Did Florida rush to judgment when firing Dan Mullen?

No doubt he’s a better X’s and O’s guy

 

I get what you're saying. I've been on this board and others for many years and some people are super negative, others super positive, some like to take shots at people they disagree with, some like to make jokes without intending to offend. Once it's put to writing those words are out there and often they get misunderstood or taken the wrong way. To be a regular participant, it takes a tough skin. Some can dish it out, but can't take it. Some are living in fantasy land, some are realists, some back their posts with facts, others with sheer emotion. But to me that's what makes it great - we're all different people with different personalities from different backgrounds, yet we're all Florida Gators (except the intruders who like to stir the pot!). I do think we all tend to take ourselves too seriously and actually think what we say and post here really matters, when all we're doing is venting sometimes, sharing joy over wins other times, whining over losses and basically killing time when we could be doing other things more productive. Yet, for the most part I enjoy being here.

 

George made sandwiches for him when they went rock climbing. Thought it was funny coincidence since the original message referenced maclwein making sandwiches. Wasn't my intention as the main point was that yes, I'd be down with that staff if we could have all of them in their primes.

 

I didn't want him hired -- I was a strong supporter of Kelly -- but wanted him to stay at least one more year to see what he'd do with Richardson, who was a prototypical QB for his version of the spread option. I didn't -- and still don't -- buy the narrative that he was lazy or even that he was a worse than average recruiter. When he was hired, I thought he'd be a 9-to-10 win a year guy and would occasionally have a great year where we'd win the conference and an occasionally have a less than great year, with a floor of about 8 wins. I didn't think his one bad year out of four was enough to get him fired. And then when he was fired, i would have preferred Tom Herman because he also ran the spread option, and we had a team built for that.

With all that said, I don't think Mullen was going to make us a perennial power, just competent and relevant. If the only goal is national championships, then it made sense to try to find someone more likely to build that kind of program. If the goal is relevance and being in the conversation, then I think Mullen would have continued to do that just fine.

 

Absence makes the heart fonder. Thankfully, pressers live for ever.
No
Nope
Never

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA.

Yeah, Mac and his PBJs. What a joke.

 

Yeah I know. Step off antny1.

 

No. And I was one held on to hope until very close to the end. He clearly left us before we fired him.

And I’ll probably do the same with BN. One thing that is somewhat encouraging is that he doesn’t seem to get as rattled by the noise. The current climate would have broken the last 4 hires …and did.

 

I don’t think we rushed to judgement… but I think we discounted how many issues there are with recruiting here/UAA/money/academic hurdles etc… wasn’t all “Mullen is lazy”… although that’s part of it.
I will say though- he came in after Mcilwain and won almost immediately and we didn’t hear much “cupboard is bare talk”… the way we do now. Because he emphasized scheme and matchups over 5 stars everywhere. Nape could learn

 

The cupboard wasn't bare though. There was talent and yes, some of our best players were still transfers he brought in like Jefferson, Grimes, and others but the talent was absolutely bare by the time he left. Our QB room,WR room, Tight end, and offensive line were in rough shape when he left not to mention the mess on defense Grantham made.

I am thankful Mullen made football fun again for a few years but he absolutely quit on the program. He was a breath of fresh air for a short while. I found this screenshot of a conversation from years ago. Frustrating that now it's the defense replicating these horrific numbers but this was the offense before Mullen fixed things for his first few years...

 

I wouldn’t have been upset if UF gave Mullen another year, but at the end he pretty much fired himself.

I definitely thought he needed to let Grantham go year prior (who didn’t after that defensive debacle?). A new DC and focus on defensive recruiting and it might’ve turned around. That decision probably doomed him and made it harder to argue for keeping him.

 

It’s like getting back together with your old girlfriend….. within 15 minutes you remember all the reasons you broke up.

 

Appreciate the 10 win seasons but should never have been hired in the first place.
Tenure was quite a roller coaster ride. Exceeded my expectations early, sucked us in, then crashed and burned.

 

Yes, but you will get bacon and dislikes. I'm happy to have Billy, but I thought Mullen just put too much faith in Emory Jones and it cost him.

 

My reply about anything Mullen?

 

HELL NO

Enough with the bashing Napier threads no matter how you try to cloak it