Dan Mullen's Cotton Bowl Postgame Comments

Submitted by WoodleyIsBeast on December 31st, 2020 at 9:50 AM

I thought these quotes from Dan Mullen following Florida's 55-20 loss to Oklahoma last night were in pretty poor taste:

"The last game this 2020 team played was 11 days ago."

"We didn't have to play."

"I thought our scout team guys played well."

Nice way to dump on your hardworking players to try and save face following a lopsided loss.

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Eng1980

December 31st, 2020 at 12:38 PM ^

Reminder - Michigan defense played with only 4 starters for all but maybe two minutes of the second half.  Pick on Coach Brown if you want but he practiced two back-ups as starters in preparation for the game and lost them both before half-time so he is running a defense with 3rd stringers being rested by 4th stringers.

I still don't have an excuse for the offense playing without rhythm for the entire Harbaugh era.

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TallyWolverine

December 31st, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^

I got a buddy that’s a Gators fan. I prodded him a little bit at halftime last night when they were down 31-13. I was waiting for him to talk about starters being out. Lo and behold, the first thing he said was “we got a bunch of starters not playing”, and of course “we kicked y’all’s asses last time blah blah blah!”

    The trap was set and sprung. “No sir! You don’t get to cry like a bitch about starters being out AND brag about beating us when our four best players were out, no sir! You take this beating!” 
  That was fun....about as much fun as I’ve had this season.

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jdib

December 31st, 2020 at 10:03 AM ^

So you think because Mullen lost one bowl game that everyone who thought he was a reasonable choice is just going to eat crow?  He's better than Harbaugh and it's not even close.  That said it's not saying much at this point.  Whether he's an ass or not, he has Florida performing way better under his tenure then they have in quite a while and he actually made a prestigious bowl.

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Hensons Mobile…

December 31st, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^

If you're going to compare 2020 records as your only data, then yes it is clear Mullen is better. Otherwise you have absolutely nothing.

Edit: Would be really helpful if you stopped making significant edits in all your posts. You can make new replies you know.

So you're looking at 2020 and bowl records. Okay. They both elevated bad programs and then both elevated moribund prestigious programs. They're really fairly comparable.

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jdib

December 31st, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^

You're just being obtuse if you don't think Mullen's career at Miss St. is impressive considering the competition he had in the SEC.  His trajectory is trending upwards unlike Harbaugh's

 

Significant edits?  All I did was add bowl statistics because I knew someone like you would make gross and generic claims.  Comparable programs?  I think we all know Michigan gets much better recruits than Miss St.  Flip the positions around and tell me how good Harbaugh would do at Miss St.  This is a laughable venture to reply to you at this point

Imagine policing someone about editing.  Seems like a weird flex..

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Hensons Mobile…

December 31st, 2020 at 10:24 AM ^

I didn't say Mullen was unimpressive. I am saying both are impressive but also flawed. This ONE season is a huge negative for Harbaugh. I am in the camp that he looks lost and have great fear that he's done as a college coach. I agree that I think Mullen has more of a future at the moment in the NCAA. But in a year when Mullen goes 8-4 which included a home loss to a bad LSU team in a game they really needed, I am not prepared to crown Mullen as some super elite coach who is eons beyond anything we could imagine Harbaugh to be. I am not arguing that Harbaugh is the better coach. I'm saying it's not sooooooo mic drop obvious.

Edit: Lol on your edit about editing.

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jdib

December 31st, 2020 at 10:27 AM ^

I never said Mullen was a "super elite coach".  I said he's better than Harbaugh.  There's a huge difference.  And yeah, it's pretty "mic drop obvious".  You can say the LSU loss was bad but they are a team that has obvious talent.  Compare that to the MSU and Wisconsin teams we lost to.  MSU got shellacked several times by Iowa and the like.  Wisconsin SHOULD have lost to Wake Forest had they not gave the game to them.

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AC1997

December 31st, 2020 at 10:40 AM ^

Bowl game performances are the least useful judge of a coach or program's success.  I guess Bo was a crappy coach too then.  

I posted about this in another thread recently, but go back and look year over year comparing the two.  Mullen and Florida are better than Michigan at this moment....but it isn't clear if they are really any different when you look at their first 3-5 years.  Harbaugh had a worse third year when all of our QBs got hurt, but overall their records are very similar through that span.  

Additionally, Mullen has been upset at home by unranked teams, sometimes in spectacular fashion.  And his record against ranked teams, while decent, is also very limited because they haven't played very many.  I suppose you can credit him this year for "playing for a conference championship".....but they were blown out in that game.  They also got blown out by a rival with a bad team this year in LSU.  

I am not going to defend Harbaugh or the current state of the program, but look at their overall body of work and I think Mullen is pretty similar and not the obvious better situation like you claim.  

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AC1997

December 31st, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^

Here's my point about the two: 

Harbaugh's first four years:

  • Record = 38-14 
  • Winning % = .731
  • Top-15 finishes = 3 out of 4
  • Vs. Ranked teams = 8-10 (three losses in '17 with QB mess)
  • Bad losses = '15-OSU, '16-Iowa, '17-PSU (O'Korn), '18-OSU, '18-UF (missing players)

Mullen's Florida tenure to date:

  • Record = 29-9
  • Winning % = .763
  • Top-15 finishes = 2 so far...3 if they stay in the top-15 this year
  • Vs. Ranked teams = 5-7
  • Bad losses = '18-UK, '18-Georgia, '18-Missouri, '20-LSU, '20-OK ('20-A&M was a loss to a team they were ranked much higher than, but it was on the road and A&M was still ranked)

At this point in their careers at their respective schools the only difference between the two is that Michigan had the 8-5 year where we went through three QBs due to injury and that we couldn't beat OSU - which came down to 1-inch in 2016.  

So the question really becomes what happens with Florida in the next two years?  Michigan started to crumble with Harbaugh and we are where we are.  Florida just got a Heisman season out of their senior QB and yet finished 8-4.  I'm not ready to proclaim Mullen has it figured out in the SEC-East.  

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East German Judge

December 31st, 2020 at 10:01 AM ^

On the one hand, yes the comments were not very classy at all, however, while I did not watch the game, but if he feels his players were taking plays off and not giving the effort should they not be called out or should that only be done in the locker room?

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Hensons Mobile…

December 31st, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^

Without knowing the context or tone I could see quotes number two and three being okay. If he was literally talking about scout team guys, they know that's what they are, that's not an insult. The first quote is clearly sour grapes loser talk.

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lhglrkwg

December 31st, 2020 at 10:09 AM ^

Dan Mullen can join classmate Dabo Swinney in the Derek Zoolander center for coaches who can't stop saying dumb things and who wanna learn to do other stuff too

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