Mind of Mike: Florida made the right move with Dan Mullen
The Mind of Mike is a scary place. Here are my thoughts on the firing of Florida head coach Dan Mullen.
*****
MORE: Dan Mullen out as Florida's head football coach
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
RIVALS TRANSFER TRACKER: Stories/coverage | Message board
RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Info/coverage on 2021 camp series
*****
AN INCREDIBLE FALL FROM GRACE FOR MULLEN
Remember Steve Spurrier? Remember Urban Meyer? Dan Mullen was supposed to return the Florida Gators football program to the heights it reached under those two legendary coaches. Remember last season? Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts and the Gators' offense dominated teams en route to the SEC East title and then they gave Alabama a run for its money in the SEC title game.
Yes, there were some troubling signs like the loss to a depleted LSU team at home near the end of the season and the Gators' 55-20 loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl as many Florida players opted out. But did we really see this coming? After double-digit wins in his first two seasons and last year’s SEC title run, no one expected Dan Mullen to be fired in 2021. But here we are.
Things started off well enough with two wins and a near upset of Alabama but since then it’s been a nightmare. A loss to Kentucky. A loss to another depleted LSU team. And then the blowout losses to Georgia (expected) and South Carolina (ridiculous) and the dissatisfaction from the fans grew. He tried to slow things by finally firing defensive coordinator Todd Grantham but giving up 52 points to FCS Samford made the calls for his head louder. And with the conservative overtime loss to Missouri, we all knew it was curtains for smiling Dan.
So the coach every Gators fan loved a year ago is now gone and as hated as Jim McElwain and Will Muschamp before him. And about as successful as well.
*****
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO RECRUITING
Mullen went 34-15 at Florida and was 21-13 in SEC play. The Gators finished 13th out of 14 SEC teams this season, ahead of only Vanderbilt. That seems impossible. But Mullen’s loyalty to assistant coaches like Grantham and insistence on staying with veterans like Emory Jones when Anthony Richardson is much scarier to defend was part of his downfall.
Oh, and he didn’t like to recruit. He just wasn’t into it. Sources close to the program tell me he relied upon off field assistants to do much of the recruiting during the season and he was never a confident closer in living rooms. Mullen was known as a great evaluator and developer of talent at Mississippi State but, c’mon, this is Gainesville. This is the Gators. Recruiting is key. Mullen's classes were ranked in or near the top 10 until this season but, just like McElwain, there weren’t a lot of epic recruiting wins in there. In fact, the Gators lost more battles than they won heading into the early signing period and Signing Day in February. It was becoming a thing.
Recruiting at Florida can take care of itself when it comes to team rankings, but whiffing on huge in-state prospects and watching nearly every IMG player go someplace else was a problem. And Gators fans knew it.
*****
EVEN MULLEN'S X AND O EXPERTISE COULDN'T SAVE HIM
Mullen was revered as a great game coach but he has made some questionable and stubborn decisions that had fans frustrated. And his conservative nature against Missouri when he could have pushed to get in field goal range before overtime speaks to that. How could a man who is known for developing offensive players and put up so many points last season struggle so much this year. Yes the loss of Trask, Pitts and others is tough but other SEC teams lose players of that caliber yearly. His inconsistency on offense was a bit puzzling.
*****
DEFENSE WAS AN ISSUE AS WELL
The defense at Florida was never solid. Grantham was a coach who should have been fired a couple of years ago as the offense carried the team in wins and the defense was disorganized and inefficient for the most part. Offense is great and can carry you like LSU in 2019 and Alabama in 2020 but Mullen never had rosters like those. And those defenses stepped up when needed.
*****
MULLEN'S UNABASHED NFL INTEREST RUBBED FANS THE WRONG WAY
One final issue many had with Mullen was his interest in the NFL. He never really denied his frustrations with things in college like recruiting, NIL, the transfer portal and others although he didn’t fully reject those things as well. But it always felt like he had a foot out the door if the right NFL offer came along. And that never sat well with the fan base and boosters and is quite comical now as his stock as a potential NFL coach is as low as it’s ever been.
*****
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE GATORS?
So what’s next? Florida fans will be praying for an Urban Meyer return as he struggles in Jacksonville at the NFL level. Whether that happens or not I have no idea, but let’s just say it’s unlikely. Lane Kiffin, Luke Fickell and others have been mentioned for the job and there would certainly be interest. This is one of the top 10 jobs in college football, make no mistake about it. But it needs someone who can handle the pressure and recruit at an elite level on both offense and defense. So names like Mike Elko, Billy Napier and even Fickell are question marks because we don’t know if they can fix the true problem in Gainesville — passion for recruiting.