First and 10: Will Dan Mullen be coaching Florida in 2021? It's far from certain ...
1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …
There’s an uncomfortable pause between Dan Mullen, who led Florida to the SEC Championship Game this season, and the university administration, multiple sources close to the situation told me.
A pause that could make the next 2 weeks a fluid time while the future of the program is figured out.
Mullen, according to an ESPN report Sunday morning, is telling NFL teams he is interested in the league. Meanwhile, Mullen’s bizarre antics this fall haven’t exactly endeared him to the Florida administration.
Then there’s the fallout from Florida’s first NCAA probation in 30 years.
“The public nature of what happened can’t be ignored,” one source told me.
That “public nature” is Florida – the university that holds itself above the fray by winning the right way – was last week placed on 1 year of probation by the NCAA for its head football coach not following NCAA rules.
On purpose.
Multiple sources say that point of contention has been exacerbated this season by multiple public moments where Mullen’s antics have put the university in a bad light.
Then early Sunday morning ESPN reported that Mullen is looking to move to the NFL.
Remember this: Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin has a recent history of quick action when the university’s reputation is at stake.
He made a quick move in 2017 when coach Jim McElwain complained about alleged “death threats” from social media in the middle of a terrible season. When McElwain wouldn’t reveal the source of the threats, Stricklin fired him midseason.
The difference between McElwain and Mullen: One was losing at a disturbing level, the other reached 28 wins quicker than any football coach in school history.
That doesn’t make the NCAA violations – and the intent to do so — any easier to stomach.
Mullen had impermissible contact with a recruit, setting up the planned meeting via a text to tell the recruit when he would be at his high school in Seattle. The NCAA didn’t give the name of the recruit, but it’s not difficult to figure out that it was likely 5-star linebacker Sav’ell Smalls, who eventually signed with Washington.
Members of the Florida coaching staff (which Mullen is accountable for) also had impermissible contact with 7 teams that stopped in Gainesville on their way to a Tampa-area event. The staff gave players tours of the facilities.
For that, and for his “failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance,” Mullen received the harshest penalty a coach can get from the NCAA: a show-cause order, which essentially means any school other than Florida that wants to hire Mullen would have to prove to the NCAA that his hire is justifiable.
While this may seem ticky-tack on the outside, it’s far from that within the Florida administration. Florida was a rogue school in the late 1980s, breaking NCAA rules with the rest of the SEC’s outlaws at the time.
From the moment former athletic director Bill Arnsparger hired Steve Spurrier in 1990, everything changed. Spurrier declared Florida didn’t have to cheat to win the SEC, and then went out and proved it.
Arnsparger, a tough disciplinarian as an NFL and college coach, was hired to clean up the mess at Florida. Jeremy Foley then took over in 1992 and took winning with character to another level. The Gators, along with Stanford, had been the NCAA’s model sports program since, never receiving NCAA probation and becoming an annual fixture at the top of the Director’s Cup all-sports standings.
All that ended with Mullen’s NCAA case. And now it appears Mullen is looking at the NFL.
Mullen said last week that, “college football as we know it will be very different over the next several years. It’ll be, I don’t want to say it’s going to be better or worse, it’s just going to be different than what a lot of college football is used to. The world is ever-changing.”
Mullen spoke to the change in college football – the looming name, image and likeness ruling, more lenient player transfer rules, a more player-friendly system — before Florida’s Cotton Bowl blowout loss to Oklahoma. After the loss, more of what has irked the Florida administration all season showed up again.
Mullen spent his postgame press conference declaring the “last game for the 2020 team was 11 days ago” in the SEC Championship Game.
He talked about how he thought his “scout team players” played well in the game, and that because of COVID protocols, Florida didn’t really have to play in the game, but did, anyway. He gave the impression that his team had little motivation to play.
Those postgame comments became an issue because they minimized an opponent – and more important, brought into question the team’s preparation.
Ole Miss beat No.11 Indiana in the Outback Bowl without 4 of its top offensive threats, and North Carolina took Texas A&M deep into the fourth quarter of the Orange Bowl without more than 4,000 yards of offense from 3 of its top offensive threats.
Mullen’s team was unprepared and got clobbered, and he responded with yet another bizarre press conference.
No university wants to be embarrassed, especially by an employee paid millions to coach football.
Understand this: For the second straight year, Mullen hasn’t yet received a contract extension despite a 29-9 record and 3 straight New Year’s 6 Bowl appearances.
“(The Cotton Bowl press conference) wasn’t the first incident, and (the totality this season) would make anyone pause to take another look and see what we can do better,” another source said.
The next 2 weeks will be fluid and telling.
2. A chain of events
It would be easy to dismiss the Cotton Bowl press conference as a proud coach embarrassed by a loss.
Only that press conference was the latest in a group of questionable acts from a coach who, one source told me, “acts as though he’s bulletproof.”
It began in early October after the first loss of the season at Texas A&M, and with another inappropriate outburst at a public press conference.
Mullen wasn’t happy with the last-second loss and wasn’t thrilled that it appeared Texas A&M had exceeded the SEC mandate on fan limitations. He proclaimed that he wanted to “pack the Swamp” the following week for the LSU game – during a pandemic. The optics for that were brutal.
Days later, he tested positive for COVID, and the team had a significant outbreak of more than 30 players and staff. Three weeks later, in the first game since the outbreak led to a pause of activities, he raced onto the field at halftime and appeared to instigate a near brawl between Florida and Missouri.
He claimed after the game that he was trying to separate the teams, but video evidence appeared to show him as an instigator. Mullen showed up to the postgame press conference (on Halloween night) dressed as Darth Vader – and gave convoluted answers about the fight in costume.
Then the Cotton Bowl press conference happened, and a clear pattern had emerged. In 3 different press conferences during the season, where Mullen was placed at the forefront as the face of the team and university, his behavior was questionable at best and embarrassing on many levels.
The press conference behavior was easier to ignore when Florida was winning games and in the middle of the national championship race. When the Gators were wrapping up a 3-game losing streak with a 35-point loss to Oklahoma, the behavior was seen through a more critical lens.
It’s nearly identical to the process of how the university overlooked clear personality conflicts with McElwain (who won back-to-back SEC East Division titles) until it no longer could. McElwain gave Florida the ability to fire him and mitigate a large buyout by refusing to give information about alleged death threats.
Mullen put the Florida administration in a tenuous situation of dealing with a difficult season while watching its coach look for an NFL job.
3. The next step
The obvious question: Where does Florida go if the Mullen marriage is over?
More than anything, the university wants a coach it can trust, and one that won’t put it in embarrassing situations.
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, whose team won the Fiesta Bowl Saturday against Oregon, would be at the top of any list of replacements.
Campbell, 41, is a rising star in the profession, and has turned around a moribund Iowa State program and reached 4 straight bowl games, including a win in the program’s first major bowl. He is 34-28 in 5 seasons and had the Cyclones in the Big 12 Championship Game this season.
There are other potential candidates — Penn State coach James Franklin, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, Louisiana coach Billy Napier – but there is hope in Gainesville that a post-bowl examination of all things football can move toward a greater working environment.
That is, if Mullen doesn’t leave for the NFL.
4. The new, harder job
Mullen isn’t the only SEC coach concerned about the NCAA moving toward a more player-friendly system.
It’s not that coaches don’t want to help players succeed and earn, it’s that new rules will make it that much tougher to build a consistent winner.
And it’s pushing more coaches to look at the NFL, where it’s all football, all the time.
“(The NCAA) is throwing up roadblocks everywhere you look – and they don’t realize the unintended consequences of it,” an SEC coach told me. “We’re asking these guys to be accountable for one another. That’s life goals, relationship goals, work goals. Not just football. These new rules are all geared toward “I” not “we.” That’s a big problem.”
The biggest offender, coaches say: transferring without having to sit out a season. The NCAA is working on a proposal that will allow players to transfer one time without sitting out a season. It should be passed in time for the 2021 season.
That, coaches say, will contribute to roster breakdown and instability, and more cheating in recruiting. There will be a mad rush to fill holes from players leaving – players teams invest in for multiple seasons, and get little or nothing in return.
The new name, image and likeness rule that becomes law in the state of Florida in July 2021 (no matter what the NCAA does with its pending NIL bill), could also cause problems.
“It’s a good thing that players get to monetize their value, but you’re creating a chasm between those that can and those that can’t yet,” another SEC coach told me. “Then they go to practice and hear us tell them what you do on and off the field directly impacts the guy next to you. They’re thinking, ‘yeah it does, but he’s getting paid and I’m not.’”
One more thing: The money is better for coaches in the NFL. When Matt Rhule coached at Baylor, he was among the top 30 paid coaches in college football.
When he signed to coach the Carolina Panthers, he became the 6th-highest-paid coach in the NFL with a 7-year, $60 million contract ($8.5 million per).
5. The Weekly Five
The top 5 SEC assistant coaches primed to become head coaches:
1. Brian Johnson, offensive coordinator, Florida
2. Jeff Lebby, offensive coordinator, Ole Miss.
3. Todd Monken, offensive coordinator, Georgia
4. Mike Elko, defensive coordinator, Texas A&M
5. Pete Golding, defensive coordinator, Alabama
6. Your tape is your résumé
An NFL scout breaks down a draft-eligible SEC player. This week: Auburn WR Seth Williams.
“A ton of raw talent. I look at him like I used to look at all of those LSU receivers who had to play with quarterbacks who couldn’t get them the ball. Is he a Jarvis Landry or Odell Beckham type player? Maybe not at that level, but he shows elite talent at times. He’s certainly a DJ Chark type player.
“He’s so fluid, and makes tough catches and highpoints the ball so well. He just doesn’t do it on a consistent basis. Now, is that because of what he has at quarterback? That’s the question you have to answer.
“He’s going to test well, and he’ll be one of the many guys that when Day 2 rolls around and a team is on the clock, they’ll be asking for any bit of information that maybe was missed that might swing a choice one way or the other.”
7. Powered Up
The final Power Poll – and the biggest spring practice question.
1. Alabama: Who does Nick Saban hire as offensive coordinator, and how quickly can he mesh with QB Bryce Young?
2. Texas A&M: Can the Aggies replace 4 seniors on the offensive line – a group that paved the way for a breakout season.
3. Florida: Who wins the quarterback job? What was an easy guess earlier this year (Emory Jones), may not be so simple with the potential of Anthony Richardson.
4. Georgia: Can JT Daniels develop into the elite prospect he was as a prep phenom?
5. LSU: Will new coordinators on offense and defense give the Tigers a jolt back into the SEC elite?
6. Ole Miss: Can freshmen, junior college and transfer portal players change the fortunes of the defense?
7. Missouri: Can QB Connor Bazelak develop into an elite player in Year 2 as a starter?
8. Auburn: Can Bryan Harsin make Bo Nix a more complete quarterback?
9. Kentucky: How quickly will the UK offense embrace the philosophy of new coordinator Liam Coen?
10. Arkansas: Will the Hogs open up the offense in Year 2 under coordinator Kendal Briles?
11. Tennessee: Can coach Jeremy Pruitt keep a fragile team together over the long offseason?
12. Mississippi State: Can Will Rogers, whom Mike Leach calls his best quarterback at this stage of his career, throw downfield more efficiently?
13. South Carolina: Can Shane Beamer fix a culture of expecting to lose?
14. Vanderbilt: Can Clark Lea convince the Vanderbilt administration to commit more to football without coaching a down of football?
8. Ask and you shall receive
Matt: OK, man, tell me we’re going to roll Ohio State next week. I don’t know why. I feel really nervous about this one.
Thomas Littleton
Birmingham, Ala.
Thomas: You should feel nervous. What Ohio State did to Clemson could very easily become what Ohio State does to Alabama. There’s a reason Ohio State coach Ryan Day was so adamant about playing this season, saying over and over that he believed he had a team that could win it all.
But there is a weakness on that team, one that Alabama can exploit – and one that Clemson couldn’t. Because Ohio State could get pressure with four up front (and sometimes three) against Clemson’s overmatched line, the Buckeyes were able to hide their issues in pass coverage.
Alabama’s offensive line has been dominant all season, and teams have had to bring more than four to pressure QB Mac Jones. At that point, someone is left in man coverage in the back end – and that’s where Jones will make Ohio State pay.
If there’s one distinct advantage, it’s that Ohio State will do everything it can to stop Alabama TB Najee Harris. When the Buckeyes commit more players to stop the run, Jones will make key intermediate and deep throws.
As long as all things are equal (see: turnovers), Alabama should win another national title the same way it beat Florida: scoring more points than the other guy.
9. Numbers: 4.84
Najee Harris has been Alabama’s most valuable player in the postseason. He sets the tone in the run game and forces defenses to commit to stopping the run. He also gets the tough yards. In 25 3rd-down carries this season, he’s averaging 4.84 yards per carry, with 121 yards and 5 TDs.
10. Quote to note
Georgia coach Kirby Smart on the Bulldogs’ game-winning field goal to beat Cincinnati: “It was going to be the highs of high, the lows of low. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.”
What kind of EXCUSE is CDM gonna give this time?
Mullen didnt go down to the wire against Cincinnati lmfao. 44-28
No, he didn’t. He got emasculated on national television by OU. 1-2
And then he cried, made excuses, and threw his players under the bus. Called them Practice Squad guys. An absolute slap in the face tot he players you need to depend on to bring you success next year.
It’s being reported that the reason he’s expressing interest in other jobs is because of how the UF fanbase, boosters etc have treated him and his family since the LSU loss. He wants out and it’s because of the terrible insufferable Gator fanbase.
The amount of Florida fans trying to use the Peach Bowl victory against Cincinnati as a negative thing is funny. Especially since Florida was eviscerated by Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
I thought UGA played well in the Cincinnati game. They showed a lot of heart against a very good Bearcat team.
You can’t be serious SOR? Georgia, Bama and LSU all beat very good to great OU teams on a national stage. Florida got beat like a drum and you compare that to Georgia’s win over an undefeated and higher ranked team?
Florida beat a better Oklahoma team for a National Championship in 2008. Something UGA fans less than 40 years old would have no idea about. Funny how UGA fans are so worried about Florida when UGA has done nothing and lost to Florida this year.
Yet you are bringing up what happened 12 years ago like that makes you something now. When was UF’s last conference championship? When was UF’s last appearance on the CFPs.
Golphin, what does 2008 have to do with the fact that Florida was curb stomped this season? Also, like other Florida fans, you’re confusing UGA fans’ enjoyment of Florida’s 3-game faceplant with “being worried”.
uf played 12 games – 2020
played 4 Teams with winning seasons(lost 3 of 4)
Won 1 game against a team with a winning season
Lost 4 games total with a run of 3 in a row to end season
played 8 games – teams with non-winning seasons
Won 7 of 8
*lost to a 5-loss team*
Are you REALLY trying to make the case that your loss was better than our win?
Josh are you capable of making more stupid statement?
remind me, what was the score of the gators bowl game?
The sun was in his eyes.
I do agree with CDM that “the looming name, image and likeness ruling, more lenient player transfer rules, a more player-friendly system” is going to be a nightmare for all but the teams with the richest boosters.
IMO, there will be another level created where the Bamas, Ohio States, Southern Cal, aTm, Texas, Oregon, and other schools with boosters who can “hire” players for their image a likeness. “Come on sonny, you can be the spokesman for my chain of car dealerships at $150,000 per year and I will give you a Ferrari as well. All you have to do is come down one day a year and sign autographs.”
How will a lineman feel about blocking for the hotshot QB when the QB is getting paid for his NIL and NOTHING for the lineman who helps make it possible for that QB to make plays? Same thing for the hotshot RB! Will the hotshots share their NIL money?? A more equitable solution would be all NIL money is shared by all members of the team! That way ALL of them would give more to make the team a success. I hate to see this change as I think it will make some players even MORE “look at me” and less team oriented!
Loser: Dan Mullen
The SEC went 6-2 in bowl games this season. One of those losses was Auburn, which fired head coach Gus Malzahn after the end of the season.
The other loss came from Florida, as the Gators were blown out by Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. The 55-20 loss was the worst defeat for Florida since the 2017 Georgia game.
Making matters worse for Florida was what its head coach had to say after the game, I would have loved to have played the season we were supposed to play with the team we were supposed to have this year; but, unfortunately for COVID, we weren’t able to do that, I viewed this game that wasn’t the 2020 football team that you saw. I mean, there were about 50 or a hundred guys or something like that missing off the football team out there tonight. Our 2020 team quit 11 days before this beat down…hey look, a shoe! Incoming, where’s my darth helmet!…
I certainly hope he doesn’t leave, in this covid environment I couldn’t bear the thought of going to the public library for my daily dose of fictional fantasy novels…
LOSER: Georgia fans and LegHumper poster
LegHumper… You are a 100% LOSER!! Always posting on a Gator article!
Just because the NFL does not want your LOSER coach whom gets all 5** talent then wastes them… No National Titles since 1980? You lost to Florida 44-28. Florida is 22-9 against bulldogs over last 31 years…
Everytime I read a Gator article there are hundrends of LOSER bulldogs posting negative crap. Your Gator Envy is obvious… you are a loser and all bulldogs posting here are losers!!
Boy, you dumb as hail ain’t you? This is an all sec article not a gator article. Enjoy the train wreck that is Dan Mullen for the next 3 years, I know dawgnation is! Also, if you can’t handle the troll, stay of the message boards
Hey genius. This isn’t a “gator article”. You are monumentally dense to not pick up on that.
So…does that mean no second date for me and you Jerome?
Kudos however…This is the 2nd most intelligent spot on post I’ve had the pleasure of reading the last couple of days, Jeromeg8r…
Let’s get back to your first one, the one about leaving Todd Grantham alone, greatest DC of Florida history, going to kick humper butt the next 10 years, etc…I cannot Agree more, Todd is an excellent DC for Florida, why only you and I can see that is absolutely mind boggling, btw please don’t forget to visit my Save 3rd n Grantham GoFundMe site, I still don’t see where you’ve made any donations yet and time is of the essence, I fear Bama or Clemson are just waiting for the opportunity to pick Todd up if Mullet does the unthinkable, so donate now, thanks good buddy…
P.S. SEC article
Mullen will take Grantham with him to the NFL.
You’re destroying my dream, you know that right? (:
NOOOOOO!! We want them to stay!
How far Florida fans have fallen with their defense of Mullet and this disaster at Dallas. Amazing.
U need a safe space bud?
Yes, we post on Gator articles because we hate the Gators. News flash!! You’re our biggest rival. That’s what the comments section is for, razing our rivals. And your coach is an idiot. I know it, you know it. You can’t really deny it.
Your magical season crumbled at the end, before your very eyes. And we’re gonna tease you about it, relentlessly. It’s all in good fun though. Don’t get your panties too much in a wad.
This is why you guys are so annoying. You aren’t our biggest rival. Rivalries are created by having long term competition from both sides. We own you guys for decades and all we here is 1-0, 2-0, 2-1. Blah Blah. You’re not on Florida’s level as a program. Never will be. FSU is a rivalry. One that sticks for Decades. You guys are a rash that it took 3 years to get rid of. Nobody takes UGA seriously except UGA fans. Half of your glory comes before the invention of the Air-Conditioner. 40 years would make anyone a good internet troll.
NASA-Gator must be on Mars or bath salts if they actually believes any of the words they said. There’s a reason they play GA-FL at a neutral site ya know..
@NASA-gator I take it you aren’t one of the rocket scientists at NASA. UGA has a commanding lead in the overall series and the over the last decade. Y’all played football outside of Spurrier and Meyers you know?
Mullen did this kind of thing at State on a smaller scale, but it was also a smaller stage. He’s a good coach–and when it comes to QBs, he’s a great coach–but he’s not a championship coach. Whenever Mullen has had a big game to play, he hasn’t won it. With Mullen, Florida will occasionally win the East, but that’s about it. He’s not going to bring home the hardware, and his odd personality will ensure that he’ll be divisive.
Ironically, he’s basically his generation’s more conventional Mike Leach.
Pretty much spot on.
Mullet is a straight up diva, like another Florida football player who’s name is Antonio Brown…
CDM is not from FLA, but don’t let that derail you Einstein
The NFL, money aside, is certainly going to become more appealing post the changes coming in CFB.
I can even see someone like Coach Saban saying, “ah the heck with it. I’ll learn to fish”.
Saban would never jump to the NFL. The NFL doesn’t have booster who wipe your @$$ for you at any modicum of success. Once you reach a certain age, you can stay on the top of college football and not have to deeal with the parity of he NFL.
NFL? I said he would learn to fish.
You mentioned the NFL and how appealing it would be. Then you mentioned Coach Saban. I figured the fishing was just some metaphor I didn’t understand.
It’s OK Matty he should have known that you can’t understand metaphors and other obscure things like the written word
The construct was poorly put together and I gave the benefit of the doubt. If there’s one thing I don’t understand it’s how you are brave enough to show up around these parts. Been a minute since Florida had a win to celebrate.
Yeah, I could have written it better.
It’s alright though JTF, this is a college football forum, not a college writing class. I wasn’t trying to criticize you, just wanted to clear up the misunderstanding on my end. Go Dawgs.
MattyJ….I guess it’s safe to say Saban has had a “modicum” of success.
Right, my point is, you can be way below his level while still being slightly successful and CFB is a sweet deal compared to the NFL. You get pampered. I imagine Saban doesn’t lift a finger without 7 boosters offering to do it for him.
Coach Nick Saban tried the NFL…Miami Dolphins to be exact…then came to Alabama & the rest is history.
Really? I never knew that. When was this reported? You must be such a historian of football.
It’s true gator ow. Trust him on this one.
Mullen has proven time and time again that it pays to cheat in recruiting. He must have some serious dirt on Emmert. If Gus wasn’t such a Boy Scout, he might still have a job.
This is a joke right?
I could list multiple times he’s been caught…including with Cam. Can you do the same?
Oh boy, Auburn fans casting dirt on others. I love it!
Just stating the obvious. Gus is a choir boy. Not saying the entire staff and boosters are…but Gus definitely is.
There is a difference between cheating and not getting caught. If you think Gus never broke the rules you must believe in unicorns. Every school breaks the rules to some extent and boosters are notorious cheaters. Yes, this also happens at Bama.
There might be an assistant or some boosters that have blurred the line, but Gus was straight as they come. No bump rule violations, no accidental texts or calls. If you don’t believe me, check the NCAA records and Auburn’s current roster.
Promote Todd Grantham to head coach. Please.
got my backing 100%
As long as it isn’t at uga!
And director of football operations, and AD
Kirby continues to spread rumors about Mullen. He know Mullen is twice the coach and is building a wat machine in Gainesville that makes will make UGA irrelevant.
Kirby’s tiny , doll sized Twitter fingers are aching from tweeting out lies about Mullen, and you know what they say about men with small hands!
mtruth, you’re doing some negative recruiting on your own, I see.
What’s hilarious about your bogus conspiracy theory, if all this was coming from Kirby, that would be as big a story as Mullen throwing a hand grenade into his own recruiting. As in, telling people he wants to leave for the NFL.
Cousin Eddie really is the gift that just keeps on giving.
LOL. Delusional.
Kirby does have tiny hands like a little girl. Nothing delusional at all.
And how would you know that? Did you size them up when Kirby had a grasp of both of your ears?
Snatched plenty of INTs with those hands as a player.
It never fails to amaze me how unbelievably stupid your comments are.
mtruth, why doesn’t Mullen use his “Twitter fingers” to tell the world that he’s not going anywhere. That he’s staying?
Now, you have your answer…
Mullen sure is building a “wat machine”
mullet is definitely building a
“twat machine”
“Questionable” truth, Mullen could easily put the rumors to bed today, if he really wanted to.
And as I already told you, Kirby wants Mullen to stay, so he definitely isn’t stirring up anything that might get him fired.
Yep, Kirby is responsible for the problems Mullet brought on himself, maybe some other coaches are too, or maybe the tooth fairy didn’t leave enough money for Danny or maybe he found out Santa is his parents?
They wear small gloves?
Speaking of small fingers typing, just what is a wat machine & why the extra makes?
Dude….do you reallybeleve that?
Looks like Mullen’s trying to get off a sinking ship. Like as in how losing so many talented players on offense sunk LSU this season.
I’m not saying the Florida offense will be that bad, but it likely won’t come close to the 2020 version. Then what is there left? There is no great run game coming back, and the defense looks to be in decline.
I have always been amazed by the media’s love affair with all things Dan Mullen. But, even that has started to flow the other way.
Now, after all the gaffs, and the NCAA troubles, Mullen’s hurting his recruiting by telling people he wants an NFL job.
I hope it all works out between Florida and Dan Mullen. Because I simply don’t see Mullen as a real threat to Georgia and Kirby Smart.
I wouldn’t underestimate Mullen’s capacity for offense (the football kind, at least).
Be careful of what you wish for. Urban Meyer is in Gainesville
Cause he is probably going to be the next HC of Jaguars
Yup.
Marshgator. Two things come to mind. Florida doesn’t want the media backlash – black eye that would come with hiring Meyer.
Urban Meyer doesn’t want none. That’s why he faked a heart problem to get out, because there was too much heat in the SEC.
Better to be in a conference where you always have much more talent than any team on the schedule. That’s why he left the SEC for the friendly confines of OS and the B1G. Not going to happen.
What I wish for, is Mullen staying at Florida for as long as possible. It’s starting to look like a slow motion train wreck. I want to see how it ends…
LOL. Man, while Chris Wright can’t seem to quit his love affair with Sideshow Dan the Clown, it appears Matt Hayes is finally washing his hands of Cousin Eddie.
Everything you describe about MuLLLen here Hayes, it’s almost like we’ve been saying the same things for the last three years. It’s almost like he runs his program like… a clown show.
I think you’re waking up to the fact that Floriduh’s best season in 11 years ended up being a colossal disappointment, and 4 losses, and that contrary to what you wish, more like a one-year blip in Cousin Eddie’s relationship with Kirby than any kind of turning of the tide you fervently wish and hope it would be.
You see the continued relatively poor recruiting. You see that he won’t fire Grantham. You see that he’s not some genius after all. You see that he’s a clown, and you can’t ignore it any longer.
I can tell you the group of people who fervently hope Sideshow Dan the Clown doesn’t leave Florida, and it’s the group of people who cheer for the Georgia Bulldogs. If he leaves, y’all just might luck into hiring a competent head coach that could give Kirby a run for his money for real.
If he does leave what the heck will you ever have to write about?
He’ll obsess about the next coach. Florida is on his mind 24/7.
The only reason I write about Sideshow Dan the Clown is literally because of Sideshow Dan the Clown.
He doesn’t make the insanely stupid, “Even a blind squirrel…” comment and the other comments after getting waxed by Kirby two years in a row, and you don’t know who I am.
Like everything else, Cousin Eddie does it to himself.
Corch, even your racist screen name says you are infatuated with attempting to bash every UF coach. You will simply move your stupid comments to the next UF coach when the move comes. Its what makes you get little wet spots
Racist screen name? A racist under every bed and behind every bush?
To UGARMYRET: it is a racist screen name. Corch is how some black people say coach. His/her use of this in their screen name is a subtle slam on black people.
LOL… wow, some of y’all are complete idiots. Corch is how a lot of people of many different ethnicities say “Coach.”
Corch is making fun of one person specifically, and her ethnicity has nothing to do with it.
But y’all go signal your virtue if that makes you feel better, you bunch of SJW snowflakes.
Also, the fact that YOU BOTH make a generalization of some black people actually makes y’all…
… racist.
The improvement over his first two seasons was really exciting, but honestly after this year I wouldn’t be all that disappointed to see Mullen go.
Scoring points has been really fun to see, but his constant excuse-making after losses, especially that total shrug-off of a 30 point loss last week, are really getting old.
It also appears that he’s more about “swagger” than discipline and professionalism, which I think ultimately materialized itself on the field with the shoe throw, which again Mullen tried to shrug off. And the riling up of the crowd, darth vader nonsense, escalating the Mizz brawl- you just don’t see top tier coaches doing this garbage
Not necessarily unlike the behavior of “The U” back in the 80s & 90s.
You’re so far off it’s freighting. Comparing UF to that sewer is like comparing Cal to Ole Miss.
Hey, we beat Ole Miss two years in a row.
I agree with A LOT in this post but…It has been a long 10+ years since we have had anything that resembles an offense. I can not go back to that. I hope he stays. Clean up the outside noise and post game non-sense. Get some young defensive recruits going and give Granthem one more shot. If it is a rough year for the defense next year, Granthem will be gone. One thing is for sure, we have to keep this offense going. Mullen has to stay or we are starting from scratch again. I for one do not want to see that.
He will also leave your next coach without much talent. I don’t think his recruits have really done much on the field yet. If he leaves y’all could be purgatory like UT. It’ll be hard to attract an elite coach when you don’t have superior talent to your competitors and your fanbase has championship demands.
This may be true of UT, but not UF. Tennessee does not produce enough talent to stock one P-5 team, Florida can stock several with small schools thrown in. A good coach will get his talent.
@tidefan UF has not had a good recruiting cycle under Mullen and thats with a FSU program in disarray. If they ever right their ship, UF will have serious in state competition that UT doesn’t, not to mention how the state of Florida is recruited on a national level. No good coach wants to go to a program that sets unreasonable expectations and UT and UF fans both have them.
Nate, top 10 recuiriting is not a good cycle?
Mullen should just stay put. He’s been in the college game too long now to migrate over to the NFL. Who would Florida get? There aren’t many coaches around at even Mullens level.
All he needs to do is talk to Spurrier. Let the bib overall dawg lovers have something to do on their 41st anniversary! They are so thirsty they even believe tiny Kirby is scares anyone!#noBITEallBark!
There are plenty at Mullin’s level.
Not really but if we needed a new coach there are 2 calls I’m making. I’m calling Joe Brady and offering him 35 million for 5 years 7mil a year and whatever staff he wants because if he comes here for 3-4 years and does well the NFL will come calling. 2nd call will be to Chris Peterson he’s not talked about at all because he stepped down due to stress (Gators have heard that before lol) I think he’d be a home run hire he was very good at Boise and Washington.
It’s great how I was literally reading all about Chris Petersen about an hour ago to study him as a potential replacement if Mullen leaves. I think Petersen would be the best option possible, even better than Brady, because Petersen has been proven as an HC, and with the talent he can amass in Florida, I can only imagine what he can do considering the success he had at Boise State and Washington. Other good options are Luke Fickell (my second choice), Hugh Freeze, and Billy Napier.
Funny, I can’t find a single NY journalist (or national source) that lists Mullen as a candidate for ANY NFL job. Click bait.
Did…..did the article say he was a candidate for a job?
He’s not a candidate for any job, NFL or otherwise. Mullen is just trying to make himself a candidate.
41-17…….let the salt flow
It’s about time UF finally gets to .500 against Mizzou.
And lost the fight.
Hmmm, Jimbo sure does look like a pretty good hire. And to think how some idiots around here included him on their “hot seat list” during the off season.
Well, you know, things around this part of the country are fluid. Some folks think Coach O is on the hot seat now.
Pretty sure A&M doesn’t have rampant Sexual Assault claims or having to self-penalize to try and save themselves.
LSU is in real trouble
LSU ‘should’ be in real trouble. But we’ll see what the NCAA ‘actually’ does to them. If I were to guess it will resemble a slap on the wrist a lot more than real trouble.
If you say so. Natty, Coach of Year. Less than 12 months ago. Not to say he can’t get to the hot seat but he sure ain’t there now.
You can have Jimbo at a&m. We passed. You remember what he did with FSU? Looked like he could conquer the world and he let it get out of hand so bad they may never recover.
Keep dreaming GA. You better hope LSU beats themselves because your team can’t. Y’all fired Richt for doing the same thing that Kirby Smart is doing. Big mistake thinking he is the answer. Don’t you know Saban doesn’t lose to his offspring. I am your father!
I don’t think most sane people thought Jimbo was a bad coach, but the contract was the thing that seemed to put people on alert.
He currently has the highest buyout of any college coach and the only two who have close to the same buyout are Dabo Swinney and Ryan Day.
There’s 7 years left on his contract from what I understand and Texas just hired a seemingly competent coach which will make things interesting for A&M from a recruiting perspective. I think give it 3 more years at least to determine the quality of the hire given the contract length.
Not sure Sarkisian is a competent head coach. Competent offensive coordinator, yes.
That’s definitely a fair point, I had to put the seemingly in there to hedge the statement. He hasn’t proven much as a head coach though, you’re right.
His numbers do not look good. Though when you take in consideration that UW was winless the year he was hired, and then USC was still trying to recover from massive sanctions, it looks a lot better. Not that it was set the world on fire good, but not as weak as the won/loss apears.
*appears*
Florida please keep Mullen. It is fun watching him drive the Gator bus in and out of the ditch!
it was fun for sure 44-28
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut…but for fun
October 28, 2017 #3 Georgia 42 Florida 7
October 27, 2018 #7 Georgia 36 #9 Florida 17
November 2, 2019 #8 Georgia 24 #6 Florida 17
My bad, didn’t mean to include 2017.
Yeah, uh um 1980.
Red herring?
We’re talking about Mullen, stay on task. He’s 1-2 vs Georgia.
I’m on point when I say jawja hasn’t won squat.
Neither has UF in 13 years.
Tide fan, what will you do when Saban retires. Enjoy sitting back commenting on another teams rivalry. The puss bushes are safe.
Sounds like you want to keep him. Outta the ditch in 2020, but back in just like 2018/2019.
As much fun as we have have had watching you fail for 41 years? I doubt it!#noBITE
I thought the DarthVadar stuff was made up. Did it really happen? What kind of idiot would do that?
Dork Gator did in fact show up at the press conference after the Mizzou game, brawl and all, dressed in a Darth Vader costume. Incredibly he kept the mask on the ENTIRE press conference. Something seriously wrong with that guy.
Kirby needs the kiddie size costume. Low energy individual.
Low energy? Mullet is low energy. Kirby actually played college football at a very high level. Smart was a four-year letterman at defensive back for Georgia and a first-team All-SEC selection as a senior. He finished his career with 13 interceptions, which ranks fourth all-time at Georgia, and led the Bulldogs with six interceptions in 1997 and five in 1998. He was also a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Smart graduated from Georgia in 1999 with a degree in finance. Low energy?
That a$$ clown of a coach is the only D-I coach I’ve ever heard of to wear a costume to a press conference. Mullet played at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. Divsion III? There are many high schools in Georgia that would trounce Ursinus College. Mullet was not much of a football player. Not much of a head coach either.
Like I always say: If you can’t stand the heat? Get out of the kitchen Dan
44-28, mutt
Feeling a little salty going from a playoff team to a three game losing streak? Y’all won this year’s game convincingly, but you don’t have the elements of sustained success. I remember when it was a good feeling winning 1 out of 4 against the gators
I agree.. as a long time gator, I don’t have a comfortable feeling on the immediate future of the program. The FL/Ga 44-28 win doesnt really mean anything at this point
and you do?
@undertheradar: I think we are far closer than y’all. Assuming Daniels stays and continues to perform at his current level, we’ll be in contention next year and have another top ranked 5 star qb on deck. I don’t think Kirby will track down Saban for an entire career, but he’ll do at least as well as Jumbo Fisher and far better than Mullen why they both retire.
Nate dawg you better carry a life jacket if you are setting sail on the Daniels ship. He couldn’t cut it in the PAC12. Why do you think he will win in the SEC
Poptiger, quit posting that same drunken non-sense while getting trashed again at your favorite bar down on Bourbon Street. The LSU program is already fallen off a cliff and is about to be completely flushed down the NCAA violations toilet. Might even have your 2019 championship confiscated if the program was hiding the sexual assualts.
Does everyone notice the massive amount of LOSER Georgia posts??? Gator envy running rampant… Georgia sucks… and you know it… this is why you read every Gator article and post negative crap. If Mullen stays… we are kicking your sorry ass’s for the next 10 years because Mullen coaches circles around sorry-ass Kirby. Over the past 31 years Gators are 22-9 against you sorry bulldogs… will be 32-9 in 10 years… LOSERS!!! Everytime you post here it shows how much of a LOSER you and your team are…
Oh yeah, because Mullen is 22-9 against the dawgs. LMFAO.
Dude, I hate the annoying Georgia posts too but Florida is 22-9 and still trails the series. Revisionist history is wild.
Still living in the leather helmut era I see.
How am…I…living in the leather helmet…era…when he brought up…30 years …but not….recent…
Woo. That’s a lot to unpack. If I respond on topic, I’m delusional. Mullen is 1-2 against the dawgs.
Only stat that matters in this conversation. Not 22-9, not the series number.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind you again that this isn’t a “gator article”. Maybe one day your reading comprehension will allow you to understand that.
Box, let Jerome go. He will be okay.
LOL fair enough
Way to cherry pick statistics. Why do UF fans think football began in 1992? Here’s a stat: 53–44–2, UGA. UF owned UGA for 20 years and still hasn’t caught up in the all-time series. UF is pathetic and delusional to believe anyone but UF fans are obsessed with UF and its 30-year history. UF fans not posting on other teams’ articles is because they can’t read or write. The ones that can are too busy making jorts and meth.
There’s nothing to be envious about in regard to UF football.
We don’t agree with your numbers. You are so concerned over the series because you can’t deal with reality that UF has multiple Nattys in FB and yours are 40 plus years! #laydowndog
“#laydowndog” ?
This isn’t Twitter, no need for hashtags.
You don’t agree with facts? Sounds about right, typical UF BS. The only concern here is calling out UF BS. The way to compare two programs is head to head and UF is way behind even if UF believes they have one fewer losses. Again, facts. Try again with your childish hashtags. Now go check the frye; the fries are probably burning while you’re trying to come up with a half-intelligent reply.
LOSER Georgia? Gator envy running rampant? You do realize that UGA lost 2 games, UF lost 4 including 3 in a row? You folks remind me of the idiot AU fans on AL.commie. Calling them “their” articles. First of all this is an SEC article. Secondly it is a SDS article. No team or fanbase has ownership of any article. If you want that go to a pay site or start your own.
Exactly. SDS is for all SEC fans. There are no designated sections.
If Mullen leaves for NFL… smart move is to promote Brian Johnson to head coach and keep the rest of the staff intact.
I like Brian Johnson but are you sure he’s ready to run a program?
I like Brian Johnson a lot but he needs 2-3 more years to be ready for the SEC HC grind. He could leave right now and do very well at a smaller school. I think if we did hire him a lot of the staff would be gone. 247 has said he’s the complete opposite of Mullen he demands perfection in all areas. So Hevesy, Grantham, and Knox would be gone in a heartbeat. He loves recruiting too he’s arguably the best recruiter on the staff and being so young we’d fill the staff with some dogs who will recruit and can give some help.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if he promotes Brewster to OC Johnson will call all the plays but to have the experience of Brewster to just help him navigate the challenges of being a new HC would help tremendously.
I like Brian Johnson but I’m also not sure he’s ready to run a program. And the smart thing would be to not keep the staff intact.
Jerome doesn’t realize it’s a public site. What an idiot.
UF admin….please kiss and make up with Mullet. And keep Grantham too.
That was a wide summary of Mullen’s season. What we saw this year were some very surprising results and we know that some of those were directly causes by
virus testing. The environment required players and coaches to behave in ways
they just never had to live up to before. If we could follow every personality around and look at it, I’m sure it would be a “no wonder” take we’d get.
Oklahoma got beat by two of the Big 12’s most consistent coaching minds. BUT Both programs had significantly less talent than Oklahoma.
Mullen seemed to be flying by the seat of his pants, over-compensating, feeling pressure to get things done he didn’t know how to do, coloring fast and outside the lines. I’m going to say Florida under-performed under Mullen in the Vanderbilt, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma, LSU, and Kentucky game…. but they did win 4 of those 6 games. And if this year was consistently odd in any way, then under-performances had to be near the top of list for a lot of team/coaches.
Florida is a good place to be right now. This time of year, any coach with a good agent will have their name floated to any job out there. All it does is add some numbers to the extension that gets offered from the program who is desperate to not have another McElwain or Muschamp. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mullen back at Florida. Even if he does hate recruiting.
I guess nobody is working in jawja today. Just on one Monday morning article after a season is over (every year) look at all these puppies. Wow!
Great show Matt!
Somebody pick up Matt’s tab tonight.
haha. Red meat for sure. You just wish it was about Coach Smart. Tough article to start the week for gators.
I actually want Smart to stay at the puppy place.
Same for me with Coach Mullen.
Most Florida Fans are hiding after that bowl game. Some of us to have to be ashamed to show our faces around here right now.
don’t*
Ashamed? Doubt that.
As a Dawg fan, I have mixed emotions about Mullen. I do think that he is similar to CMR, good recruiter, just not to the level of Saban or Smart or Orgeron. He especially struggles on the LOS. Just like CMR did. And about every three four years would have enough there to go along with top notch skill players to make a run.
But I do believe that Mullen is a superb play caller. Granted Trask and those receivers could make anybody better, but those are his schemes and plays, so give credit where credit is due.
With that said, Mullen is the worse loser I think I’ve ever ran across. Quick hand shakes when he loses. Rarely credits the other team. But wants to hang out and chat when he wins and then can find a few compliments for the other side. He poisoned the Ole Miss/MSU rivalry and has damaged the UF/UGA rivalry. The Gators are our biggest rival. We owned them in the 70’s and most of the 80’s and they owned us for the 90’s and most of the first decade of this century. Since then, it’s been closer to even. Gators have had to get used to losing more than they have been winning. We get it. We did too. But as much as we do not like each other, there have(for the most part) been respect between the programs. Mullen just has this way of tearing that down. There is an integrity issue with the guy. Opens his mouth a lot behind the scenes and it gets back to people, especially other head coaches.
The quirkiness of this guy and more arrogance is what tends to get him bit in the butt. I can see while UF wouldn’t mind if he decided to jump ship. It’s UF, they are catching up with facilities and it’s a fine University. They are always going to be a tough out. We should all understand that.
What some of the Gators haven’t figured out yet is that you can say the same for Georgia. Their days of dominated the East are done. The best they can hope for is that they split titles and if UT ever gets it figured out, then it’s a dawg-fight between the 3.
One other interesting note. If Mullen leaves, that puts Saban, then Stoops, then Smart as the 3 with the longest tenure in the SEC, with the Florida job changing twice, Vandy changing twice, Missouri changing 3 times, South Carolina changing once, the Smart arrived in Athens.
I hope both UGA and UF keep overlooking the Cats… With 2 Qb’s to look at, we have the pieces in place to knock both of you out next year, esp. UF.
You’ve definitely got a good coach.
How much longer before Mizzou is going to be on top of the east division? Kentucky just for some reason couldn’t get it done. Mizzou will probably win the east division again before Kentucky will do it.
BlueMan, I promise you that Smart does not overlook UK. Stoops’ teams are well coached and physical and that will always get Smart’s attention. Also, I’m not sure the first year of a new OC and scheme, especially if it’s vastly different, will yield quick results.
Stoops’ track record with OCs at UK doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence unfortunately.
On the power-poll, I just want to know why Missouri absolutely has to be ranked at least 2 spots lower that they should be by everybody at SDS in every guess-timation
You guys are hard to figure out. Love your coach and I think he will be pretty successful in recruiting. Just not sure if you can break through into that top tier, because of the level of recruiting done by others in the league. Time will tell…
Mizzou being ranked at 7 was appropriate, maybe even generous. I have high hopes for next year, but this year we were .500, and being ranked in the middle seems right.
Rankings meh. But I think the ‘biggest Spring question’ is wrong. For me it’s two fold, who’s going to replace Rountree’s production on the offensive side and who’s going to step up and be the big playmaker on D now that Bolton is gone?
My big question is definitely Bazelak. Im really hoping we’re not trying to establish an identity as a running team, which is all we were this year. We really need a better balance on offense. So on that note, Im not looking for someone to replace Rountree, we just need a stable of backs who can get it done and I’ve always liked Tyler Badie. I think he’ll be fine and the younger guys seem capable.
If not Bazelak, then it has to be wide receiver. We need a guy to step up and be a #1 threat. We’ve been really bad at that position for too long (Since 2013, really). Chism and Hazelton weren’t the answer, Knox has the potential but seems to be taking the Johnathan Johnson route and fading away as he gets older.
I like Badie too, but we’ve got to continue having a run game, not just a receiver out of the backfield game or else Bazelak has no chance to improve if all we do is throw the ball. Elijah Young, maybe he can give us some carries but he’s more a Badie type than Rountree.
Agreed about the WR position, need one of Maclin, Hester, Dove or Chism to establish themselves as a deep threat, or Knox but I just don’t think Knox is a good enough pass catcher to be that guy. I anticipate Lovett will redshirt, but maybe not.
Got to recruit better players! Then there is the defense. It is all about recruiting a lot better and continuing with the transfer portal. Depth as well is needed.
wolfman…Because it’s Mizzou. Few have actually figured out why the SEC took you guys in ?
What’s your deal? You just targeting wolf or are you suddenly anti-Mizzou for some reason?
Tiger TD…Not targeting wolf. From many comments I have read from Mizzou fans…it just seems like a strange fan base. I am not anti-Mizzou at all…it’s some of the posters here that are frankly weird. You guys have a good coach in Drink & I feel that your program will improve greatly in year #2 or #3.
We beat Mizzou 5 years in a row until this year.. you shouldn’t be ranked in front of us in any way. Come to Lex next year and you will have your tail tucked all the way back to CoMo
Really? Are you sure about that? Many of the Kentucky fans thought they were going to beat Mizzou this year. I guess you should put that on hold as well.
Just a comment on point 1 of this article: Florida has not been a shining light upon a hill of character until Mullen. Matt Hayes seems to forget that Urban Meyer had a program loaded with thugs and covered up infraction after infraction. I say that not to say the rest are better, just don’t claim Florida has been any better than the rest.
Forget it TJ, it’s Jortsville.
Matt Hayes would never admit to something so obvious and true about his beloved Floriduh ‘turds.
44-28
Even a blind squirell finds a nut every now and then, ‘turd.
2021 welcomes you and Sideshow Dan the Clown to y’all’s harsh reality as Kirby’s b–ch.
Corch, suck it up. It’s about to get rough for you.
We all understand why you have to copy & paste this post so much. It is clearly your only “safe space”. This is what you have to repeat continuously to yourself with the covers over your head, to stop hyperventilating, every time you think about Dan Mullen & his assinine antics. But its okay. You do what you have to do to slow the tears. Just know, we all understand.
Tears from laughing at you obsessed Gator baiters
Hey marsh, It ain’t hard to get rid of us. Just stop putting on the clown show, if you don’t want people to tune in and laugh. Right now, it is tough to decide whether watching the mullen show, or watching gator fans squirm, is more entertaining
Man you really told me.
Also someone please hire Pete Golding away from Alabama so a real defensive coach can take over.
tj…ditto that one 100%
Bo Nix is definitely the reason for Seth being inconsistent. How many times have we seen him miss Williams? Probably like 75 times in the last two years. Just wait, if we land a solid grad transfer QB, Seth will light it up.
Aubie108, Auburn needs to start developing QB’s and quit relying on transfers. Newton, Marshall, and Stidham were transfers. Gus tried to get Kelly Bryant and D’Eriq King before they went to Missouri and Miami. In all seriousness, why waist a recruiting spot in QB’s when you can shop for them in the portal?
What about the times he hit him right on the money and Williams just dropped it?
Aubie108 you missed out on Kelly Bryant! I think Kelly Bryant was your answer last year and this year would have been very different. Might have been top 5 this year if you had Kelly Bryant last year and that would have helped Bo Nix this year.
Bo would’ve taken over Bryant in 2019. He’s a poor mans Watson.
Mullen is such a clown and a loser that all the real loser clowns in red & black are all over this story. Way to go Matt Hayes you know exactly what to say to rile up those sorry 1980 dumba$$es
the love affair is real!
It’s a sickness they have. I’m thinking of calling it “1980 flu”
It’s pretty funny and pathetic as well, instead of thinking about their own team they are piling on a speculative story that will probably turn out to be BS in the end. Just because they think it hurts the Gators
Ouch, I detect a lot of butt hurt in that comment.
Guess you’re not much of a detective then
Cojones, you seem more sour than usual
Did any other SEC team go through what florida did this season? A 3 week layoff due to covid, followed by 8 straight SEC games? I chalk it up to 2020 that made Mullen a Little on edge! The costume was on Halloween so not sure why thats a big deal? and the UGA fans infactuation is just hilarious, we all know you want him gone!!!
Dude, if you think we want Cousin Eddie gone, you really are the dumbest person alive.
Read the room, ‘turd. We NEVER want him to leave.
What you say and what you mean is obvious! UGA fans are obsessed with Mullen, its actually become really weird!
They live for Mullen
We love making fun of Sideshow Dan the Clown and the Floriduh fans who think he’s some kind of genius coach when he only does about 1/3 of being a head coach well.
We want him to stay in Jortsville because we know that outside of the one outlier year maybe ever four years, Kirby will absolutely own him.
We love Cousin Eddie at Floriduh because it means y’all are truly no real threat.
Corch, I’m convinced that every teacher you ever had gave up on you.
I don’t think anyone is obsessed with Mullen. I mean he walks right into most of this sht all on his own. I doubt he means to but it’s like no one forced him to call his own team which he recruited himself as a “scout team”. No one forced him to say “pack the dam house” like the very day his entire team tests positive for Covid. And no one is forcing him to say he’s open to taking an NFL job. He does all this on his own, it’s like Joe Dirt saying “I like it when you throw chili dogs at me!”. Well, ok here’s your sign!
Booches, you left out the part where the Dork dressed as Darth Vader and kept his mask on the entire press conference following a game where he instigated a huge brawl between his team and the opponent. I mean you can’t make this stuff up. He could have, and should have, been fired with cause after embarrassing the entire university. I loved it!!! What a clown!!!
No bro not only are you the dumbest person alive but probably the dumbest person to ever live
There’s some good pups here but a major bag of uneducated idiots swimming in their own excrement while smiling.
Lots of self-important college coaches thinking the NFL is an option for them. There just 32 HC jobs (mostly occupied, and also any number of assistants capable of taking HC jobs already). If the league had been calling with $8 million jobs, the calls would have already been answered.
It would a a great and strategic time for mullet to con some NFL owner and GM
with the Dawgs about to rip off another 3-4-5 game winning streak in Jacksonville
Plus he won’t have to fire butt buddy 3rd and Grantham
Prior to this year, I just assumed Mullen was a stand-up guy and a great coach. Now I just think of him as an annoying twerp. He’s a temperamental crybaby. I hope he stays at Florida so Mizzou can kick his a$$ next year.
Speaking of kicking a$$.
Yeah, Oklahoma looked pretty good.
It was directed at you.
Tennessee is only winning 3-4 games next year. We are the epitome of HORRIFIC. We havent had a star player in over 10 years. Pruitt is the SECs worst coach. Every single other SEC team is trending UP. Fire this bum, even his recruiting didnt hold up. How do you lose a 5 star to MARYLAND???????
It does seem like an implosion has hit Tennessee this year, especially post season. Do you think the name Jeremy Pruitt aahs anything to do with it ? He does not inspire any confidence when I listen to him speak.
He really doesnt. IF we decide to hold off on firing him I’d say take a long, hard look at Zach Arnett. He has minimal experience but he’s looked great as a DC in limited action. I’d also take a look at Jeff Lebby and especially Hugh Freeze
Keep Pruitt! Please!
And that way, y’all can talk about it for another year and keep the dumpster ablaze that much longer!
He might be stinking it up down in Knoxville, but he’s 2-1 against the Cats. You know as well as I do UT finds a way to beat us 9 times out of 10
DieseNova, Tennessee did beat Mizzou! That is what I am upset that Tennessee was able to do that and not do anything else to others!
Tennessee is only winning 3-4 games next year. We are the epitome of HORRIFIC. We havent had a star player in over 10 years. Pruitt is the SECs worst coach. Every single other SEC team is trending UP. Fire this bum, even his recruiting didnt hold up. How do you lose a 5 star to MARYLAND??????? We will never be good again until we find a COMPETENT COACH
Oops lol
LSU lost a 5 star to Maryland, and then won the national championship.
LSUs roster was already stocked with blue chip talent across the board
wow. just realized that. the Rakim Jarrett story seems like it was ages ago… although I like Boutte better he would be nice to have
Nah keep Pruitt. Plz. Thank you.
I would be a impeccable timing for mullet to cash in his I-75 Truck Stop chips
Mullet’s stars finally line up and he gets a win over Kirby and the Dawgs
And, the Dawgs will be ranked higher in the final season polls!!!!!!!!!
As if ending up ranked higher means anything outside of #1. But then again no one ever confused you with having any intelligence.
All we need right now is for Negan to chime in to complete the Moron Triumvirate
After the 2019 season you and your fellow turdettes were making a big deal about mullet’s historical NY6 Bowl run, now you say final season polls don’t even mean anything.
What happened crackhead??????
I was thinking about that, funny eh?
One regular Gator poster here – and not of the inane variety, of which there are many – said after the bowl loss that it meant absolutely nothing looking towards 2021. He essentially watched the preview of his 2021 unit get skull-dragged back and forth through the manure pile, and saw nothing to concern him for next year. Hey, Emory moved the chains a few times, so all is good!
A fan base in denial. Gaturds were so estatic after the UGA win but it’s been nothing but a collapse since then. Almost as bad as the LSU collapse. But then again, LSU beat UF so maybe the Gaturds collapse was worse. LMAO.
Concerning Dan Mullen…I have always respected him as a very good offensive coach. His record at MSU was impressive. During the 2020 season some of his behavior was a bit bizarre(Mizzou game, Darth Vader, etc) but they kept winning…until the last games…they fell off a cliff. He’ll be back as a Gator in 2021, but will be scrutinized by the AD and boosters.
Did he have this kind of behavior at Mississippi State?
I don’t recall anything like his bizarre behavior at Mississippi State…but he’s making the big buck$ now & we all know how that can affect a man’s ego…plus he faces much more pressure at Florida.
He appears to be attempting to alienate everyone at the university and his own team with these comments. The pressure may be to great for him and he is trying to get out.
If Mullen leaves for the NFL, I say Florida should just promote Grantham to HC.
todd would take the job for 5 million, plus a boatload of benefits.
If Dan hadn’t beat Stetson Bennett this year he would be well on his way out.
6.6 The number of yards per carry Chris Rodriguez is averaging for Kentucky per carry.
Brian Johnson should be named Florida head coach if near Mullins goes to the pros!
Ever notice how a SDS Article involving mullet always produces a sh*tshow of a blog????
Any SDS article concerning Mullen is really fun to read too ! It’s the Dawgs vs. Gators cocktail party over & over.
To me the jury is out on Mullen. What do they say, act like you have been there before? I was disturbed by the Missou fight and it has only gotten worse. I do think the man can coach, however.
I don’t think Georgia fans should be crowing either, however. Kirby can recruit, but I would not say “the man can coach.” His defenses have been shredded in big games despite his D reputation and abundance of talent. The QB room is a disaster and constantly mismanaged. He is no Saban. Not even close. He, to me, does not have “it” when it comes to game coaching.
But at some point soon, Saban will retire, and Bama will see what it will be like to recruit a successor to fill those gynormous shoes. Don’t see an obvious Ryan Day there. Look at the risk Texas just took with Sark. There are not a lot of quick fixes out there for any school.
To me, neither UF nor UGA have a lot to brag about this year. But both should be happy with what they have given the alternatives. And hope for better days to come.
I can appreciate some of your points but you left out the part that Kirby only has a body of work of 4 going on 5 years as a HBC, he’s still learning. maybe he takes the next step, maybe he doesn’t but one thing you can count on with Kirby there will be opportunity.
As for Kirby ain’t no Saban, well duh…who is?
Here’s a little tidbit for you related to coaching success…related to UF what do 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017 and now 2020 have in common? UGA last time was 2010, Alabama 2007 btw…
Kirby just completed his 5th season as a head coach and what does he have to show for it:
3 SECE Titles, 1 SEC Championship, double-overtime loss in a NC game, played for another SEC Championship, 3 NY6 bowl wins, 4-1 bowl record, 2 #1 recruiting classes, 4 top-3 recruiting classes, 2nd in college football for cranking out NFL players during his tenure, multiple 1st round picks, a Butkus Award winner, a Jim Thorpe Award winner, a Lou Groza Award winner, multiple All-Americans, multiple All-SEC players etc etc etc etc. When the 2020 final season polls come out Kirby will have produced 4 top-10 teams in 5 years.
What has mullet just completed – his 12th season as a head coach? What does he have to show for it:
1 SECE Title followed by a curb stomping in the Cotton Bowl. Then there was that year at Miss St when mullet had a truly generational player – he lost the last 3-4 games of that season and got curb stomped by Georgia Tech.
Go check out the article on 247sports titled “Who’s No.1 in 2021? A shamelessly early look at CFB’s top teams” Alabama, OSU, Clemson, UGA and Oklahoma are mentioned, mullet and UF aren’t.
No UGA fans are calling for Kirby OR ANY OF HIS ASSISTANTS to be fired. No UGA fans want to see Kirby take a NFL job. Nobody is predicting that Kirby will be in hot water in 2021 if he doesn’t win an SEC Championship and play for the NC.
TREND noun 1a: a prevailing tendency or inclination : DRIFT current trends in education b: a general movement : SWING the trend toward suburban living c: a current style or preference : VOGUE new fashion trends
d: a line of development : APPROACH new trends in cancer research
I’ll keep my Kirby and you can keep your mullet.
Absolutely correct DC. I said on here yesterday that once the sting of losing the Bowl game goes away, I would choose our season over UGAs. I will always take representing the east and thumping our #1 rival over winning a bowl game.
Yes, that formula worked out great for Mcsharky
Reminds me of that line Dabney Coleman had in the Chevy Chase movie
“I’m not a freak, he’s a freak, I’m a da mn good-looking man”
Yeah it seems a lot of people took the day off from work to “participate” in this brawl. Lol.
Well, at least Mullen has wrecked a Harley with a mistress on the back, or got caught calling hookers. There is that. For 2021, I see some big things from Ole Miss and Missouri. I think further disappointments for Arkansas and becoming the Vanderbilt of the West(Sorry Vanderbilt but you gotta fight your way out of this stereotyping). Everything I read about Pittman says he is a great guy…he would do well in the Big 12, which of course is not going to happen.
I’m thinking you meant “hasn’t.”
ANNNd you would be right. Hasn’t. Mullen doesn’t actually own a Harley….does he? Stay away from the blonde bimbos…or you will end up at Missouri State.
Matt, you lit a fire under the Gator and Bulldog fan base. I’m guessing you’re in the lead for most clicks to an article so far this year.
Now, about that “clean” Gainesville team under Urban?
Urban had a reputation for bringing in kids with shady off the field reputations, but there hasn’t been any ncaa infractions thrown his way at any school he coached. You can’t interchange the 2.
One Name:
Aaron Hernandez
Yeah but Aaron hadn’t done more than 2 or 3 drive-bys when he enrolled at UF
Who said it? When you start saying preferential treatment to players, that’s probably a correct statement. We did do that. We do that here. We did it at Bowling Green and Utah…and boy oh boy did they do it at OSU, visions of accidental bumping and burner phones dancing in my head…
Who done it? Former players, though, contend it was the foundation of Florida’s culture under Meyer. In the season opener against Hawaii, Meyer said a few elite players (including wideout Percy Harvin, linebacker Brandon Spikes and tight end Aaron Hernandez) would miss the game with injuries. According to multiple sources, the three players—all critical factors in Florida’s rise under Meyer—failed drug tests for marijuana and were sitting out as part of standard university punishment.
It was Harvin, more than anyone, who epitomized the climate Meyer created. While former players say Harvin always was treated differently as a member of Meyer’s Circle of Trust, it was the beginning of his sophomore season—after he helped lead the Gators to the 2006 national title—that it became blatant.
Humper, do you really believe this circle story?
Yes, google would never lie, how about you? Harvin was pretty darn cocky
Google Univ rendered many a fool.
As far as Harvin goes he isn’t my favorite. Emmitt was our best in my opinion.
Well @Marsh, we can agree on Emmitt. I would watch Danny Weurfel and that crazy passing game back then in awe, but Emmitt is the greatest Gator I ever watched.
I am a Mullen fan, albeit a skeptical one, but honestly after the performance the team put up the last 3 games…who in the NFL would hire him? I know I wouldn’t.
What was wrong with the performance of Florida vs Bama? No one has played the Tide that well and that close this year. The LSU loss was perplexing. Inexcusable. The Oklahoma loss was due to a coach and players simply not preparing or caring…and playing without their top playmakers and with a bunch of true freshmen getting a lot of playing time.
I agree with you on the Bama game, it was a moral victory to play them as well as we did. But when you consider the promising outlook this season had and you compare it to what happened over the last three games, almost a full month of losses, I feel like you can’t help but question the coaching staff and team as a whole.
I have serious doubts about a coach who does not prepare for a New Years Six bowl game like it is the playoffs. I get that there is going to be a dropoff in excitement and some lack of enthusiasm within the program, but he is getting paid a lot of money to get these kids ready and what it looks like to me, and perhaps a lot of others, is that he made sure his kids played so he could take a bowl game bonus and then half-assed the preparation knowing he wanted to give his second stringers experience and knowing he would be shorthanded.
I can even somewhat excuse the horrible performance against Oklahoma if Mullen was willing to own up to it, but his comments postgame were horrific to me. Sure, overall we know it wasn’t as competitive because the Gators were missing a combined 8 starters on offense and defense at least, but let the rest of the world blame the loss on those opt-outs. As a head coach you should carry that loss and not give excuses. Calling our players “practice squad guys” is not a good look either, even if it’s true. Every single player should be playing to the Gator standard. LSU played UCF a couple years back with virtually no starters and still beat them. It can be done and if it doesn’t happen I don’t like seeing the finger pointing.
Overall I think he is a good coach, although I don’t think he will ever win the big one. But, given all of the above happened in just the last few weeks, I am surprised anyone would want him. That was more or less my point.
Your screen name is very apt. Extremely reasonable post. Enjoyed it and thank you.
I tell ya, Florida shocked the crap outta me. I was not expecting them to put up that much fight.
You sound just like Mullen “Nature Gator” Go out into nature for the rest of the decade.
Nature Gator, I do apologize for not being sportsmanlike in my previous comment. I just didn’t like you putting down Kirby in previous article. Best of luck next year padna.
Finebaum says Coach Mullen is interviewing with the Falcons tomorrow.
Now he is backtracking. Ha
mullet as the falcons HC, the midtown Atlanta, Swinging Richards crowd would absolutely love mullet
God spare the Falcons from Dork Gator. He would be Bobby Petrino 2.0.
I am sure Smart would be far better since he has overachieved so much with top recruiting classes every year and is so good at recognizing which of his QBs should start and is more talented. Lol
Mullin started Franks over Trask, so there’s that…
Mullen
Justin Fields was more talented than Fromm. Was he the better qb? No.
Why do y’all keep barking up that tree? Fromm has 1 national title appearance, and a playoff win, Fields has…..the exact same thing at the moment.
Newman opted out, Daniels was hurt. I swear to God y’all are making things up.
I watched them blow a 25 point lead in the 4 the Quarter. What can they do to me as a franchise that would top that. Bring in Ray Goff…I don’t care. I fully expect their next coaching hire to not only disappoint, but to somehow do worse than this year’s team.
Furthermore I am fully prepared to hear: “With the 4th pick of the 2021 Draft, the Atlanta Falcons select Garrett Garuantano, Quarterback, University of Tennessee”.
I am a fan, but God I hate them. Such is the life of the Falcons Fan.
I couldn’t finish the article. My sides hurt too much after he said the Gators win the right way. Shocking to find out the author is a Gator grad.
dan needs to head to the nfl—he’ll never win a title at florida. He can score a couple of million more in salary and not have to do any more recruiting–which he hates.
Mullin would be a dumpster fire in NY with the Media.
Who the heck is Mullin? No tullin.
Frankly, Stricklin hesitated hiring Mullen for this reason. He has no filter with his thoughts and words. He says whatever comes to his mind, and especially true when his team loses. I definitely can see Mullen moving on. If he does, I would love to see Stricklin offer the job to the OC, Johnson. I think he has a brilliant coaching future in front of him. Young. Dynamic. Hard working. Good recruiter. Excellent communicator. Good relationship with current players and recruits. Better yet, Mullen comes back and controls his press conference thinking and words.
Good point about Johsnon–he’ll be getting coaching offers soon. Florida should look at him closely when mullen leaves.
Gators could hire The Tiger King and the post game press conferences would be more coherent.
That’s a good one kirk!!! LMAO.
Honestly this cracked me up but probably true
So funny seeing the Floriduh Gutters fans on here trying to justify their drubbing in a bowl game. They all were bragging how great a coach they have in Cousin Eddie and all he did was take a team with a Heisman Trophy candidate at QB, a top 5 draft pick tight end that he grossly underused and a great receiver Toney and led them to a 4 loss season. What’s up next? A sub .500 record?
UF has a good AD. He should have known what he was getting with Mullin, though UF has ignored stuff in the past when it should not have, while winning. Mullin is a good coach, but it isn’t like there are not plenty just as good or better.
The NIL is not going to be as big a deal as some make it to me. Most people do not know who these players are when they are out of uniform. They re not going to be able to use a university logo in any money making scheme. They are basically worth little without their school.
Seth Williams is a cypher. He can make great catches, and drops more than his share that are right in his hands. Those drops are not eh fault of the QB. I doubt he does well in the NFL.
Who the heck is Mullin? No tullin.
I’m beginning to think there should be a separate comment section titled “Florida-Georgia Bickering”. The rest of us can go there if we want to observe or comment, but it wouldn’t be clogging the comment section for the rest of us.
For real.
Poor little kitten, well go ahead then, comment away, there seems to be a pause in the action….
Yes, put it under the “Women that have been smacked around by LSU players” section. They’ll be a similar number of commenters I’m sure.
Kirk I’m dying right now
Bayou Tiger, good luck enjoying being a fan the next few seasons. I can’t wait for Arik to be wearing Red/Black.
Ruh roh
Sounds like Cousin Eddie is on his way out one way or another.
Please extend his contract. I love Cousin Eddie being the face of Florida’s football program
dan should take the nfl millions and run! At florida he’ll always be 3 or 4 in the SEC with no chance for a title. In the league, he gets paid millions with no recruiting, babysitting 18-20 year olds, or hassling with boosters. EAsy decision!
Don’t go to bowl games if your whole team is not in it to win.
Mullens problem is he thinks he is smarter than pretty much everyone else. His arrogance will be his downfall. It is ok to be arrogant, but not to show you behind everything you speak.
Mullen make many tactical mistakes in critical moments this season but didn’t seem like he was willing to accept the responsibility. As a leader of men, I expect that precedent to be set.
I heard that Mullen was originally going to wear his clown suit to the post Halloween game presser but the cleaners could not get all the blood stains out.
Mullen’s favorite movie scene…..click heels three times and say “there’s no place like Starkville, there’s no place like Starkville”. Come on Toto, we are….OUTTA HERE.
“i DONT WANT TO GET ON A SOAP BOX” proceeds to post a hit piece full of dumbass opinions while standing on a soapbox. If I was Florida I wouldn’t allow you back on campus. FOH
I don’t want to get on a soapbox but your clown-show of a coach has set your dumpster of a program on fire and is 1-2 against your #1 rival.
With you Natedawg, and Kirby wouldn’t allow a player to throw a shoe to blow their playoff hopes lol. Got Culture UF?
Mullen still showing that propensity to lose to SEC West teams… Glad he’s wearing blue instead of maroon.
Matt, technically Mullen is the coach of Florida and it’s already 2021 so the premise of the title of your article is moot.