Dan Mullen bet on his future with his move from the Mississippi State Bulldogs to the Florida Gators. Will he find the success he is looking for?
If a college football head coach has proven themselves, they will get their opportunity to bet on themselves. Typically that involves a coach that has comfortably built themselves a nice little nest egg with a program with great security leaving for something bigger and a shot at glory. While it wasn’t a monumental leap, Dan Mullen made that bet this offseason by becoming the head coach of the Florida Gators.
From 2009 to 2017, Mullen spent nearly a decade turning the Mississippi State Bulldogs into a quality program within the SEC West. Where coaches have failed and seen their tenure end quickly in the most brutal division in college football during that time span, Mullen had the right touch to keep the Bulldogs right where they needed to be.
His coaching record in Starkville was a respectable 69-46, but more impressively was his 6-2 bowl record. In 2014, the Bulldogs were the first No. 1 seed in the first-ever College Football Playoff poll. While the Bulldogs ultimately fell short of making it, it was a testament to the job Mullen had done that season, as he won SEC Coach of the Year.
His program wasn’t the flashiest, but it was a successful one. The decision to hire Mullen was the perfect marriage of personality and resume for the Gators. Jim McElwain had plenty of personality and had the Gators in the SEC Championship his first two seasons, but didn’t come into Gainesville as established as Mullen. Succeeding at Colorado State is much different than surviving year in and year out in the SEC, which Mullen has done.
Of course, this isn’t Mullen’s first go-around in Gainesville, and that played a big part in the two sides coming together. The new head coach was the quarterback’s coach and offensive coordinator for the program in the mid-2000’s and was part of two national championships on Urban Meyer’s staff.
While Mullen has the winning pedigree and knows Florida as well as anyone, it’s still ultimately a bet on his part. He isn’t coming into Gainesville with the expectation of winning eight-10 games a season and being content with it.
The program wants to compete with Georgia in the SEC East and wants to ultimately return to competing for SEC Championships. That’s going to take work but Mullen has started things off on the right foot.
During recruiting, quarterback Emory Jones decomitted from the Ohio State Buckeyes. Mullen was able to swoop in and make sure that the pro-style quarterback ended up a Gator.
That’s exactly where the program wants Mullen to help right away. Florida wasn’t an offensive juggernaut by any means and watching them try to score points was trying at times last season. Mullen’s specialty is on the offensive side of the ball.
Considering the fact that Florida played in several close games last year, Mullen creating a turnaround on offense could lead to a few more wins on the schedule. There’s talent set at the running back and receiver spots already, so Florida should be a top bounce-back candidate in the 2018 season.
That doesn’t likely mean challenging Georgia just yet, but they could very well end up being the second-best team in the SEC East. The SEC West is a daunting task and Mullen was able to stay competitive there for nearly a decade.
In a much more forgiving division, this could be the place where Mullen really thrives. He has the background with Florida, proved himself in the toughest division at Mississippi State and brings the offensive knowledge to turn that side of the ball around. At the end of the day, Mullen is betting on himself to deliver, but he certainly took the best bet on the board by choosing Florida.