Well, now. Florida keeps acting like the little brother in the Georgia relationship. It’s definitely a weird vibe after the Spurrier era scars we all still have.
Just in case anyone was unaware, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and Florida head coach Dan Mullen are not the best of friends. That puts an added layer to one of college football’s best rivalries. And looks as if Mullen threw some more kerosene on the fire Monday when he was discussing transfers.
While talking to reporters, Mullen appears to take a shot at Georgia, more specifically how everything unfolded regarding quarterback Justin Fields, who one of the most high profile players to enter the new college football transfer portal following the 2018 regular season.
“I’d think we did a poor job recruiting if guys were coming in and then immediately walking out the door because it was something different than what they thought it would be and we lied to them during recruiting, or we sold them on a dream that wasn’t true,” Mullen said, according to Thomas Goldkamp of Swamp247.
If Mullen’s saying that in public, one can only imagine what kind of insights he’s sharing on the recruiting trail.
Kirby just points at recruiting rankings and shrugs.
Kirby is probably writing each of these things down to be ready for the WLOCP. Hot Rod better get that arm warmed up because I imagine we’re going to see Kirby try to run it up in any way possible if he gets the chance.
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Spurrier and Ray Goff flipped the psychology of the series from Georgia taking the field knowing it will win and Florida taking the field knowing Georgia will win, to the reverse. Mullen and Smart seem to have restored the series to its 1988 posture.
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Kirby owns Mullen!!!! As a head coach he’s 2-0 against him, not to mention those games when he was at Bama. Mullen is also brain dead. Running off at the mouth just gives Kirby more ammo to use. The next several years are going to be fun to watch.
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Rent-free Florida livin’! It’s nice this time of year.
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What will Mullen say when one of his kids transfers? And, it’s going to happen.
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and its going to be Emory.
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Well, when Mullen says things like that he’s definitely Number Two.
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A big smelly, steaming pile of Number Two.
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Who does number 2 work for?? WHO DOES NUMBER 2 WORK FOR????
Kirby’s gonna show that turd who’s boss.
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*gaturd
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I’d say Mullen failed not just once..but twice when he couldn’t land Fields. More of a validation about him as to what kind of recruiter he is. But what the hell, why not blame it on Kirby…losers have nothing to lose.
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Mullen also couldn’t land Cam Newton when it mattered.
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Eh, he just got outbid there.
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Mullen just very awkward to me. Not just his pitiful dance routine last year on the sideline when one of his own players looked at him and walked away rather than join in, but in interviews and general body language and tone. I can see why HS players may not feel any attachment and warmth with him in living rooms or campus visits. Add to that staff members, like Grantham, who are not known for their recruiting prowess and you can see why their results don’t match the talent pool around them.
This doesn’t mean FU won’t be better than they were under the past 2 coaches, they will take it up a notch or two just by a low starting point. His continual “poking the bear” may keep UGA laser focused; with our talent advantage, that is a dumb strategy increasing UGA’s chances.
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I get the Eddie Haskell vibe from leave it to beaver from Mullen.
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Hugh Freeze tried that act too.
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I loved the video clip that went around after the Florida game last year. Kirby turns to a state trooper and casually says “Fck those mother fckers”. Priceless
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I agree with this sentiment and would very much like to see the clip.
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https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
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Sorry, ignore the platform link. Click on the pic.twitter.com link within the tweet and you’ll see one of Kirby’s finest moments last season.
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I came here to say just that. One of my proudest moments.
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Kirby promises competition. Fields just couldn’t beat out Fromm and went somewhere where he could play right away. Eason did the same thing.
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What has Dan Mullen ever really won as a head coach? The Peach Bowl? That’s the highest accomplishment he’s had, right? And before that, what, a few Egg Bowls and he beat Florida that one time?
Keep on talking, Dan.
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The first ever #1 team in a CFP poll. Does that count?
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And that lasted maybe 5 days before Kentucky whipped that overrated ass? Can’t believe he would ever bring that up. Laughingstock. Good trivia question though, has Kentucky ever taken a #1 team down in football before? Not in my extensive lifetime.
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Kentucky beat #1 LSU in 2007…but I don’t know how old you are 😉
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Well….if you count his years as OC at FU he won two natties. Of course, if you count Kirby’s years as DC at Bama he’s won more natties than that.
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With the love between Kirby and Mullen, I would not be surprised to see Kirby keeping the starters in until the clock reads 0:00 or we are up by 50. I have the feeling that no matter how out of hand it gets, Kirby won’t call off the Dawgs.
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Why not…never forget the day in Athens. Spurrier certainly did not call’em off.
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Or more recently, 2008 and the time out.
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As much as I would want this to be true, he had a chance to really RUTS tech this year and didn’t do it. Played the young ones instead. I think he’d make the same choice under any circumstances.
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Pretty big game coming up seven days later, would have been crazy to do that.
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I don’t think there is the level of animosity for the poor little guys over in Atlanta as there is for the assholes from Gainesville. They were always easy to hate, but Mullen has made it even easier. Who knew that was even possible?
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Mullen needs to keep his mouth shut. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Gators go 7-5 this season. Then it won’t matter how they do in the Birmingham Bowl, or whatever.
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Mullen has always reminded me of that whiny, obnoxious neighbor from Ohio that nobody really likes.
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New Hampshire. Point still stands.
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“Up North, everything is so great.” – Obnoxious Neighbor from Ohio
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Mullen could have just stopped at “I’d think we did a poor job of recruiting.” I’m sure Che Guevara Franks will be this year’s Heisman winner, though.
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Technically, Florida finished number three. Behind Kentucky.
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Both have lake houses here. I may need to monitor said properties……
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To me this is a reporter making something where there was nothing.
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The Kirby lied to Fields narrative has been consistent across rival fanbases ever since the transfer was announced. The only thing he could have lied to the Fields camp about was if he guaranteed the starting job by midseason or sooner. Anyone who believes he did that is insane. I think Kirby actually kept some promises that ended up comprising things in the long run. Like promising not to redshirt and playing time in every game. It’s obvious now those were part of the deal.
Furthermore, I remember after Fields committed his father saying one of the selling points, besides a pro-style offense, was the promise to let Justin run the regular offense and that he wouldn’t just come in and run package plays. But a scaled down package consisting of read-option, designed power QB runs, and quick one-read pass plays off of play action (basically what he is going to be doing at OSU) would have worked much better for everyone. All of these things seemed to backfire as the snaps Fields took in some games were wasted plays taken from Fromm. And in hindsight, ideally a redshirt could have been managed with Fields playing in the Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee, UMASS, and Tech games (all of the cupcakes). So in reality, it was promises made to Fields by the staff being kept that detrimentally affected the situation.
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I don’t think we lost any games because of Fields’ participation (ignoring how he botched the fake punt in the SECCG which probably wouldn’t have worked anyhow) so the only thing lost was a season of eligibility by Fields.
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Wasn’t this guy part of the staff that told Jevan Snead that they were recruiting Tim Tebow as a linebacker? LMAO.
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Mullen is probably naturally a little arrogant. But he has to really play it up there to make the FU fans feel like they have the right person in charge. Remember that after Kentucky beat them last year they were feeling worse about the new hire than we did after Ole Miss and Nichols in 2016. If he stays there and Georgia keeps progressing under Kirby, I doubt they will win more than 1 out of every 5 against us, comparable to Auburn vs. Alabama.
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From 2002 through 2007 Auburn beat Bama 6 straight times and overall is 45-36-1 against the Tide. Hardly winning 1 out of every 5. Just sayin.’
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Actually, it’s Bama 45-36-1 and I’m surprised it’s even that close. Bama throttled them for 20+ years when the Bear was there. Tubs’ run helped close the gap.
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Then Nick arrived in 2007 and things have been just a teeny tiny bit different since then.
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Sorry, I should have clarified. I meant the Alabama as they currently are situated not the Alabama prior to 2007. Since 2008, Auburn has won 3 games against Alabama, which is more than 1 in 5 but I think it is trending away from Auburn unless they get another Cam or Kick 6.
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I’ve long considered Mullen to be a good coach. But Florida seems to bring out the weirdness in coaches. I can also tell you living down here that Florida fans in general like it.
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