Now it is official. Florida finally has a new football coach. After a month of searching and having a lot of names pop up as potential candidates, Florida hires their once offensive coordinator to be the head coach.
Not even going to lie to everyone, I think this is the right hire. I had other people on the list ahead of Mullen, but choosing him makes a lot of sense.
Why does it make sense?
He already coached at Florida and was the offensive coordinator when Florida won their last two national championships. He has turned a program like Mississippi State–a program that doesn’t have much success historically–into a fairly respectable team. Unlike Chip Kelly, he has the recruiting pipelines down in the southeast, actually cares about putting together a defense, and is willing to accept the challenge ahead with rebuilding a program in the SEC.
He also can fix a lot of the problems that Florida has been plagued with since he left, primarily on the offensive side. Specifically at the quarterback position because you know he produced three stars in Tim Tebow, Dak Prescott, and Nick Fitzgerald.
The fan base has mixed feelings, but I will talk quickly about those who don’t like the hire. They aren’t smart. Of course Dan Mullen didn’t do well against top programs like LSU or Alabama. Those are programs that have been top-notch in the country in the 21st century, and he was at Mississippi State. Of course he didn’t put together any Top 10 classes, but he was at Mississippi State! The level that logo carries is minimal at best. With Florida, I almost guarantee that recruiting will get much easier for him considering he already has a rapport with the recruits in the southeast region. While Starkville is a pretty cool place to play, few places are cooler than playing at The Swamp. The history he has with this team also brings something to the table like “Hey, I did well here once, I can do it again.” So there is a lot of hope, but a lot of work as well.
To-Do List
Get the staff right
It is pretty clear that Florida’s staff–specifically the offensive coordinator and special teams coach–are pretty awful. I went through the list and there are only four coaches I would retain for next year. Mullen’s first job is to get his guys. He needs to get guys who are going to push players to the max. He needs a staff that’ll show that you need to work for the reputation that this team once had, that right there is a big thing and segues to my next point.
Change the mentality/culture
Since the departure of Urban Meyer, Charlie Strong and Dan Mullen, the players’ mentality has taken a turn for the worst. From my observation, the mentality of these teams are “We are Florida so we are great,” even though that has not been the case since 2010. Then there is fact that anyone who disagrees with them and points out their mediocrity is a “hater” and “a fake fan” and cries a river on social media, even though those people are pointing out the obvious. That has to change immediately if Mullen wants a chance to make it. In all honesty, this will be his toughest task early on, as changing the mentality of an 18-22 year old is extremely tough.
Keep the recruiting class together
This one is probably the easiest on the list. Florida already has a pretty decent class put together, but they have lost some commitments already. However, being Dan Mullen at Florida, this to-do item should be easier than expected. The only challenge is thoroughly putting together a staff and then going out on the trail in a short amount of time without losing more commits.
Conclusion
I think Florida made the right choice. The turnaround might not happen immediately but Mullen seems like he is up for the challenge. There would be nothing better than to see the once offensive coordinator come back to Florida and bring them back to relevance. Whether Mullen works out at Florida or not, the next few years should be interesting. Starting with Florida making a trip to Starkville next September.