Interesting Info From an SI Article on the Hiring of Dan Mullen at UF
Three days before visiting Kelly for a second time, members of the search committee drove to Orlando to meet with Frost on Thursday, Nov. 16, two days before Frost’s 9–0 Knights played Temple. They describe the interview with Frost as unimpressive, and they emerged with a similar feeling: He’s not ready for this big of a job.
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Megan Mullen, Dan’s wife, remembers the call. She was standing in the couple’s backyard in Starkville when her husband, phone in hand, walked out of the house and toward her. The Mullens had fielded job calls almost every offseason while in Starkville. Miami, Penn State, Michigan. For whatever reason, none of them worked out.
https://www.si.com/college/2021/09/13/dan-mullen-florida-football-hire-chip-kelly-scott-frost
September 13th, 2021 at 3:01 PM ^
In b4 this thread devolves into bickering about how Dan Mullen would have AkshUaLlY been a better hire than Harbaugh.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:10 PM ^
If we had lost on Saturday and this appeared now, this is EXACTLY what it would become. As it is, you may need to wait until the trailing comments that are sure to appear in the next day or so.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:02 PM ^
I thought it was common knowledge Frost was in over his head at the P5 level?
Can't wait for the OU-NU hamblasting this weekend!
September 13th, 2021 at 3:05 PM ^
In fairness, corn can grow pretty tall.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:48 PM ^
I know Nebraska has been humbled in recent years, but it's going to be especially humbling for them when we see Tulane gave OU a much better fight than the Huskers did
September 13th, 2021 at 3:55 PM ^
Bad mouth the Green Wave at your own peril!
Tulane BA, 1987 (Michigan MBA, 1995)... and wow, was Tulane football bad back then
September 13th, 2021 at 4:06 PM ^
Fun fact: Tulane's 3 SEC titles are more than those of 7 current members: Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M, or Vanderbilt.
September 13th, 2021 at 6:28 PM ^
That IS a fun fact.
The more you know...
September 13th, 2021 at 3:48 PM ^
That one could get ugly early.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:08 PM ^
Born in Nebraska, I rooted for them till I attended Michigan. Even then, I've carried a soft spot for that team.
Then came The Frost. Thanks a lot, Scotty & mom, for chilling my Cornhusker vibe.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:05 PM ^
I guess this is "Michigan" related? Dan Mullen was at MSST from 2009 to 2017. During that time Michigan hired both Brady Hoke AND Jim Harbaugh. At some point during one of those two coaching searches someone related to a Michigan search inquired about Dan Mullen. I don't read this to say Dan Mullen was offered a job in Ann Arbor or anything like that. Most of us were around during those coaching searches. We know who the "major" candidates were.
I guess I'm not sure what the news here is. Other than Megan Mullen said the word "Michigan."
September 13th, 2021 at 3:16 PM ^
Yep... He was a brief consideration after his MSU team hamblasted Rich Rod's last team as a going away gift.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:04 PM ^
is hamblasted the word of the day around here?
September 13th, 2021 at 4:15 PM ^
It’s not a bad choice, to be honest.
September 13th, 2021 at 6:07 PM ^
Is that like pressure washing pigs?
September 13th, 2021 at 8:38 PM ^
Fuck you bitch!
September 13th, 2021 at 4:18 PM ^
My understanding is that Mullen told us he’d take the job if we couldn’t get Harbaugh
September 13th, 2021 at 3:08 PM ^
What's the "interesting info" here? That Michigan inquired about Dan Mullen as a head coach? Wasn't this already known?
September 13th, 2021 at 3:24 PM ^
It was never confirmed that Michigan ever contacted Dan Mullen.
September 13th, 2021 at 5:20 PM ^
It still isn't confirmed. Somebody called him about it. Nothing there says it was Michigan. Could've been his agent to ask if he was interested, for all the article says.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
It was Mullen's job if Jim stayed in the NFL.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:23 PM ^
Our own Brian Cook says he had it from a good source that this was the case. In case any passers by think that you’re just making this up.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:26 PM ^
It was pretty well known that UM reached out to Mullen but I don't remember it going much beyond that. Mullen seemed destined for a good SEC job, and now he's at Florida where he's had good success.
People not thinking Frost is ready does make some sense - a lot of people acted like UCF wasn't some moribund program coming off a string of horrible seasons and not one that had an absolutely awful year (0-12) but had been a top G5 program for years before. Frost deserves some credit for turning the around quickly but he hadn't really "built" a program for any sustained period of time.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:28 PM ^
Scott Frost seems like a guy who looks better than reality bc of the stability of the programs he was at when he was there.
He was Chip Kelly's OC in Oregon, in the midst of their best run in school history. (Edit: as someone below pointed out, Frost was OC under Helfrich, and WR coach under Kelly at Oregon, but I think point still stands)
He went undefeated at UCF, a program with a history of success coming off a very bad year, but a still talented roster. UCF's success in the years following with Heupel show that success there is sustainable not fleeting.
Nebraska is not a job where you can fake it til you make it anymore.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:20 PM ^
If you are Chip Kelly’s OC you really aren’t the OC
September 13th, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^
Harbaugh too right? (too soon)
September 13th, 2021 at 6:28 PM ^
Actually he was OC under Helfrich at Oregon. He was a position coach under Kelly. Probably not material to your point, though ...
September 13th, 2021 at 7:51 PM ^
You’re right, fixed that in my post!
September 13th, 2021 at 3:29 PM ^
Of course UM was not a good fit for Mullen. $EC guy who is going to run an $EC program. Urban only worked out at OSU because they were willing to go full on football factory.
If Mullen beats UGA and BAMA, then you can convince me he'd be better at UM than Harbaugh has been. Otherwise he's essentially Harbaugh...finishing 3rd or worse in the conference every year.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:35 PM ^
Came to post something like this myself. Mullen here complaining that M fans had to wear masks, etc.? Would not have been pretty. I have my doctorate from UF, and--believe me--a lot of folks in Gainesville are not enthralled with him.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:00 PM ^
He finished worse than 3rd more often than not.
At Mississippi State, he went 5-7, 9-4, 7-6, 8-5, 7-6, 10-3, 9-4, 6-7 and 9-4.
The RichRod led Michigan team he destroyed in the Gator Bowl was 7-6 with (statistically) the worst defense in school history.
Against the elite teams (squads who won 10 games or more) he was a whopping 0-30.
Where he was at his peak was in 2014 when MSU started the season 9-0 and had three straight wins over LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn. All 3 of those teams would finish the season unranked. And MSU lost 3 of their last 4.
His record against their chief rival was barely over .500 despite Ole Miss having some truly horrendous teams during that time frame.
I think I'd put him below Harbaugh. Harbaugh never got the luxury of facing a 2-10 Ohio State team.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:23 PM ^
Sounds a lot like Franklin. Got attention for winning at a school that doesn’t win much but benefited from beating marquee programs who weren’t actually that good at the time
September 13th, 2021 at 6:59 PM ^
Yeah, my point is that I expect his tenure at Florida to look a lot like Harbaugh so far at UM.
Catching Bama at UF will be as tough as catching OSU at UM. Bama is running a semi-pro team at this point, just as OSU is running a different model (football factory) than the rest of the B1G.
He also has to contend with Georgia - which has been close to knocking off Bama and is going for semi-pro football model under Saban disciple Kirby Smart. Just as UM has to deal with an on par PSU program every year in the same division. Add in teams like LSU, and A&M for potential cross division matchups and it's like us having to deal with Wisconsin and Iowa.
TLDR: Mullen will have a hard time getting UF to Bama's level just like Harbaugh has had a hard time getting UM past OSU, and there will be other tough conference games along the way. I doubt he could have done any better than Harbaugh at UM.
September 13th, 2021 at 8:23 PM ^
This is an honest question: I keep reading on this board about OSU being a "full on football factory" and paying players and so forth. I'm not saying it's not true. I have no idea. But I really do wonder what people are talking about when they accuse OSU of cheating and so forth. What evidence do they have? What does it mean to call OSU a "full on football factory," other than observing they have had a lot of success. I'd like to see a discussion about this that revolves around more than innuendo. What, exactly, is OSU doing that is either in violation of or skirting the rules? I'd love nothing more than to be able to say that, but in the absence of evidence it sounds like sour grapes. So I invite MGoBloggers to share their stories.
September 14th, 2021 at 9:09 PM ^
You must be young or living under a rock. Tressel and Meyer both left the school shamefully (but they had great records so they're basically saints in Columbus), and if you look past the veneer that is the Ohio press/cheer squad, there is a ton of damning evidence. Rigged raffles, bag men, organizational cover-up of abuse, etc.
Michigan has certainly had its issues, but they pale by comparison to Ohio State culture. Michigan at least has folk who call out their own school and hold it accountable. OSU invites Tressel back in celebratory fashion. Not even close to the same.
September 18th, 2021 at 10:33 PM ^
Meyer’s scandal wasn’t because he was cheating, it was because he was a dirtbag who was shielding a bigger dirtbag. I don’t see the competitive advantage there. Tressel is a bit dicier, but that was also awhile ago.
Let’s go to the question: what evidence is there that OSU is cheating? You say there’s a ton of it. Give the actual evidence of bag men and so forth.
September 13th, 2021 at 3:30 PM ^
If Harbaugh had stayed in the NFL, I wanted Mullen at Michigan.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:07 PM ^
Dan Mullen would have had a better offense at Michigan, but he's still yet to prove he can coach a team with a defense that can stop anything. I think hiring him gets you to the same place Harbaugh's gotten Michigan by a different road.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:24 PM ^
Why do all these spread offense savants struggle to put together good defenses?
September 13th, 2021 at 4:42 PM ^
I don't know, but there are only two coaches in the country who have consistently done it: Nick Saban and Urban Meyer.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:47 PM ^
I don't think Saban is really a spread savant per se. He might be the best coach in college football history, but he's never been regarded as an offensive creative genius the way Meyer generally is.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:56 PM ^
I think it's two things:
1. Dan Mullen is a prick. The reason he was in Starkville so long is because every time he interviews for a job he comes across like a dickbag. High level assistant coaches don't like working for dickheads any more than you do. He's also alienated people across the SEC by being the biggest tattle tale in the conference, so anyone there who had worked in the conference already had a bad experience with him.
2. His offense is so run heavy that his defenses don't get prepared for good passing teams.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:23 PM ^
There's something I really don't like about Mullen. I'm not sure what it is, but he just seems slimy.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:28 PM ^
Mullen was the back-up choice to Harbaugh. While he is a very good football coach, I will say I'm glad it did not work out based on what he and his staff have said and done off the field. Michigan fans, alumni, and trustees would not have taken kindly to his behavior and he'd have been set-up for failure here. He's in the right place.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:35 PM ^
Threadjack but thanks to the mods who nuked that stupid Gattis thread.
September 13th, 2021 at 4:41 PM ^
It is easier for a football coach to succeed in the SEC than at Michigan for obvious and much discussed reasons. We could substitute Les Miles for Dan Mullen in these discussions and show the same outcome.
September 13th, 2021 at 6:26 PM ^
Mullen is a top coach, and would have done fine here.
September 13th, 2021 at 7:47 PM ^
Would already have been at two other universities, and not in the Big Ten, either. Rich Rod without the charm. Or the good taste in music.
September 13th, 2021 at 6:23 PM ^
For the uninformed here, he was Hacketts plan B after Harbaugh.
September 14th, 2021 at 11:40 AM ^
I remember reading that in 2014 Mullen had basically agreed to be the backup choice if things fell through with Harbaugh.