Is Florida’s Dan Mullen the most overpaid coach in college football?

The Florida Gators made Dan Mullen one of the highest-paid coaches in the country. When will he bring them a championship in exchange for all that money?

It appears as if the Florida Gators are committed to Dan Mullen for the foreseeable future. On Tuesday, it was announced that Florida is paying Mullen $7.6 million a year, boosting the head coach of the Gators to No. 3 on the SEC’s list of highest-paid coaches.

But, unlike some of his contemporaries, Mullen has yet to win a conference championship or contend for a national title. Getting Mullen to agree to stick around in Gainesville was a pretty good move for a Florida team that is looking for consistent success, but making Mullen the fifth-highest paid coach in the country makes little sense.

Florida is paying Mullen as if he’s already won a national championship, but Gators’ head coach hasn’t even figured out how to win in Atlanta, let alone the College Football Playoff.

Dan Mullen is now making more money than two other SEC coaches who have proven they can compete for national titles.

Behind Nick Saban’s $9.1 million a year and Ed Orgeron’s $8.68 million a year sits Mullen, who is now the third-highest paid coach in the SEC. Mullen’s new payday elevated him above Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher ($7.5 million) and Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($6.8 million).

And while there are arguments to be made that both Fisher and Smart are overpaid, the two have at least been able to contend for (or, in Fisher’s case, win) a national title.

While at Florida State, Fisher won the BCS Championship at the end of the 2013 season and then made the College Football Playoffs during the 2014 season. Smart, in his second season of leading the Georgia Bulldogs, won the SEC in 2017 and made it to the College Football Playoffs National Championship Game, where Georgia fell in overtime.

It is worth noting Mullen has been successful during his time in Gainesville.

The Gators have gone 29-9 and have won a Peach Bowl and an Orange Bowl under Mullen’s direction. Mullen is showing that he can win consistently, but he has yet to show that he can break through and win a championship.

Combine that lack of a championship with the presence of a scandal (the NCAA presented Mullen with a show-cause and then slapped the Gators with probation) and add in a tumultuous ending to the 2020 season (three straight losses, one of which was caused by a clear lack of discipline and another by 35 points) and it just doesn’t make much sense to present Mullen with this much money at the moment.

At the end of the day, Mullen has proven to be a phenomenal coach for long-term building projects. His success at turning Mississippi State around is certainly worth keeping in mind and it’s clear that he’s had success with Florida. But, Mullen should not be paid like a championship-caliber coach until he’s actually won one.

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