Could Virginia Tech lure Dan Mullen away from Mississippi State?
Virginia Tech is moving quickly to replace legendary head football coach Frank Beamer. Do the Hokies have enough juice to steal Dan Mullen from Mississippi State?
Virginia Tech Athletic Director Whit Babcock has a reputation for moving both quickly and boldly when he’s on the prowl for a new head coach. Recent reports suggest that Babcock’s latest move might be bringing Dan Mullen’s high-tempo office to Blacksburg to replace Beamer Ball.
Don’t think Babcock has the ability to pull a high-profile coach from a good situation to Virginia Tech? Just take a look at the basketball hire of Buzz Williams away from Marquette as proof that hiring Mullen would fit his past history. Still, many think it would be a challenge to lure a successful SEC coach to the ACC.
Ironically, the prestige of the SEC might work in Virginia Tech’s favor when courting Mullen. By all accounts, the former Florida Offensive Coordinator has been a resounding success in Starkville. He’s averaged over seven wins a season in one of the SEC West’s toughest jobs and took the Bulldogs to the Orange Bowl last season. He’s made Mississippi State not only a respectable team in one of America’s top conferences, he’s made them a team to be feared.
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Even with all that success, Mississippi State is still an afterthought in the SEC. To be fair, they’re even an afterthought in their own division, the SEC West. They simply don’t have the cache, resources or geographical advantages to overcome other teams in the division. Only the most optimistic Bulldog fans believe that Mullen can build their program to a point where it can compete regularly with Alabama, LSU and even Arkansas. In reality, the best he can hope for is to compete with the SEC elite once every couple of years. You have to believe that glass ceiling bruises Mullen’s head pretty frequently as he tries to break through it.
That’s what could make the Virginia Tech opening so appealing to Mullen. Yes, the league is improving in terms of football but it’s still a long ways behind the SEC in terms of prestige and resources. Virginia Tech, is however, one of the league’s best programs. They have the resources and tradition to compete on a regular basis for an ACC Championship.
Simply put, he would have a much easier road to an undefeated season at Virginia Tech than he ever would at Mississippi State. Such an undefeated season in the ACC would likely be enough to put the Hokies in the College Football Playoff. He’d be hard pressed to equal that feat in Starkville.
Surely the Mississippi State administration will do everything in their power to hold on to Mullen. They’ve already invested heavily in football during his tenure and may not have the capacity to do much more for him. That makes Virginia Tech a big threat in their hopes to retain their coach. Mullen might see his job at Mississippi State as a program that he’s taken as far as it will go. On the other hand, he’ll see a conference ripe for the taking at Virginia Tech. Should be a very interesting couple of weeks for the Hokies, Bulldogs and Mullen.