HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

MAT 2005

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I saw the Dan Mullen mentioned by Braun on Twitter yesterday. Although he did elevate a lower SEC school in wins, a lot of the wins appear to be outside the SEC given the 5th place division record most years. His start at Florida was impressive, his finish was not (but I don’t know why). It looked a lot like CPJs first 4 years, but CPJ got more rope to get to 2014. The more I look the more outside of SEC wins was a big part of win total at both schools.

I don’t think it’s bad to finish 4th I’m the SEC west when you playing Bama, Auburn, LSU every season. The ACC is a lot easier so I think Mullen would do good here IMO, but I still would rather have Deion.
 

4shotB

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I saw the Dan Mullen mentioned by Braun on Twitter yesterday. Although he did elevate a lower SEC school in wins, a lot of the wins appear to be outside the SEC given the 5th place division record most years. His start at Florida was impressive, his finish was not (but I don’t know why). It looked a lot like CPJs first 4 years, but CPJ got more rope to get to 2014. The more I look the more outside of SEC wins was a big part of win total at both schools.


Is there anyone who can speak to the dropoff that Mullen had in year 4. That is a huge red flag to me. In year 1 or even 2, it's not but by year 4 a HC should have some traction, especialy one with prior P5 experience. What happened? If his team was gutted by injuries that would be one thing but the fact that he was fired suggests that wasn't the case. I am opposed to this guy because of what, to me, appears to be some sort of "something" that took place at a school with many times the resources of GT. And, outside of Uga the last few years, the SEC East is similar to the ACC coastal in terms of quality. For all you guys who like Mullen, can you speak to this issue?
 

Techwood Relict

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I think Mark Stoops might end up at Auburn, but I wonder if he'd be an interesting/interested candidate if the music begins to fade and he needs a chair. Here in KY there seem to be quiet rumblings of a potential change in the UK football program.
 

inGTwetrust

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Is there anyone who can speak to the dropoff that Mullen had in year 4. That is a huge red flag to me. In year 1 or even 2, it's not but by year 4 a HC should have some traction, especialy one with prior P5 experience. What happened? If his team was gutted by injuries that would be one thing but the fact that he was fired suggests that wasn't the case. I am opposed to this guy because of what, to me, appears to be some sort of "something" that took place at a school with many times the resources of GT. And, outside of Uga the last few years, the SEC East is similar to the ACC coastal in terms of quality. For all you guys who like Mullen, can you speak to this issue?
On the surface, I think his biggest issue was not having a post-Trask era QB ready. He leaned on emory jones for most of the season. His offense went from a consensus top 20 FEI ranking to 58 as a result. As the coach, that’s on him for not being prepared.

Even at that … they lost to #1 Bama by 2, lost to 10 win Kentucky on the road by 7, LSU on the road by 7 before getting beat handidly by #1 UGA. From there the wheels fell off with a bad loss vs USC and a 1 point loss against a bad Missouri squad. But they were competitive in every game until they got beat by UGA.

No insider info, but I am also of the belief that Mullen was not upset to go. I don’t think he nor his family liked it in Gainesville.

I am 100% on record he’d be my top choice (no clue how realistic it is). But I also think given how things played out in FL. I would want him to bring - say - Corey Dennis as OC/QB coach (for both recruiting and development reasons while already having a solid understanding of the offense Mullen wants to run).
 

orientalnc

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On the surface, I think his biggest issue was not having a post-Trask era QB ready. He leaned on emory jones for most of the season. His offense went from a consensus top 20 FEI ranking to 58 as a result. As the coach, that’s on him for not being prepared.

Even at that … they lost to #1 Bama by 2, lost to 10 win Kentucky on the road by 7, LSU on the road by 7 before getting beat handidly by #1 UGA. From there the wheels fell off with a bad loss vs USC and a 1 point loss against a bad Missouri squad. But they were competitive in every game until they got beat by UGA.

No insider info, but I am also of the belief that Mullen was not upset to go. I don’t think he nor his family liked it in Gainesville.

I am 100% on record he’d be my top choice (no clue how realistic it is). But I also think given how things played out in FL. I would want him to bring - say - Corey Dennis as OC/QB coach (for both recruiting and development reasons while already having a solid understanding of the offense Mullen wants to run).
I don't have a top choice, but Mullen is in my acceptable group.
 

Longestday

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On the surface, I think his biggest issue was not having a post-Trask era QB ready. He leaned on emory jones for most of the season. His offense went from a consensus top 20 FEI ranking to 58 as a result. As the coach, that’s on him for not being prepared.

Even at that … they lost to #1 Bama by 2, lost to 10 win Kentucky on the road by 7, LSU on the road by 7 before getting beat handidly by #1 UGA. From there the wheels fell off with a bad loss vs USC and a 1 point loss against a bad Missouri squad. But they were competitive in every game until they got beat by UGA.

No insider info, but I am also of the belief that Mullen was not upset to go. I don’t think he nor his family liked it in Gainesville.

I am 100% on record he’d be my top choice (no clue how realistic it is). But I also think given how things played out in FL. I would want him to bring - say - Corey Dennis as OC/QB coach (for both recruiting and development reasons while already having a solid understanding of the offense Mullen wants to run).
Thank you for some good background reading.
 

slugboy

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In “what others are looking at news”, here’s a link from the Montgomery paper about Auburn candidates. Their Interim coach Cadillac Williams is one. Kiffin is the perceived leader. Hugh Freeze is on the list. So is Deion Sanders.

Jeff Grimes, the OC at Baylor, is also on the list.

I have my doubts about how accurate the list is.


=======================

As for our coaching search, I’ve cast shade on the idea of Urban Meyer coming here and the idea of us poaching a successful P5 coach. I think there is a lot of work to do to get this team competitive, but I don’t think it’s mysterious work. I think there are a lot of good coaches that we could get to come here that could turn things around fairly quickly.

Even after yesterday, I think Key could put together a staff and build a good George O’Leary-ish football program here. Somehow, he also reminds me of Fulmer—a solid guy who can build a good program. Elko has already done well being that coach at Duke. There are some problems I’ve seen, but I think Key would grow into the job. I don’t know how high his ceiling would be, but that’s the part that concerns me—I can see him getting us to 7-8 and maybe occasionally 9 wins, but would he learn enough and grow enough to get us past that?

I thought Key’s chances were over when he lost to UVA. This team doesn’t quit, but that’s table stakes for playing good ball.

Miami’s comment of us having “G5 talent” makes me wonder what kind of coach we should get. We had a recruiting centered coach for 4 years who went for 5* and high-rated players in the portal, and we still get that kind of comment. Whatever coach we get, I’d like us to be more methodical and long-term about it.

At this point, I could care less about “winning the press conference” when we make the HC announcement. I’m much more interested it the program building that happens afterwards.
 

RamblinRed

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Part of the rationale for Mullen's departure at FL was that he didn't like to recruit.

I seriously doubt Deion is interested in us, but would be happy to be wrong.

We recruited better under Collins than before, but it wasn't hugely better and then alot of the best talent left. On offense in particular the talent level looks pretty low.
If you look at the 247sports rankings for our transfers in, every 4* HS player that transferred in was rated as a 3* player before they transferred here. I give 247sports credit for trying to re-rank the transfer players (they were re-ranked before they chose a new school), based on what they had done in college, not in HS.

I do remember reading one article that the majority of college portal transfers, they end up being recruited by the new school not necessarily because of how good they were at their old school, but because someone on the staff knows them.

Also, the transfer portal is unlikely to significantly improve your team. It is more about filling a specific hole or adding depth. If you are expecting the transfer portal to significantly upgrade your talent and win total you are likely to be disappointed. It is not some sort of panacea.

Assuming we have the normal amount of transfer out activity that you see with coaching changes it will likely take a good 2-3 years to get the talent level up to a good place.
 

4shotB

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Part of the rationale for Mullen's departure at FL was that he didn't like to recruit.
I am pretty sure I would hate recruiting as well. With that being said, not liking recruiting and choosing to be a HC (in college) is akin to picking an engineering major at Tech and not liking math. If I want to coach and don't like that, I am staying away from colleges and coaching eother in HS or in the NFL.
 

UgaBlows

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Is there anyone who can speak to the dropoff that Mullen had in year 4. That is a huge red flag to me. In year 1 or even 2, it's not but by year 4 a HC should have some traction, especialy one with prior P5 experience. What happened? If his team was gutted by injuries that would be one thing but the fact that he was fired suggests that wasn't the case. I am opposed to this guy because of what, to me, appears to be some sort of "something" that took place at a school with many times the resources of GT. And, outside of Uga the last few years, the SEC East is similar to the ACC coastal in terms of quality. For all you guys who like Mullen, can you speak to this issue?
Maybe when his own recruiting took effect?
 

orientalnc

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Part of the rationale for Mullen's departure at FL was that he didn't like to recruit.
At Miss State Mullens' 247 recruiting rankings were, beginning in 2009: 28, 27, 23, 28, 21, 24, 27, 20, 25. At UF it was: 14, 9, 7, 12, 17.

For a guy who doesn't like recruiting he is overcoming that dislike pretty well. I would be happy with those classes at GT.
 

Longestday

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At Miss State Mullens' 247 recruiting rankings were, beginning in 2009: 28, 27, 23, 28, 21, 24, 27, 20, 25. At UF it was: 14, 9, 7, 12, 17.

For a guy who doesn't like recruiting he is overcoming that dislike pretty well. I would be happy with those classes at GT.
Impressive. We would need to compare to norms for that school. Was he able to maintain or improve on recruiting?
 

4shotB

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At Miss State Mullens' 247 recruiting rankings were, beginning in 2009: 28, 27, 23, 28, 21, 24, 27, 20, 25. At UF it was: 14, 9, 7, 12, 17.

For a guy who doesn't like recruiting he is overcoming that dislike pretty well. I would be happy with those classes at GT.
At Miss State Mullens' 247 recruiting rankings were, beginning in 2009: 28, 27, 23, 28, 21, 24, 27, 20, 25. At UF it was: 14, 9, 7, 12, 17.

For a guy who doesn't like recruiting he is overcoming that dislike pretty well. I would be happy with those classes at GT.

oriental, the data at first blush dispels the notion that he can not recruit. WTBS, what happened in year 4 to get him fired? I have to believe if the root cause was injuries a program is not going to react (fire) due to just that. We saw Johnson have a really poor year bc of that and he wasn't canned. I hear personality issues with boosters and media but I don't that alone is the issue. Something doesn't add up (for me) with this guy and I can't explain other than to say what I have already said. Again, is there someone more initimately familiar with UF that can shed some light on this?
 

slugboy

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Impressive. We would need to compare to norms for that school. Was he able to maintain or improve on recruiting?
It looks respectable but not up to what Meyer did.

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Gt2019

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Mullen didn’t have a problem with recruiting. It was a quote that was overblown and taken out of context. He had a problem with a reporter wanting to talk about recruiting during the middle of the season and with it being a game week. The media took his answer to that and overblew it big time.
 

Techster

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HFCs are usually the "closers" in recruiting. Assistant coaches usually do the bulk of the work. They're the ones that create and nurture recruiting relationships. IMO, the Mullen recruiting issues centers around his staff more than Mullen himself. Who would Mullen bring in with him?

I think Mullen is very good at being a HFC, but at this point with all of the money he's made and a nice gig working in media, does he still have the fire to do the heavy lifting it will take at GT? There's a reason they say coaching has become a young man's game.

All in all, Mullen wouldn't be my first choice, but I would be fine if GT hired him. Mullen knows what he's doing and GT could do far worse.
 

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Is there anyone who can speak to the dropoff that Mullen had in year 4. That is a huge red flag to me. In year 1 or even 2, it's not but by year 4 a HC should have some traction, especialy one with prior P5 experience. What happened? If his team was gutted by injuries that would be one thing but the fact that he was fired suggests that wasn't the case. I am opposed to this guy because of what, to me, appears to be some sort of "something" that took place at a school with many times the resources of GT. And, outside of Uga the last few years, the SEC East is similar to the ACC coastal in terms of quality. For all you guys who like Mullen, can you speak to this issue?
Didn't we beat Dan Mullen on a home and home basis with CPJ and then destroyed them in a bowl game?
 

lv20gt

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Didn't we beat Dan Mullen on a home and home basis with CPJ and then destroyed them in a bowl game?

We beat them in 08 when they were under Croom and then again in 09 in Mullen's first year (where he went 5-7 coming off of Crooms 4 years out of 5 of four or fewer wins). They actually outgained us that game but had 5 turnovers that cost them. Did beat them in 14 in the bowl game where neither team's defense showed up much, but we did get 3 fourth down stops and two turnovers.
 
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