Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
UF hires Mullen as coach
Miss. St. coach returns to Gainesville, former team
GAINESVILLE — Dan Mullen was hired Sunday to be the Florida Gators’ next football coach, bringing a familiar face to Gainesville with strong ties to a time when the Gators ruled college football.
The move will reunite Mullen with his former team and former boss, Gators’ athletic director Scott Stricklin.
Mullen, who most recently led the Mississippi State program, left Gainesville for Starkville for his first head coaching job following the 2008 season.
During four seasons under Urban Meyer at UF, Mullen mentored Chris Leak, Tim Tebow and two national championshipwinning offenses.
“I have such great memories of the championships we won during our time here and have a love for Florida,” Mullen said in a statement from UF. “We are happy to be coming back to such a supportive administration, staff, student body and fan base, which is the premier football program in the country.
“We will give relentless effort in everything that we do on and off the field. Our commitment will match the passion that the Gator Nation has for this program.”
Terms of the Mullen’s deal with UF were not released Sunday night.
At Mississippi State, Mullen worked under Stricklin for five years before the athletics director left to take over at UF last fall. In that time, the Bulldogs attained the No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history.
There were rumors Mullen and Stricklin didn’t get along before the athletics director’s move to Florida.
When asked about their relationship before the Gators reached a deal with Mullen, Stricklin said they understood each other well.
”Dan, I would just say, I enjoyed working with Dan. And I think he would probably say the same,” Stricklin said Oct. 29 when the UF job first opened. “Dan can be direct and I can be direct and sometimes we had direct conversations, like you would anybody that you worked with closely. He’s done a really nice job there. And as an alum of that school, I’m proud of the job he’s done at my alma mater.”
Mullen developed quarterback Dak Prescott into a 2014 Heisman candidate and subsequently Nick Fitzgerald into one of the SEC’s top quarterbacks.
When the search for Jim McElwain’s replacement began at UF, Mullen was the most logical, safest choice — and arguably the most proven.
“I strongly believe Dan is the most prepared candidate to have immediate and long-term success at the University of Florida,” Stricklin said. “Coach Mullen is one of the best offensive minds in all of college football, and has an unbelievable track record in tutoring successful quarterbacks.”
Besides coaching Prescott, the 2016 NFL Rookie of the Year, Mullen developed No. 1 pick Alex Smith at Utah and Tebow, who won the 2007 Heisman at UF.
Mullen recently completed his ninth regular season as a head coach in the SEC and is familiar with the intense pressure from the Gators’ fan base. Mullen also has consistently lured talent to Starkville, a much harder sell to recruits than Gainesville.
One big negative is a 2-18 Mississippi State record against top 25 teams, including losses to Auburn, Georgia and Alabama this season.
Mullen also would have to overcome a perception problem with UF fans. When the school hired away Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Collins in 2015, Mullen called it a “lateral move.”
When the UF job opened up following Will Muschamp’s 2014 firing, former Gators athletics director Jeremy Foley immediately ruled out Mullen and Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez as candidates.
Mullen collected big endorsements from former UF players Sunday.
Tebow posted a message about Mullen and his wife on Twitter that read, “Thrilled that GatorNation gets a coach who accepts our Championship expectations! Congrats and welcome home CoachDanMullen and Ms.Megan! #LetsGet#4.”
Former UF player and coach Steve Spurrier said in a video posted on his Twitter account, “He is well prepared to get us back into one of the top-10 programs in the country and competing for SEC championships. So Dan, we’re happy to have you back to the University of Florida.”
Mullen, who is 69-46 overall, checked many of the boxes relative to football and beyond Stricklin sought in UF’s next head coach.
“Coach Mullen will do a tremendous job in developing accountability and toughness through a wellcoordinated strength and conditioning program,” Stricklin said. “Dan will work closely with the coaching staff, academic advising staff and administrative team to give every student-athlete he coaches the opportunity to grow and excel at a high level athletically, academically and socially.”