Mullen vows to put Gators back on top
GAINESVILLE — Twice during the past seven years, men stood where Dan Mullen did Monday. Both are gone.
Mullen, the Florida Gators’ newest head football coach, said this time will be different. After spending the past nine seasons at Mississippi State, the 45-year-old plans to be in Gainesville for a long while.
Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain did, too. When each was hired, he offered big plans and promises to return UF football to the nation’s elite.
Unlike them, Mullen has been there, calling plays for Urban Meyer’s two nationalchampionship teams.
“There’s a mindset and a standard of expectation here,” Mullen said. “I think that’s one of the reasons I’m here. The program wasn’t at the expectation level of the fan base, of everybody involved in the Gator Nation.
“… That’s the challenge for me. I love challenges. I absolutely love it. And I have as high of expectations as anybody in this room for what this program is going to be like.” Mullen faces an uphill climb. The Gators have had two losing seasons since 1980, both during the past five years.
A day after agreeing to a six-year, $36 million contract, Mullen arrived in Gainesville Monday morning with eyes wide open to the task of rebuilding the Gators following a 4-7 finish.
He also showed he knew how to play to the crowd.
Mullen stepped off the university’s plane doing the Gator Chomp. On his left hand, Mullen wore the ring he received with the 2008 national-title team — bling he never had worn prior to Monday.
Mullen made all the right moves for a smattering of fans and reporters at UF’s private air strip. Later, Mullen won the press conference, with UF legend Steve Spurrier and Gator greats Shane Matthews, Steve Tannen and Scot Brantley on hand.
The offensive-minded Mullen discussed Spurrier’s influence, recalled the days coaching Tim Tebow and addressed the biggest concern for a beleaguered fan base.
“Coach Spurrier might argue with me; I don’t know if there’s anyone in this room who likes scoring points more than me, you know what I mean?” Mullen said. “I love scoring points. Right. We can score a hundred. I’ll keep going. I love scoring points.”
Known for his ability to develop quarterbacks, Mullen will look to identify one and energize an offense ranked near the bottom of the SEC since Tebow’s final season in 2009.
Besides Tebow, Mullen coached 2005 NFL No. 1 pick Alex Smith at Utah, 2016 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Dak Prescott at Mississippi State and other top quarterbacks, including Josh Harris at Bowling Green, Chris Leak at UF and Nick Fitzgerald the past two seasons in Starkville.
Mullen checked off a long list of qualities he will seek in UF’s next signal-caller — leadership, decision-making, intelligence, accuracy — but said one stands out above all.
“If you want to put it in one word, it’s winners,” he said.
But Mullen plans to evaluate and re-shape every facet of the Gators’ languishing program.
Mullen met with his new team Monday and immediately addressed academics, offthe-field discipline and the team’s offseason conditioning program.
A credit-card fraud scandal led to nine suspensions and derailed McElwain’s third season at UF.
When dealing with discipline issues, Mullen said he will ask himself: “Is it a mistake or is it a core-value issue?”
UF athletics director Scott Stricklin, a Mississippi State alum who struggled with the idea of taking a great coach from his alma mater, pursued Chip Kelly and talked with UCF coach Scott Frost.
Because Kelly chose UCLA and Frost feigned interest, UF’s pursuit of Mullen seem to make him the Gators’ third choice.
In the end, though, Stricklin said Mullen was the best choice.
“When I got to that point where I realized Dan is the guy, he’s the right guy, I kind of cinched my belt and said, ‘We’ve got to do this; we don’t have a choice,’ ” Stricklin said. Mullen is grateful for the chance. “I think when you’re at the University of Florida, you have the opportunity to hire just about anybody in the country,” Mullen said. “I can promise you that I will give relentless effort in everything I do to make sure that we return the football program to a nationalchampionship level.”