Better Coaching Career: Derek Dooley or Dan Mullen?
There are many different ways to explain how the 2010 football season is going right now. You have superpowers that have fallen and Cinderellas that have risen. Could it be just a down year for college football or is it a glimpse of the future?
Two programs and coaches that have had very different seasons, both from each other and from their own past seasons, are Tennessee and Mississippi State. It just so happens that both of their coaches are fairly new to being a head coach in the SEC and at their respective schools.
On one hand you have Tennessee – a former dynasty and national champion fallen to the bottom, and head coach Derek Dooley is now at the helm. They are winless in the SEC right now, and he inherited a mess. Before Dooley was hired, several names were being thrown around, with the most prominent name at the time being Will Muschamp. Turns out, Tennessee ended up with Derek Dooley. Dooley was 17-20 at Louisiana Tech. He comes from a great coaching background, having been raised by his father Vince Dooley (former Georgia head coach) and under the tutelage of Nick Saban. Dooley is a shoot-you-straight kind of coach with some great one-liners. However, his team is currently sitting 2-5 and winless in the SEC. Dooley’s current head coaching record is 19-26.
On the other hand, you have Mississippi State – a program that has been down for quite some time, and head coach Dan Mullen is now at the helm. Mullen has his team sitting at 7-2, with three wins in the conference. They beat Florida on the road and beat Georgia in Starkville. Mullen comes from a spread offense background under the tutelage of Urban Meyer. He has his team playing better than his predecessor, and the offensive numbers have been soaring since he took over the job last year. Dan Mullen’s current coaching record is 12-9.
Ok, So What?
Ok, so let’s get down to the dirty. Which coach will have the better future in the long run? Which coach will last longer at their respective school?
I’ll argue Dan Mullen could be gone from Mississippi State soon because he will get a hefty raise at another program and be rewarded for the rejuvenation at MSU. The Bulldogs better lock him down and give him a contract extension with a raise, quickly. Apart from the Mississippi State job, Dan Mullen will have a great coaching career – likely better than Dooley. He has proven he can develop players and quarterbacks. He coached Alex Smith, Tim Tebow and Cameron Newton for a short stint. That’s an impressive resume, and he’s winning right now.
The Derek Dooley hire is interesting to me. Tennessee has to give Dooley three years and the ability to recruit and coach his own players before one can be an accurate judge. Some say he has outkicked his punt coverage with the Vols’ job, but others are willing to be patient to let him get the program under control. Dooley was the recruiting coordinator at LSU, and he recruited big-time talent. He has proven he can recruit players at a prominent program. However, he’ll have to recruit nationally at Tennessee. I think he will be good, but not better than Mullen.
Which coach has the better future and why?
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Gotta go with Dan Mullen at this point
Wow! You must be a MSU fan or you hate Tennessee. You note that Dooley was 17-20 at La Tech, but you forgot to mention that in his second year he took them to their third bowl game in school history. Dooley inherited a mess at Tennessee., created by Fulmer and Kiffin. We know he can recruit (he was Saban’s recruiting coordinator at LSU) and if he couldn’t coach, why would Saban have brought him with him to the NFL? For recruiting? I doubt it. Mullen is in his second year at MSU (as opposed to Dooley’s first at Tennessee) and he took over a program where Sly Croom recruited relatively well for MSU (top 40 or better). Mullen went 5-7 in his first year with a program that was pretty well stocked. Fulmer and Kiffin decimated Tennessee’s program (take a look at Fulmer’s Top 10- recruiting class of 2007. I believe there are about 13 out of 32 players that are still in the program). Dooley’s hired a good staff and has his team playing well for the most part against a brutal schedule, but they don’t have the depth (yet) to last four quarters. Take a look at what they’ve been doing against one of the toughest schedules in the country:
Oregon (13-13 at the half), Florida (pretty sure they were at 17-17 in 3rd qtr), LSU on the road (Ahead 14-10 with 0:00 left in the game. The rest, well……..), Bama (down 13-10 at the half), South Carolina on the road (24-24 in the 4th qtr). Did you happen to notice that Tennessee played with 8 Freshman at a time on offense for a good part of both the Georgia and Bama games? Tennessee is playing with about 65 scholarship players.
Not making excuses for why they lost, but I am pointing out that they were close enough to win those games. Take a look at Tennessee’s schedule next year compared to this year. It’s much more reasonable. Then compare Dooley (in his second year) to Mullen. Tennessee will win at least eight games next year and it will only get better from there. Mullen has a good future in front of him, but Tennessee has the coach with the better future.
You have to look at Mullen and think that he will have the better career in the long run. Dooley has a great name pedigree, but Mullen has a great coaching pedigree. He’s been successful at different schools no matter the responsibility he’s been given, he’s learned how to build a program, and he is an excellent X and O coach as well. Just look at how MSU performs in the second half of games. Dooley’s teams seem to fall apart at the end, and they don’t seem to have improved as the year has progressed. Mullen’s teams have gotten progressively better over the course of the last two seasons. Don’t know how long MSU will be able to keep him, but he has a very bright future ahead of him at this point.
Pablo. Thanks for the comments. Great opinion. I’m actually not a MSU fan nor do I hate Tennessee. It was just an honest assessment.
I understand Dooley inherited a mess at Tennessee – the article says so. Also, you say MSU was “pretty well stocked” with talent when Mullen took over. Are you serious? They have NO QB, no wide receivers. They have ONE playmaker on offense in Vick Ballard. Mullen is doing more with less, IMO. He takes what his guys do and wins with the players he has.
Dooley has better young talent than Mullen, and Dooley will have every opportunity to recruit better at Tennessee. However, the current class that is committed for 2011 is about like a Big East school class if you look at it. Sure, their depth guys, but they can’t all be “under the radar” guys. Mullen is recruiting better at MSU right now… think about that.
Being close enough to win the game and winning are totally different. Dan Mullen has been close enough to win and has won games with less talent on the field.
This is just an honest assessment of where each coach is and where their program is right now. However, if I’m wrong in a couple years, I will have no problem swallowing my pride and admitting my stupidity.
Appreciate the reply Jon, but you are comparing Mullen’s second year to Dooley’s first year at UT. As a disclaimer, I am a UT Alum and season ticket holder (and I’m sure you don’t hate UT, and I guess you’re not an MSU fan after all) but let’s clarify a few things here:
- I said that MSU was pretty well stocked (for MSU). Croom was not a bad recruiter. Were they Top 10 classes? No, but they were respectable and he had more to work with than Dooley.
– You mention that “He takes what his guys do and wins with the players he has”. That’s his system. He’s gonna have to recruit to that system and let’s see how that works out long term. One winning season as a Head Coach only goes so far. He’s not gonna have a Tebow down there. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s going to do pretty well there and probably move on to a place where he’ll have more resources (hope not, want to see good coaches stay in the SEC), but I think you’re selling Dooley way short.
- “Mullen is recruiting better at MSU right now… think about that. ” – Ummmmm….No he’s not. Both Rivals and Scout have MSU “ranked” slightly higher than UT right now because their class is much closer to being full. Would you rather fill your class up first or fill it with the best players? MSU has 21 commitments and UT has only taken 17 commitments so far because as we all know, many of the best players don’t make their choice until signing day or soon before it. I’m not a big “star rating” guy, but that’s where you should be looking if you want to compare. They’re both gonna be up around 26 or 27 commitments in the end, with Tennessee’s average rating already higher and much more likely to rise. The 2009 rankings are also a pretty good indicator of this: UT (9,16), Mississippi State (38,38). Let’s take a look back at who recruited who in about 90 days and we’ll see where they both stand then. I’ll bet ya a sandwich and a Budweiser at Gus’s Deli that It’s not even close (again).
- As for being close enough to win and winning being two different things, you are correct. But at least judge Dooley on a level playing ground with Mullen. Depth has been an issue all year for UT. We’re playing 265 lb DE’s at DT and we start three freshman (probably four from here on out) on our offensive line. 65 scholarship players in Dooley’s first year vs. Mullen in his second year with a full boat. Not quite the same.
Again, I’m not trying to bash Mullen, because I think he’s gonna be a good one. And the point of your column was for honest discussion and opinion. I just happen to think that Dooley is setting up UT’s program for long term success and am very happy with where we’re at compared to the direction of the progfram the last few years. I’d take him over Mullen any day of the week.
JMHO
Love the commentary. That’s what makes college football and the SEC great! Thanks for the reply. It will be fun to see how this one turns out!
i think dooley is an idiot
Pablo,
Are you serious? Dan Mullen wins hands down.
If you want a “apples to apples” comparison, how about you compare Mullen’s first year at MSU vs Dooley this year?
Even in Mullen’s first year, he was capable of winning a couple of SEC games. Dooley is not a bad coach, but Mullen is the man and hopefully MSU will be able to hold on to him for a very long time.
Not only that, but if you compare the recruiting rankings between both schools over the past 4 years; TN has way more talent than MSU and is winning less.