CC: S/I Speculates on CCs Nationally - Says Past Relationship Means Mullen Low Probability for UF.

Brian touched on this S/I story on the front page today but focused on the UM aspect of it.  Thought it was interesting from a Dan Mullen angle as well as I am not at all familiar with the politics at the University of Florida so there are some nuggets in this story for us yankees.

Long story short - the current AD was apparently there during the Urban Meyer era and advised Mullen against going to MSU (which could be understood).  They are not on great terms and to offer Mullen supposedly would be some form of implicit statement that the AD made a mistake in the past.  (Not going after Mullen to replace Urban?)  I don't know anything about Foley but it sounds like there is an ego involved.  Further Mullen was not popular in his time at UF and his 2 offensive coordinators left on not great terms.

S/I goes on to say Foley will make a run at Bob Stoops, which apparently he has in the past.  They don't think Stoops will leave Oklahoma (dont see any reason he would) but of course if that happened boy would that shake up the landscape.  There just has not been that sort of parallel move of 1 coach moving between 2 "bluebloods" (UF not a traditional bluebood but over past 25 years a powerhouse).  Hugh Freeze brought up but the talk of NCAA investigations cool that.

S/I then throws out Rich Rod of all people but says the personalities of Foley and RR don't mix.  Also states RR would need to upgrade his staff and they feel RR won't do that.  Which is pretty fascinating.

So that leaves things pretty open ended at UF as the "no brainer" candidate might not be as much. 

It would be considered a major surprise if Foley even calls Mullen. Foley advised Mullen against taking the Mississippi State job when he left Florida in December 2008 (considering the century of bad football in Starkville that probably wasn’t bad advice). The two don’t have a bad relationship, but its more neutral than chummy. Foley hiring Mullen would be an admission that he made a mistake in overlooking him last time. The Florida brass would also likely have to welcome back Mullen’s co-offensive coordinators, Billy Gonzales and John Hevesy, neither of whom exited Florida on the greatest terms (Gonzales bolted for LSU and Hevesy left with Mullen for Mississippi State. So did operations guru Jon Clark, who would surely come along). The feeling here is that if Mullen ends up getting hired, it happens because someone from the outside pressures Foley. So that means it’s unlikely.

Mullen wasn’t exactly beloved during his time at Florida, as fans called for his job and administrators were ambivalent. Foley isn’t itching for a tie to the Urban Meyer era, either. Some of this comes down to Foley’s ego and whether he can swallow his pride. The guess from almost every corner is that Mullen won’t get the job.

In the same piece they did mention Mullen and Michigan but offered that the stablity leadership and facilities are better in Starkville as we live in an increasingly flat world.  And the new SEC network is going to provide more bucks for those schools to spend on the arms race for coaches.

Not related - the SMU job also is interesting from the angle that some high profile coordinators look to be front runners - namely Chad Morris of Clemson, Josh Heupel of Oklahoma, and Herman of OSU.  Tulsa also should open up and those same guys are candidates for that job.  These are the prototypical jobs for unproven coordinators to go to for 3-4 years before launching to a Big 5 - Todd Graham and Kevin Sumlin both turbocharged their HC careers in that conference.

Last Kansas may also be going after an OSU coach - in this case Ed Warriner who apparently was the top assistant with Mangino back in the day.

So Urbz could be losing 2 major guys from his staff.