ESPN’s Get Up crew discusses Dan Mullen as a dark horse candidate to coach the Dallas Cowboys
By Keith Farner
Published:
Dan Mullen’s name has been somewhat on the back burner in recent weeks in relation to the likely open Dallas Cowboys job. With back-to-back 10-win seasons, and coming off an Orange Bowl victory over Virginia, the Florida coach is on very solid footing with the Gators.
The issue bubbled up again on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Tuesday morning as host Laura Rutledge posed the possibility to Emmanuel Acho about Mullen listening about the potential job opening. Mullen has said, even this month, that he’s happy at Florida and wants to continue building the program, but he also has a relationship from his Mississippi State days with Cowboys QB Dak Prescott.
“I think Dan Mullen is the dark horse,” Acho said. “He’s kind of the name that nobody has discussed yet, like why Dan Mullen? It does make a lot of sense when you think about Dak Prescott. Now bear in mind, the Cowboys aren’t committed to Dak Prescott either. We can’t go all in on Dan, because we’re going all-in on Dak, because Jerry (Jones) has shown a lack of commitment to Dak himself.”
Acho then endorsed Mullen as a “great” hire if it comes to fruition.
Damien Woody, meanwhile, cautioned those who like bringing in a coach for the quarterback, because it’s been done before with not much success with Freddie Kitchens in Cleveland, and Ben McAdoo with the New York Giants.
“When you talk about football coaches, you want CEO-type guys,” Woody said.
Acho added that Dallas may need former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, but what would work best is Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, because, Acho said, Riley hasn’t won “the big one” so his ego is less than Meyer’s.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
