In this series of articles, we are going to exam Dan Mullen's firing from the head coaching position at the University of Flordia.

Was Firing Dan Mullen Wise?

We are going to exam how Dan Mullen was treated by the media. We are going to look at the complaints against Mullen. We are going to try to understand why Dan Mullen got fired. We want to determine whether firing Dan Mullen was the wisest choice for the future of the University of Florida. What we to understand is what to do in two or three years when the calls come to fire Billy Napier.

Dan Mullen's Future

"Almost no one felt bad when Florida fired Dan Mullen as its football coach. It is not that people wished him any ill will, they just figured he would get another job as soon as he wanted one. Terminations in the SEC count as plusses on a resume," wrote Dan Raley. "After all, everyone with the exception of Nick Saban gets fired in the SEC. It happens after a season, at midseason, maybe even at halftime, depending how ruthless that little slice of Southern heaven football school wants to be." ^[1]

While Dan Mullen was at Mississippi State, Raley might have written everybody with exception of Nick Saban and Dan Mullen gets fired in the SEC. Mullen was the second longest, SEC tenured coach after Saban. Mullen was appreciated in Starkville. There were no calls to fire him. Too bad was not appreciated in Gainesville by those that mattered.

As my brother-in-law said, how are those calling for Mullen's termination going to feel if Mullen shows up at LSU, FSU, or UM? Nick Saban is 70 years old. Saban won his first national championshing in his early fifties. Tom Osborne won the first of his three national championships in his mid-fifties. Joe Paterno won the first of his two national championships in his mid-fifties. Bobby Bowden won the first of his two national championships in his mid-sixties. Dan Mullen is 49 years old. Dan Mullen's best coaching decades are ahead of him.

References

1. https://www.si.com/college/washington/football/why-dan-mullen-would-and-wouldnt-work-as-the-next-uw-coach

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