller order at MSU.
I still think he goes to Florida in a heartbeat if that's offered.
October 10th, 2014 at 9:33 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 12:30 PM ^
Shitters Full!
October 11th, 2014 at 9:24 AM ^
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