Dan Mullen says recruiting narratives at Florida were internal ‘spin’
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A big reason Florida fired Dan Mullen was a perceived lack of recruiting success. According to the man himself, the calls saying as much were coming from inside the house.
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wolken recently interviewed Mullen about the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics and his desire to remain at UNLV long-term. However, the timing of their chat — Oct. 20, the day after UF fired Billy Napier — led him to crack the door open on his time in blue and orange.
“That was interesting at the end… in retrospect, now I have a much better perspective at the end of Florida, of the reality,” Mullen said. “Because there’s the perception, which you probably deal with, and the reality, which is the reality. Which nobody wants to talk about, of what actually happened.”
In Mullen’s opinion, “what actually happened” amounts to a form of internal sabotage.
“There’s all the spin, right? Like, ‘oh, you won’t recruit.’ Okay, did [Napier’s staff] have one better recruiting class than mine?” Mullen asked. “So that spin was coming internally. ‘Oh, you won’t recruit.’ There’s a lot more to it, but that’s one little one.”
Mullen’s classes from 2018-21 ranked 14th, ninth, eighth, and 12th in the industry-generated 247 Composite. Napier’s classes from 2022-25 ranked 18th, 13th, 13th, and seventh. Although Napier did have the best single class between them, Mullen did more than hold his own. Three of his 4 classes finished above 3 of Napier’s 4, in terms of national ranking.
In the end, Mullen’s time away from coaching allowed him to “reset” and adapt to college football’s new environment.
Today, he’s 6-1 as the Rebels’ head coach. Meanwhile, Florida is in essentially the same spot it was when it cut Mullen’s cord. If there’s a winner of the breakup, it’s him.
