CC: Brett McMurphy says Mullen, RR not being considered for FL job

Submitted by LJ on

Link here

Surprised this hasn't made the board yet.  Just based on one guy's "sources," but this has been picked up by the major media, and obviously could have implications on our ability to get Mullen should we go after him.

Baloo

November 17th, 2014 at 5:23 PM ^

So he's currently one of the best coaches in the country because of what he did 7 years ago in the Big East?  Seriously, what criteria are you using?  It sure can't be wins. 

In 12 years as a head coach, he's lost 60 games.  How does averaging 5 losses a year make him one of the best coaches in the game?  He's never won a national title, never had a heisman winner, never had a top five team, and he's won only 3 conference titles (all of which were in the Big East).  

The "turnarond" at Arizona isn't even a turnaround. Since 2006, Zona's conference wins have been 4, 4, 5, 6, 4, 2, 4, 4, 5.  There regular season wins have been 6, 5, 7, 8, 7, 4, 7, 7, 8.  RR has kept them pretty much right where they've been for a while.

SalvatoreQuattro

November 17th, 2014 at 5:22 PM ^

You act as if WVU was Northwestern or something. They went 7-5 in Nehlen's final season so it wasn't like they were a hot mess. Nehlen left WVU in okay shape.(4 winning seasons in the final 5 years of the Nehlen era)

Rodriguez did good things at WV, but so did Nehlen. As for Arizona, what he has done thus far is not any better than what Tomey did. Heck, even Mike Stoops achieved 8-5.(08', 09') All signs point to wait-and-see.

You are assuming greatness when it has not yet appeared.  That is the flaw in your argument. You assume that he will make the next step when he has not yet done that. The Pac -12 isn't the Big East. SC, UW, UCLA, ASU, and Oregon are much, much better than Cincinnati, Pitt, and the rest of that extinct woebegone conference.

All RR has done at this point is equal what Tomey and Stoops. Actually,  he hasn't even equalled Tomey as Tomey led Zona to a top 5 final ranking.

cp4three2

November 17th, 2014 at 5:34 PM ^

He's been at Arizona for 3 years and has them in the Top 15. WVU was blowing people's socks off. There's a reason why his name was instantly brought up for the Florida job. Look at his career. He's coached a team for more than three years twice, Glenville and WVU. In 8 seasons he won the team's conference title 7 times. 

 

So yeah, his career speaks for itself: when he his allowed to build a program and have guys who've been in his system for 3 years, they tend to win the conference. 

Baloo

November 17th, 2014 at 5:45 PM ^

If you have to use a coach's prowess at Glenville State to demonstrate why he's an excellent coach, you've already lost the argument.  Again, RR has had 3 good seasons out of 12 at the FBS level.  60 losses over that span.  

Now it may be that he's a great coach who simply hasn't had the time to develop a bigtime program since 2007.  I highly doubt that, but it's plausible.  What I don't get are the people who just assume that's the case because he has Arizona temporarily ranked.

UMaD

November 17th, 2014 at 7:36 PM ^

I'm not assuming greatness. I'm looking at the facts and making a rational judgement.

Rodriguez could go down the Tomey path - or he could do much better.  Tomey is the worst case scenario.

The reason I don't think he will follow the worst case scenario is his previous coaching experience at Michigan (where the team improved each year) and WVU where he built a pretty weak program into a top 5 national title contender.

Yeah, Nehlan wasn't a bad coach, nobody said he was, but Rodriguez took them into the college football elite while he was there, winning BCS bowls.  The year after he left Michigan they won a BCS bowl with his players.  Now he's tracking extremely positively, yes with some luck involved, at a third major conference school.  That's not to mention his track record before in lower level programs and as an OC.  They guy is BONA-FIDE.  If not for GERG, a bunch of bad luck, and a hostile fanbase, the debacle that was the 2010 defense is just a small blip on his resume instead of big red BUT BUT BUT...

Would I rather have Saban or Harbaugh or Meyer -- yeah.  Maybe a couple others too.  Mullen? No. Miles? No.  Graham? No.  Helfrich? No  All of those guys have had great success recently, but only Miles can put up his resume and say "I DID THIS" the way Rodriguez can.

Louie C

November 17th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^

I think RR rebounded nicely; he landed in a competitive conference for a program that will let him build his team with no pressure to win immediately. The PAC-12 is competitive enough to where if he builds Zona into a conference contender, then they'll be in the mix for the playoffs. Especially when ( yes, when ) they expand the field.

Durham Blue

November 17th, 2014 at 5:06 PM ^

Agreed again.  Arizona is playing loose and it just looks like they're having fun.  That type of mentality is instilled by the coaching staff.  They've been behind in a few games this year, some by a decent margin, yet still came back to win.  Aside from the Wisconsin comeback of 2008, any RR team at UM would've rolled over and died when they fell behind by more than 7 points.  There is a distinct cultural and expectation difference that is enabling RR to be RR at Arizona.  It is refreshing to watch, although a large part of me wishes that would've been the case at Michigan when he was here.

UMaD

November 17th, 2014 at 4:48 PM ^

People around here (and many in the media) act as though program prestige and tradition are the only factors that matter. Nevermind fan expectations (read appreciation) and media hostility.  Nevermind how Miami, Oregon, Wisconsin, Boise St, Baylor, TCU, Miss St and others have built themselves out of irrelevance into national powerhouses (or soon could get there). 

The whole presumption of superiority is based on an outdated mentality from a time when national network television games mattered.  Things have changed and basically every game is nationally televised for cheap.

Our fans (and blog-fathers) still smirk and mock recruits when they pick Clemson, TCU or  Mississippi (not to mention Oregon, Maryland, MSU or Rutgers) but, other than education, they can't make an objective argument for Michigan.

It doesn't make me happy to see our program sink so far, and it's a salvageable enterprise, but the first step is acknowledging there is problem.  There is absolutely NOTHING that guarantees Michigan's position as a top 25 college football program and intelligent coaching candidates will know this very well.  It's a high reward job, with a large salary, but it's also very high risk and very demanding with a high level of difficulty.

Florida has a lot of the same issues, but at least weather and recruiting homebase are on their side. It's objectively a far better job than Michigan.

So frankly are Arizona and Mississipi State right now once you factor in the fact that those programs are already up and running, while Michigan needs to hit the reset button once again.

Buck Wild

November 17th, 2014 at 3:44 PM ^

the same lack of support and infighting at UF that he got here, he may fail there as well.  The big difference is that he iwould very close to the Florida ninjas  he likes to recruit so he would automatically have a built-in advantage.

Tater

November 17th, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^

Maybe Florida is going to offer the Ol' Ball Coach a chance to finish his career where it started.  Stranger things have happened in Gainesville.

Tagg

November 17th, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^

Mullen and RR are both in pretty good spots where they are. Both have new facilities, are competitive in their respective conferences and brutal divisions. I'm not sure of Mullens pay structure but I do know Rodriguez has a very lucrative stock option that he will recieve after x number of years. 

LJ

November 17th, 2014 at 3:52 PM ^

I have to think Mullen is outta there this year or in the next couple of years.  I mean, Mullen has beaten three teams that were in the top 10 at some point this season, and now after losing to friggin Alabama, his team no longer controls its own destiny.  And oh yeah, they still have one more top-10 team to play at the end of the year, plus the SEC championship if Bama loses.

Then Mullen looks north to Urban's team and sees they lost to a crappy ACC team, beat one top-10ish team on the road and nobody else for the whole year, and have a decent shot at the playoffs if they can win a medicore B1G championship game.  I have to think a switch is pretty appealing, not even considering salary differences.

maize-blue

November 17th, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^

I agree with your Mullen comments. His stock at Miss St. probably will not be any higher than now. If he has any higher coaching aspirations, I think this is his time to make a jump. I don't see Miss. St. being perennial powerhouses.

M-Dog

November 17th, 2014 at 3:51 PM ^

Whoo Hoo!!  That opens up an awesome Plan B for us:

Head Coach:  Dan Mullen.

             OC:  Rich Rod

             DC:  Will Muschamp

 With a plan like that, somebody needs to tell that Harbaugh guy to get off his ass and make a decision.  The train may leave without him.

Wolverine Devotee

November 17th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^

That 2017 game with Florida would be Armageddon if RR went there.

Especially if Harbaugh came here.

Can you imagine the media for that game? 

blueak

November 17th, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^

Dumping their losing coach before the end of the season was a smart strategic move. We, on the other hand, make a turtle look fast when it comes to making decisions.

RHammer - SNRE 98

November 17th, 2014 at 5:12 PM ^

setting aside all the caveats that would otherwise apply, it seems like there are two primary possibilities for the timing of a potential firing here, 1. is the immediate (or close) aftermath of the OSU game; and 2. after the Football Bust on 12/8... as one of Bo's boys, I tend to think Mr. Hackett will wait until after the Bust, to let Coach Hoke & his staff handle the outgoing seniors' last big event, and to allow for the "evaluation process" to take place as well...

so yeah, a bit turtle-ish, but with purpose

bronxblue

November 17th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^

I don't see Mullen coming to Michigan regardless of what happens at Florida, but like Brian I never thought Brady Hoke would be the HC at Michigan, so what do I know.

mGrowOld

November 17th, 2014 at 4:06 PM ^

I've been saying Mullen is not going to Florida for a while now.  One of my exployees is an ex-player there and pretty connected to the Athletic Department.  He said there is a lot of bad blood between Foley & Mullen.

If we cant get Jim Harbaugh that's who I want.

SGBlue

November 17th, 2014 at 5:42 PM ^

He doesn't respond well to the bright lights. I saw it in his eyes at WVU during the Pitt game when he had the door to the NC game wide open to him. We saw it in Ann Arbor. He's far better when the pressure is low, as it is in Tucson. It certainly will not be that way in Gainesville.

As Dan Ackroyd observed, if you can't handle MiGs, don't fly in MiG Alley. RR can't handle MiGs.

SGBlue

November 17th, 2014 at 7:30 PM ^

I still have the vivid memory of watching that game, vaguely aware of RR's reputation, when they showed him on the sidelines with one of the most obvious deer in the headlights looks I've seen. So, yeah, even with White somewhat compromised they should have been able to handle a 4-6 Pitt team at home. Without having to rely on field goals. Some leaders don't handle the heavy heat very well...I just get the impression that RR is one of them.

StraightDave

November 17th, 2014 at 4:38 PM ^

90% of the MSU recruits would never make it at UM.  How many JUCO guys are on the MSU roster?  I'm not sure but I bet it's a bunch. 

Danwillhor

November 17th, 2014 at 8:58 PM ^

weeks ago. Nobody genuinely takes it in. Mullen would be another RR. The similarities are kind of scary but nobody notices. Can Mullen win with 25 recruits that he absolutely cannot miss on? Can he turn this team spread faster than people would want him fired? etc

NRK

November 18th, 2014 at 12:30 AM ^

Well, I took a look at the Rivals top 50/100 JuCo for Rivals for Miss St since Mullen arrived in 2009:

2009: 3
2010: 1
2011: 2
2012: 1
2014: 3
2015: 2

More than he could take at UM. Only one was a starter that I saw (Autry) and most of those guys are 3*s, probably more filler types. It's a concern coming to UM, but Mullen doesn't appear to be overly reliant on JuCo.

2014 and 2015 are top 100. I'm sure there were others below top 50 in other years.

Danwillhor

November 18th, 2014 at 2:13 AM ^

but I count 12 kids that, talent or not, were on the team from the Juco ranks to fill spots he either missed on in recruiting or other. 12 kids coming from CFB programs (not HS) that he could easily take. Those twelve kids (almost half a recruiting class in the B1G) don't exist at Michigan. If you can, try to figure out his oversigning numbers (if any) and the academic qualifications of kids admitted. I would guess (pure educated assumption) that 25-50% of his overall recruits wouldn't qualify at UM. That's not counting the shadow bagmen at places like that, etc. Mullen is truly in my 3rd tier (at best). I can live with no Harbaugh if it's a great & proven candidate. If be behind but very skeptical of Mullen. FYI, no matter the hire I think we need to go all in on him. This faction stuff has to stop. If it is Mullen, I'll support it and demand he gets 5 years but early on I'll be skeptical inside.

NRK

November 18th, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^

Yeah, and I have an error in my numbers above. Not sure how, but my 2011 number is wrong and one of the years are missing. Here's the better breakdown:

 

Just looking quickly, at my thoughts from last night, he does seem to pull in at least a high level JuCo kid every other year. Without closely following Miss. St. I don't know much about those kids, how important they are, etc.

It's clear he relies on JuCo at Miss St more than he could at UM, but I also don't think he's overly reliant on them - he's not getting a large number of starters here or heavily filling classes (at least based on the top 50/100). If there's a lot more in the lower rankings then I would be concerned. But I'd also assume some of those lower-ranked filler guys could be replaced by Midwest guys who can get in to UM. JuCos are also very common down south if you look at the top 50/100 lists, so it might be that it's just more accepted down there. 

A bigger concern to me would be that his recuting is primarily focused in the Southern states. That's expected, but he'd have to make inroads up north or work nationally quickly. This was an issue for Rodriguez. The question is whether Mullen could adapt to taking less JuCos and recruiting in a different territory. I don't think that would be data-driven.

UofM626

November 17th, 2014 at 6:12 PM ^

Will put on the full court press for Stoops once again and that Stoops is probably looking for a change. I can see Stoops in Ann Arbor or Gainesville next year.