For the record, I think Dan Mullen is a good coach. But this good?
It’s interesting because as great of a job as Mullen did last year and at Mississippi State, he’s only had 2 winning seasons in conference play during his 10 seasons as an SEC head coach. Obviously it was an uphill battle to turn around a historically down program in what many believe to be the toughest division in football.
But Mullen is probably the only person who would be considered a top 10 coach nationally who hasn’t won a division title.
He’s not making that last statement up. CBS’ last top 25 coaches ranking has Mullen checking in at number ten. (That’s one spot higher than James Franklin, whom I would suggest has a better resume than does Mullen. Also note this comment about #6 Kirby Smart: “I had Smart at No. 11 on my ballot, but it’s not that I don’t think he’s a good coach as much as I don’t think he’s been good enough for long enough to warrant being ranked this high this quickly.” But I digress, perhaps.)
Trolling aside, is Dan Mullen one of your ten best coaches in America?
Get The Picture 
He’s definitely one of the ten best coaches to ever coach at UF.
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I would say he is better than Galen Hall.
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Galen Hall was a better coach than Dan Mullen.
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I’m not sure Dan is one of the top ten coaches in the SEC East when you count assistants.
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I think he’s much better if not at Florida. Because apparently there’s some real funky stuff in the water there
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Short answer: NO.
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He’s an excellent coach when it comes to taking the talent on hand, whatever kind of talent it is, and maximizing it. If anyone has an argument against that, I’d love to hear it.
But there is more to “greatness” than that. That’s awesome for a tier 2 school or an OC. But at a school like Florida he’s never going to last unless he can figure out how to recruit at a MUCH higher level.
So, overall, I’d say top ten for sure at the right school. Not at Florida so far, strictly based on the sub or recruiting efforts.
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I should point out that you could take some hall of fame coaches and put them at the wrong school and they’d bomb, where some lesser overall coaches would excel. Fit is very important.
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*Sub par recruiting…
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Being an OC and being the guy in charge are two totally different things.
I wouldn’t say he’s a terrible OC although I’m not a fan of his offense, but he’s a marginal recruiter and motivator.
The list of teams he has beaten that finished ranked as a HC is minimal. He’s just not that good. The beat down we put on them the week after they beat LSU to me is the sort of thing that falls to a head coach.
I’m not saying he should have won in that spot, but his guys didn’t even get off the damn bus.
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Ok, I’ll take the bait:
Didn’t state or in any way imply OC and HC are the same.
Of course you wouldn’t say he’s a terrible OC because he’s only ever kicked ass as an OC, after kicking ass as a QB coach. Specifically, he kicked our asses, when we were good, numerous times.
Doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of his offense, it is 100% effective at getting the most out of the talent on hand. Obviously, when the talent is outclassed and well coached, there are limits. There is no straight faced argument to the contrary.
Where in the world do you get that he’s a terrible motivator?
When you’re at Mississippi State and playing a Georgia team that exactly zero of your players could have started for, which took one of the best teams in the history of the sport, coached by the best coach in the history of the sport, to overtime in the national championship game….. what was I saying about there being limits? Anyhow, that crushing defeat does fall on a head coach, and his name is Kirby Smart.
Compare his “ranked wins” or any other metric at Mississippi State to any other coach in the history of the program and get back to me. State ain’t exactly a sleeping giant. He lost to well coached, more talented teams. He also gave lots of those teams fits. And he definitely beat the asses of numerous more talented teams who weren’t well coached, or who didn’t show up. They consistently played well above their talent level, just like Florida did this year. Just like when his Mississippi State embarrassed us in 2010.
Look, Mullen’s a jackass; an easy target, especially the last few months. But mark my words: if he figures out how to recruit, even if he doesn’t recruit close to a Smart/Saban level, we’ll have a major problem on our hands.
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Jackie Sherrill’s conference winning percentage at MSU (43%) was practically the same as Mullen’s (45%) AND Jackie won a western division championship.
You can credit Mullen for Tebow and UF’s defense and the other players Meyer recruited there. I don’t. He’s not a disaster, but it’s not as if he’s proven he belongs at this level.
Get back to me when he wins the east. I say he leaves the sec without a division title of any type.
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Sideshow Dan the Clown’s ability to “coach-em-up” is a myth. His abysmal record vs. The Top-25 proves that out definitively.
All other coaches who “coach them up,” think guys like Bill Snyder, don’t shit the bed like Sideshow Dan does against the Top-25. They beat the Top-25. And their records against their own conference are never as bad as Sideshow Dan’s sub-.500 SEC record.
No. Sideshow Dan’s ability to “coach-em-up” is a myth. His greatest claim to fame is taking his school to No. 1 once behind a generational talent at QB, and then immediately lost 3 out of his next 4. Badly. He never even won his division. Jackie Sherrill did that at MSU. Sideshow Dan the Clown never did.
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i think he is ranked appropriately. i also think he is the biggest horses ass in the business now that Urban is gone. I get how it can be difficult to separate the two.
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Jim Harbaugh and Lane Kiffin beg to differ.
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If you think Urban Meyer is gone, you got another thing coming after next season.
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It’s fine with me if he ends up being a perennial top 10 coach without ever winning a division title. If arbitrary rankings like this keep him employed in Gainesville, I’ll vote for him to be coach of the year every year.
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He’s average. He won some at Miss St, but his teams almost always lost games there were supposed to lose and the schedule almost always guaranteed five wins even in the SECW. His best team floundered down the stretch while it had plenty of NFL talent and his last Miss St team got absolutely clobbered when it mattered. He’s stepped up in weight class and if he’s going to succeed at UF, he’s going to have to recruit against some hard-core recruiting masters. It’s a different ball of wax at UF. Nothing he’s done screams top-10 coach.
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No, he’s not. Maybe not even top 25 depending upon the criteria used.
When we were hunting for a CMR replacement and people objected to the process and argued ADGM should have interviewed a number of folks (e.g., Tom Herman) I don’t recall anyone saying “let’s get Mullen”. If you’re going to put Mullen up there, you need to put CMR up there; hell, Mullen is CMR but without the integrity.
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Dylan, I don’t see any SEC championships on Dan’s head coaching record do you? CMR is a much more successful coach than Dan.
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Here’s my top ten:
1-KIRBY SMART
2-COACH KIRBY SMART
3-COACH VINCE DOOLEY
4-KIRBS
5- THE KIRBINATOR
6-COACH “FUCK THOSE MOTHER FUCKERS”
7-SAM PITTMAN, (DON’T CARE IF HE IS THE ASSOCIATE HC)
8-ERK RUSSELL
9-WALLY BUTTS
10-bear bryant (not a fan)
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Erk is the best coach on that list by a long shot. Kirbaugh is off to a fine start but there are a few major to do’s on his list. Vince is kinda like the Buffalo Bills, except that one important ring he has .
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LOL!..nice
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Oh he must be a great coach; otherwise, why would Mr. Magoo want to hire him before Kirby? Right?
Fuck that motherfucker.
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Yep. Fuck Greg McGarity. He’s a feckless, useless, asshole politician.
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Roger that Devil Dawg!
One of these days you’re gonna come out of defilade and tell us all how you really feel…
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Nope. Franklin is much better and showed it at Vandy. Kirby still needs to refine his game day management but that will come soon. He’s much better overall coach than Side Show Dan.
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We’ll soon find out. He certainly elevated the baby bulldogs. Yet Ole Miss was maybe 6-3 against him. With Miami and Fl St in the worst shape they’ve been in since the 70s, he has a great opportunity. But Kirbaugh has a great head start in terms of roster. That’ll be Cousin Danny’s possum to tree.
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I actually think (hope?) Miami is on the upswing. I’d love to see them crush the Gators to start this season.
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MDD, I actually see that happening. Miami’s strength has been their D under Diaz. Mullen’s strength is his Offense. In a matchup between Enos and TdamnG, I think Enos is a much better coach. I think QB play will be much better and I think Miami will shock UF to start the season. (Mainly because UF attitude is they will beat them and Miami being underrated to start the season). Everyone seems to forget that MSU lost to South Alabama to start the 2016 season… I would expect a similar let down.
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No
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I could maybe see Mullen in the top 20, but no way the top 10. Call me when one of his teams wins at least a division championship.
And sure, hauling Mississippi State out of the cellar is no mean feat, but is it more impressive than what Bill Clark has done at UAB—taking the Blazers from literal non-existence to a conference title in just two seasons?
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Rhetorical question I am sure. Mullen definitely not a Top 10 coach beased on his 11 years as a HC. Can he elevate at Florida? Sure, doesn’t seem to have the skill set, but we will see if he gets tangible results like titles within his first 5 years. Franklin is better coach for sure, but both are dicks as personality goes, and that usually brings folks down below their Xs and Os coaching level as it impacts their recruiting and motivational efforts. He is not as bad as many UGA fans rate him, but well below MGW’s thoughts as he excuses 10 years of oh-fers. It isn’t like he didn’t have talent at MSU (look at the draftees he had), but he didn’t exactly light it up there either.
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Take away being a first class jerk, and I think Mullen is somewhat like Mark Richt. He’s fixated on the QB position, and is more than happy to delegate vital responsibilities to underlings. He’s an above average HC, but he’s either not capable, not organized, or not sufficiently motivated to get his team to championship level. I foresee a future of winning 8 to 11 games per season, and finishing second or third in the division race. How long fu puts up with that is another question.
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Just offhand, I’d rather have the following head coaches:
Nick Saban
Jimbo Fisher
Kirby Smart
Derek Mason
Dabo Swinney
David Cutcliffe
Dino Babers
Kirk Ferentz
Jim Harbaugh
James Franklin
Scott Frost
Pat Fitzgerald
Ken Niumatalolo
Mike Norvell
Kyle Whittingham
Chris Petersen
Mike Leach
Lincoln Riley
Tom Herman
Matt Campbell
Gary Patterson
That’s 21 right there and I’m probably missing a few.
So: no.
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