Florida AD Scott Stricklin reveals moment he officially offered Dan Mullen head coaching job
By Keith Farner
Published:
Dan Mullen has delivered back-to-back 10-win seasons to Florida in his first two seasons as head coach, the program’s first in a decade as the Gators polished off a win over Florida State, the first of its kind since 2009 in Gainesville.
On Sunday, Athletics Director Scott Stricklin celebrated the win and tweeted details about when he offered Mullen the job.
“I watched the 2017 UF-FSU game from my office while in the midst of a coaching search. During 2nd half I called @CoachDanMullen & offered him @GatorsFB job. Thanks for a great two years, Dan … excited for the future! P.S. It’s more fun watching this game in person.”
This timing is interesting to Florida fans because it was reported last year that Tennessee made contact with Mullen about its opening when AD John Currie led the search. According to the documents, Mullen was the first person to be contacted by Currie, Rocky Talk Top and GoVols247 reported. That was also about the time that Chip Kelly appeared to be Florida’s choice before he elected to take the UCLA job.
Just before noon on Saturday, Nov. 25, Mullen messaged Currie: “Good luck today. Talked with Peyton last night. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
According to the messages, Currie told Dowdle to sent Mullen a memorandum of understanding, and the two appeared to have contact scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 26, but his last message to Mullen on the night of Nov. 25 — “So tomorrow work?” — went unanswered.
Mullen was hired on Florida’s coach that Sunday.
I watched the 2017 UF-FSU game from my office while in the midst of a coaching search. During 2nd half I called @CoachDanMullen & offered him @GatorsFB job. Thanks for a great two years, Dan … excited for the future!
P.S. It’s more fun watching this game in person#GoGators pic.twitter.com/0fA00WObNQ
— Scott Stricklin (@ScottStricklin) December 1, 2019
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
