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Candidate Profile: The Case For Dan Mullen

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WhatTheHell said:
View attachment 33430

Name: Dan Mullen
From: Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
Likes: A fresh pair of slacks
Loves: Making UM board members exclaim "well I never!"


Dan Mullen is an intriguing candidate and one that should get an interview with Miami. Well, another interview. Hopefully this will be conducted by a different group than the one who sat down with him in 2010 and was reportedly aghast at his misuse of the soup spoon during the main course.

Per the Miami Herald:
And UM was turned off by Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen’s big ego, with one trustee saying he acts like he invented the game.
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The audacity of him offending the high-born Miami noblemen. Well, good thing we hired the humble, lovable Al Golden. No ego there. Lulz.


Quarterback Coach, Bowling Green University. 2001 - 2002.

- It is here at Bowling Green that Dan Mullen first began his 8-year run as an Urban Meyer disciple
- During his tenure, Mullen made his mark by tutoring QB Josh Harris
- Over his sophomore and junior seasons, Mullen helped Harris improve in every statistical category
- Capped off by his 2002 campaign of 3,162 total yards and 41 total TDs
- Harris rushed for an eye-popping, crotch-tingling 1,351 yards, and 28 TDs under Mullen's guidance
- Meyer and Mullen's high-flying offense earns them an economy class ticket to Salt Lake City


Quarterback Coach, University of Utah. 2003 - 2004

- Mullen's ability as a QB whisperer reaches national levels for his work with Alex Smith
- Mullen arrives to Alex Smith: a freshman with 4 pass attempts to his name
- In his sophomore season, Smith posts an efficient 2,247 yards 15 TDs and 3 Ints through the air
- He chips in 452 yards and 5 TDs on the ground. But wait, there's more..
- 2004 comes and so does the explosion of Alex Smith
- With Mullen's help, Smith posts a ridiculous 2952 yards, 32 TDs, and 4 Ints
- Runs for 631 yards, 10 TDs
- Leads Utah to an undefeated 12-0 season, winning conference player of the year and Fiesta Bowl MVP
- Meyer and Mullen's impressive results prompt Jeremy Foley to hold up a boom box outside their window
- Pack your jorts, we out.


Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach, University of Florida. 2005 - 2008

- After first season growing pains with Chris Leak, Mullen hits his stride installing his offense
- Leads UF to total offenses ranked 19th, 15th, and 14th
- Leak leaves school to take job at Publix
- Mullen discovers perfect QB for his system floating down river in a basket
- Enter lord and savior Tim Tebow
- Mullen's UF offense destroys scoreboards, ranking 3rd and 4th in points the next two seasons
- Mullen instructs his unit to drag SEC and UF record books into the street, set them on fire
- Transforms Tim Tebow into a college deity who destroys countless individual UF and SEC records
- Guides Tebow to a Heisman Trophy in 2007, along with every award created in 2007 and 2008
- Actually forces the NCAA to create new awards for his players and offense
- Tenure is highlighted by National Championship win where his unit racked up nearly 500 yards
- Mullen becomes hot head coaching name, earns himself a sit down with the Miami brass
- During their conference, he states he wants to win football games and score points
- This brings great offense to the aristocratic council, nearly knocking their powdered wigs off
- "Fvck it, I'm a Bulldog."


Head Coach, Mississippi State. 2009 - Present

- Before his arrival, Mississippi State was a dumpster fire
- Their actual mascot was a flaming dumpster
- Over 9 seasons from 2001 - 2009:
- The program averaged 3.5 wins a season
- They reached 1 bowl game
- They won more than 5 games only 1 time
- They finished last place in their division 6 times
- Their conference record was a human doormat-ish 13 - 51
- Zero top 25 finishes

- Over just 6 seasons during Mullen's tenure:
- The program has averaged 7.6 wins a season
- 8.2 removing his first year
- They have reached 5 straight bowl games, winning 3
- Won 5 or more games in all 7 seasons - happened ONCE the 14 years before his arrival
- Conference record improves to 24-28
- Finished in the top 25 two times
- Led program to BCS game and 10 win season in 2014
- That was Miss State's first double digit win season in 16 years
- Only the third double-digit win season in program history
- Last 5 years no losing seasons at a school with a losing record 6 of the 7 years before he was hired
- Last 5 seasons: 9, 7, 8, 7, 10 wins
- Most wins in 5-year stretch in program history
- First time in program history of 5 straight winning seasons


- Upon arriving, Mullen inherited an offense that ranked 114th the season before
- Leading some to wonder if many of the players weren't actually on the floor sleeping during most plays
- In his first season, Mullen improves the unit ranking by 45 spots
- Has brought offense all the way up to 8th in the country last season
- Led by his molding of Dak Prescott at QB whose 2014 season of 4,435 yards and 42 total TDs in the SEC is what boners are made of

- But Mullen ain't no bltch. As told by him to SI in a 2013 interview. "I ain't no bltch." - Dan Mullen
- Despite being a QB and offensive guru, Mississippi State has posted top 20 defenses the last two seasons


WhatTheHell's Thoughts on the Candidate:

*Gruden voice: this guy's just a football coach, man. Comes from a Meyer coaching tree stronger than Oak. Meyer's got a big old hickory tree of coaching disciples that are just swinging around football right now, man.* 10 head coaches, to be exact, including Doc Holliday, Charlie Strong, Kyle Whittingham, Tom Herman and Dan Mullen.

Offensively, Mullen brings in an exciting spread offense that utilizes the QB as another weapon in the run game. The most important position in college football, he has tutored and churned out star QBs everywhere he's been. Josh Harris, Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, and Dak Prescott have all enjoyed monstrous seasons under him, riding their play to successful years for their programs. Mullen's offense is not fluff, it's not soft -- it's smashmouth. He leans on the run game and employs many aspects of a traditional, under center power scheme. I think his offense is the perfect balance of spread and power that would work very well in South Florida. It is not a high-flying trapeze act of an offense that will wet their pants on 3rd and short. It's an offense that'll line up and smack some tlts in the trenches and move bodies. This is a physical team.

Even though he's improved them, Mississippi State's recruiting classes are still routinely among the bottom teams in the SEC rankings wise, and usually dead last in the West. Given that he's squaring up with LSU, Alabama, Auburn, aTm, and Ole Miss every season, I think he's done an amazing job despite being outmanned and outgunned. A lot of times on here we talk about coaches who "do more with less" as a sign of their ability. I think Dan Mullen is hard to beat in this category and it's an important question to ask when evaluating a coach. How does he perform relative to his talent and opponents? I believe Mullen can build a tough team and an offense that produces a star QB centered around a power run game while employing modern spread concepts. There were times we looked past record and dug deeper, uncovering tough as nails football coaches that could lead Miami with contemporary schemes and a face that turns redder than the devil's dlck. Just good football coaches, man.

Dan Mullen is 53-33 overall at Mississippi State.
Jimmy Johnson was 29-25 at Oklahoma State before UM.
Dennis Errickson was 50-31 in his career before Miami.

I believe Dan Mullen would be a great fit at UM. I'd like to see Dan Mullen no longer fight, scratch, and claw for scraps from the table during the recruiting season only to have to lead that roster into war against juggernaut death squads. I believe at Miami he'd get a chance to arm himself to the teeth and no longer be forced to bring a knife to a gun fight. I'm all out of idioms, but I firmly feel Dan Mullen should get an interview with Miami, because part of me believes he's tired of throwing pebbles at tanks.
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Ho Li Crap.

Why you making so many excuses to justify Mullen?

Facing death squads?

Fighting, scratching, and clawing for scraps?

Bringing knives to a gunfight?

Throwing pebbles at a tank?

Butch Davis, with 31 scholarship reductions put together the greatest football team in history.

So what's Mullen's real problem? I don't see him getting it done.
 
UNC is more of an appropriate comparison for Miss St, not Miami.

As a Butch fan, I don't think you want to go there.
 
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RiDLer80 said:
bxcanesbomber said:
RiDLer80 said:
bxcanesbomber said:
He will end up at Maryland
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Leave the SEC west and go to the B1G with arguably the second best division in college football? That'd be a bad professional decision.
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Maryland could do a lot of damage with the right coach
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They'll always be behind Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State in that division. As long as Dantonio is in East Lansing they'll be behind Michigan State as well.
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That's a shorter list then the SEC's
 
Dan Mullen is Tom Herman with more than one year as a head coach and wins against solid big boy schools.
 
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What is the reason for prescott's downward trend in stats? Last year was a monster year for him. This year? Decent. Mullen is intriguing to me.
 
Foreman said:
Dan Mullen is Tom Herman with more than one year as a head coach and wins against solid big boy schools.
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Their major similarities are they both came from urban and run variations of his offense. After that, they're pretty different.

Dan Mullen is known for being an arrogant ******* and that's why foley didn't even consider him last year. Herman is a disciplinary but connects very well with all people. Herman likes to run the 3-4 and Mullen usually hires a 4-3 coordinator Iirc. During their time as assistant coaches, Herman recruited better and more efficiently than Dan. Herman is more "risky" and Dan has major wins under his belt. I think Herman is the better qb developer but Dan Mullen has a lot more experience. I would assume the latter makes him more appealing to Blake.
 
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I'd just ask the Mullen-supporters, have you watched many MSU games during his tenure?

MSU has choked away countless wins over the years, primarily because of overly-conservative and/or boneheaded play-calling.

I'm not saying he's a bad coach. ****, he's miles better than Cristobal, Schiano, and Strong (at least at UT). But based on what I have observed in multiple blown games, I would put him below Butch, Herman, Fuente.

And if it's true that Foley did not even consider him that should be a huge red flag. Personality conflicts are ultimately meaningless; what matters is winning. And if Foley thought Mullen would return the Gators to the days when Urban was roaming the sideline, I'm sure he could put aside whatever arrogance and personality issues exist.
 
How many games did you watch Mullen lose to teams where he had the superior talent?

I've watched their games, maybe not as many or as closely as you ... But when I see them play poorly, it looks like he just doesn't have the horses.
 
MIATL said:
How many games did you watch Mullen lose to teams where he had the superior talent?

I've watched their games, maybe not as many or as closely as you ... But when I see them play poorly, it looks like he just doesn't have the horses.
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I can't recall specific numbers off the top of my head, but I have watched (more than I care to) a lot of MSU football for the last several years, bc a couple close friends are graduates.

MSU has had a ton of defensive talent in recent years. And they've had some capable offensive players as well.

NFL draft picks: 2015 (5), 2014 (1), 2013 (3), 2012 (3), 2011 (4), 2010 (2).

And according to CBS' 2016 NFL draft prospects, they have 5 players that will likely be drafted.

Assuming CBS is correct, Mullen had 10 NFL players on his team last year, and 11 in 2013. That's a lot of talent.

My concern with Mullen is watching too many games where MSU looks like it has the game in hand, and it just slips away. Often in those losses, the play calling is infuriating (for MSU fans), bc you know exactly what he's going to call (as does the defensive coordinator). And they get shut down, and have to punt.

Again, I don't think he's bad, but I would not place him among the top targets.
 
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bxcanesbomber said:
RiDLer80 said:
bxcanesbomber said:
RiDLer80 said:
bxcanesbomber said:
He will end up at Maryland
Click to expand...

Leave the SEC west and go to the B1G with arguably the second best division in college football? That'd be a bad professional decision.
Click to expand...

Maryland could do a lot of damage with the right coach
Click to expand...

They'll always be behind Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State in that division. As long as Dantonio is in East Lansing they'll be behind Michigan State as well.
Click to expand...

That's a shorter list then the SEC's
Click to expand...

They'll always be behind Maryland's basketball team
 
Notsince1985 said:
bxcanesbomber said:
RiDLer80 said:
bxcanesbomber said:
RiDLer80 said:
Leave the SEC west and go to the B1G with arguably the second best division in college football? That'd be a bad professional decision.
Click to expand...

Maryland could do a lot of damage with the right coach
Click to expand...

They'll always be behind Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State in that division. As long as Dantonio is in East Lansing they'll be behind Michigan State as well.
Click to expand...

That's a shorter list then the SEC's
Click to expand...

They'll always be behind Maryland's basketball team
Click to expand...

True I would've said the same about here in Miami with the football and basketball teams but look where we're at
 
I swear to God they should just leave our next
Head Coaching search to certain members on this board. I have zero confidence in the folks in charge. Good post op. But also very depressing.
 
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