Mike Bianchi:
Mullen cherishes opportunity to coach UF.
GAINESVILLE — At Dan Mullen’s introductory news conference as the new Head Ball Coach of the Florida Gators, he acknowledged the old Head Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier, sitting in the back of the room by telling a story about growing up in New Hampshire.
As he sat in front of his TV set on Thanksgiving weekend, the young man fell in love with Spurrier’s dashing, daring Fun ’N’ Gun Gators of the 1990s. And that’s when the boy knew he wanted to someday coach the Gators.
“Being from New Hampshire, it’s snowing and freezing outside, and there’s Coach Spurrier with his visor on in the sunshine,” Mullen remembers with a smile splashed across his face. “To see that then and have the opportunity to live that dream now is something special.
“I don’t know if there’s anywhere I’d rather be than here. I don’t know if there’s a better job in America than here. You know, when you have that opportunity, you can’t pass up the opportunity to come to the premiere program in the country.”
This nostalgic and emotional story, perhaps more than anything, is why University of Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin made the right hire in bringing Mississippi State’s Mullen back to Florida. Mullen is not only a good football coach, but he’s a good football coach who
covets the UF job, cherishes it and understands it.
“Dan Mullen has some Gator blood in him and that’s a good thing,” Spurrier said, sitting in his office before the news conference. “It’s good to have somebody who has an emotional connection to this place.”
Nothing against UCF’s Scott Frost, but Frost’s dream job awaits him in Nebraska. Chip Kelly, purportedly Florida’s top candidate, took a lesser job at UCLA and obviously had no desire to coach at UF.
“You have to really want to be at the University of Florida to be the head coach at the University of Florida because of all the limelight and notoriety and distractions that could come if you’re not paying attention and managing it the right way,” Stricklin said. “You’ve got to really want to be here and know what you’re getting into. I’m not sure every coach we talked to had the same zeal to step into that situation.”
In contrast, Mullen welcomes it. He grew up idolizing the Gators from afar and would go on to become offensive coordinator at UF for four spectacular years and two national titles under Urban Meyer. Having a connection and a history to a program is certainly not the No. 1 factor in whether a coach will be successful — evidenced by Will Muschamp, who grew up as a Gators fan in Gainesville — but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
Especially when Mullen checks all the other boxes. He is, after all, considered one of the brightest offensive minds and quarterback gurus in college football and is taking over a program with an offense and QB situation that has been in steady decline since he left as offensive coordinator nine years ago.
Astonishingly, the Gators haven’t developed a decent quarterback since Mullen tutored Tim Tebow. Even more baffling, the Gators haven’t had an offense ranked higher than 82nd in the country in the last eight seasons.
“Coach Spurrier might argue with me, but I don’t know if there’s anyone in this room that likes scoring points more than me,” Mullen told a standingroom-only news conference. “I love scoring points.”
Mullen’s UF offenses were Spurrier-like in both 2007 and 2008 when the Gators had the top two scoring offenses (in total points) in school history. Stricklin, a Mississippi State grad and a former AD at the school, said Mullen’s impact once he became the head coach at Mississippi State was also Spurrieresque. Mullen put a perennially pedestrian program in Starkville on the map and kept it there. Here’s all you need to know about Mullen’s imprint at his former school: He’s the first Mississippi State coach since the legendary Darrell Royal (who went to Texas in 1955) to leave for another head-coaching job. The others were all run out of town.
There’s also another major reason Mullen was the right hire for Stricklin: Because he’s not Greg Schiano or some other candidate the fan base is going to protest. When you look at the disgraceful behavior of Tennessee’s fans and state notables when learning of Schiano’s imminent hiring by the Vols on Sunday, it makes you realize just how few decent candidates are really out there. Tennessee shamefully ended up reneging on its offer to Schiano because of immense fan backlash.
“You always hear people say, ‘What does your candidate pool look like?’ ” Stricklin said. “Well, the fact of the matter is, when you look at really qualified guys for these jobs, it’s more like a puddle.”
Dan Mullen may not have made the biggest splash in the puddle, but he knows how to navigate the waters in Gainesville.
Even if he wasn’t Gator Nation’s first choice, he is the right choice.