The University of Florida announced Sunday evening that it has hired Dan Mullen as its 27th head coach.

Mullen comes to Florida from Mississippi State, where he led the Bulldogs to the No. 1 ranking during his nine-year tenure. Obviously, Mullen was the OC under Urban Meyer from 2005-2008, and he was a part of two national championships in Gainesville.

“Megan and I are very excited to get back to Gainesville and the University of Florida,” Head Coach Dan Mullen said. “I have such great memories of the championships we won during our time here and have a love for Florida. We are happy to be coming back to such a supportive administration, staff, student body and fan base, which is the premier football program in the country.

“We will give relentless effort in everything that we do on and off the field. Our commitment will match the passion that the Gator Nation has for this program.”

“I strongly believe Dan is the most prepared candidate to have immediate and long-term success at the University of Florida,” Stricklin said. “Coach Mullen is one of the best offensive minds in all of college football, and has an unbelievable track record in tutoring successful quarterbacks (such as Alex Smith, Chris Leak, Tim Tebow, Dak Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald).

“Coach Mullen will do a tremendous job in developing accountability and toughness through a well-coordinated strength and conditioning program. Dan will work closely with the coaching staff, academic advising staff and administrative team to give every student athlete he coaches the opportunity to grow and excel at a high level athletically, academically and socially.”