Dan Mullen was so successful at Mississippi State, Bulldog fans annually had to hear about their coach entertaining offers to leave the program.

Some Mississippi State fans believed Mullen would never make the jump to leave Starkville after downplaying the speculation for years but when the Gators came calling, the offer to rejoin Scott Stricklin was too good to pass on.

Now Gator fans are having to deal with the same thing, as Mullen’s Florida program has experienced nothing but success in his three seasons in Gainesville. After dismissing NFL speculation last season, there continue to be rumblings that the NFL is interested in Florida’s coach.

The latest such speculation comes from Yahoo Sports insider Pete Thamel, who quoted a source indicating Mullen would be among the few college coaches vetted to make the jump to the NFL:

“I think the reason we’ll see more college guys go to the NFL is the pool of pro coaches ready to be head coaches is so much smaller,” said an industry source. “Guys like Matt Campbell, Dan Mullen and Pat Fitzgerald, those kinds of guys will be in the mix now.”

Thamel also noted that the NCAA’s decision to hand down recruiting restrictions to Mullen may affect the coach’s decision making.

For now, this is just speculation but with the NFL season coming to an end in the coming days and the inevitable coach firings that will follow, Florida fans may have to hold their collective breath until all the NFL head coaching positions are filled before they can relax and look forward to the 2021 season with Mullen at the helm.