Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen is a hot coaching commodity and the Bulldogs are doing everything they can to keep their coach from Florida and Tennessee.
Dan Mullen has taken Mississippi State football to a level of success not previously seen before in Starkville and the SEC program is not ready to say goodbye to their head coach just yet. Mullen is one of the top coaching commodities on the market with the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers having vacancies and could try to poach Mullen from Mississippi State.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman, Mississippi State is prepared to go all in on their efforts to retain Mullen. In the report, Feldman writers Mississippi State is willing to give Mullen a raise from his $4.5 million annual salary to $6 million, which would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the country. Further, Mississippi State would commit more resources to his coaching staff. Meaning, Mississippi State can pay their assistant coaches more, which is a nice incentive for Mullen to make sure he has the people he wants on his staff in an always competitive arena.
Mississippi State lost on Thanksgiving night to Ole Miss to finish the year at 8-4 after entering the game ranked No. 14 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. While the game was not how he or any Mississippi State fans envisioned the game going, the one game won’t be enough to turn programs like Florida or Tennessee off him.
Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin previously held the same job title at Mississippi State where he was used to fighting off overtures from other programs for Mullen. Now, the shoe is on the other foot and if Florida misses out on their attempt to lure Chip Kelly to Gainesville, Mullen could be Plan B. Mullen previously worked as the offensive coordinator on Urban Meyer’s staff before he was named the head coach at Mississippi State nine years ago.
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If it’s not Florida, it could be Tennessee where the Vols have an opening after firing Butch Jones. The Vols had dreams of bringing in Jon Gruden, but that pipe dream has sailed and now reality is setting in and Mullen could be the top target of Tennessee.
Mullen has a track record of identifying talent and developing quarterbacks, something both those SEC East programs have definitely lacked under the previous regime.
After the Egg Bowl loss on Thursday night, Mullen said he plans to coach Mississippi State in 2018, but we know how fast things can change in college football, especially during the wild coaching carousel season in late November and December. If Mullen is happy in Starkville, and by all accounts, he and his family love it there, then a significant financial commitment from the school could be enough for him to turn down any overtures from Florida, Tennessee or elsewhere.