Matt Hayes: Ultracompetitive Dan Mullen would be perfect fit with Tide

Sep 18, 2021; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban (left) and Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen (right) shake hands after the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

He’s relaxing on the pristine sands of Ponte Vedra Beach these days, earning millions for not doing a darned thing.

He did the ESPN football analyst thing for a few months in 2022, and he was really good at it. His kids are happy at private school in Jacksonville, and his wife, Megan, and the kids don’t have to read on social media how it’s weird that she’s — ready for this, Mr. and Mrs. America? — nice and caring.

Why in the world would Dan Mullen jump back into the rat race that is college football coaching?

“He’s one of the most competitive guys I’ve ever met, that’s why,” a former assistant coach under Mullen told me. “He’ll race you from the counter at the (convenience) store to the car — and pull and grab and bang shoulders the whole way.”

Sounds like a perfect fit for Alabama’s offensive coordinator.

Tide coach Nick Saban is in the market for a new OC and quarterbacks coach/play-caller, and of those on the market — or, really, at other colleges or in the NFL — he’s not going to get a better, more motivated candidate.

Kirby Smart, you see, knocked out Dan Mullen, too.

Forget about how it ended at Florida, with his inability to recruit at a high level colliding head on with an underachieving quarterback duo that couldn’t stop throwing interceptions. Florida boosters aren’t patient, and they ran off a guy with a strong history of developing quarterbacks and unique play-calling — and 3 New Year’s 6 bowls on his resume.

The same guy who, the year he was fired, nearly beat No. 1 Alabama in the 1st month of the season — before a botched 2-point conversion ended hope in a 31-29 loss.

Understand this: Saban remembers who stresses his defense — like he remembered how Lane Kiffin in 2009 took a depleted Tennessee team into Tuscaloosa and nearly won.

Or Mullen in 2020, when Florida traded blows with Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, and but for 2 critical mistakes that led to Alabama touchdowns — a personal foul call on 3rd down, and a fumble after an interception — could’ve beaten what Saban considers his best team in Tuscaloosa.

The Gators lost, 52-46, the 6-point margin the closest any team came to beat the Tide in 2020. The next closest was 17 points.

We’ve seen what a Mullen offense can do with a talented quarterback and dangerous skill players. Saw it at Florida (both as head coach and OC), and at Utah (as OC), and for a couple of seasons as coach at Mississippi State.

He developed Alex Smith (the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NFL Draft), and Utah had an unbeaten season. As an OC at Florida, he developed Chris Leak and Tim Tebow and won national titles with each.

He nearly did it again in 2020 with a quarterback (Kyle Trask) who a few years earlier was a backup on his high school team. The guy can coach; that has never been in question.

Mullen also has proven he can handle the heat of working under — how can I say this in the most delicate and loving way, Nick? — a driven lunatic (see: Meyer, Urban). Nothing is going to faze him.

The problem with this dream match of offense/quarterback guru and greatest college football coach ever? Mullen doesn’t need it.

He got $6 million 30 days after he was fired from Florida, and he will get another $1 million a year for the next 6 years if he doesn’t take another job. He can lie on the beach and continue to be an ESPN analyst and second-guess calls from other coaches — instead of his family reading Twitter warriors saying the 3rd-and-5 call against Tennessee was stupid and cost Alabama the game.

So how does Saban get Mullen to bite? Easy: Let’s go win it all — and get back on top because of your offense and my defense and the players we develop.

Let’s topple Georgia — the very team that officially supplanted King Alabama earlier this month, and the same team that was directly responsible for Mullens’ quick exit at Florida.

The process of Smart building the monster at Georgia included a demoralizing beatdown of Florida in 2021, when Smart said players win games and no one can “outcoach talent” — a direct shot at Mullen and his “QB guru” and play-caller reputation.

It continued with a win over Alabama in the 2021 Playoff National Championship Game, and it was completed this season with the 1st back-to-back national titles since Alabama in 2011-12.

They’re both in this together now. Saban needs this hire as badly as Mullen does.

And who knows what happens down the road if Saban returns to the top of the mountain and Mullen develops a dynamic offense, and Saban eventually decides to retire.

And the best job in college football is open.

That’s why you jump back into the rat race.

The beach isn’t going anywhere.

View Comments

  • Nice article. It makes even more sense if Saban really wants to stick with Milroe or he wants to sharpen Simpson’s game is he chooses to ride with him. Me personally I would love to see Mullen at Tuscaloosa.

      • I know!!!! Believe 3rd and Grantham can happen in T-Town!!

        Can you imagine the Bama copium posts, and the “positive” Grantham Defensive stats that will get trotted out when he gets the job?!?!

        • As much as Bama obsessed Dawg fans want that to happen there is zero chance it does happen. It is funny to see how obsessed Georgia fans are with what goes on in Tuscaloosa. Guess 2nd and 26 would have that effect.

    • I saw that too. I wouldn’t trust it though. If he is as competitive as they say, Nick Saban will pitch him hard.

    • He seems to be in a good spot with his family, time, and stress level, and has clearly said so. Money’s not an issue. Does the competitiveness override that? One other consideration is, are we at a point where a successful OC at Bama with lots of head coaching experience becomes a double-secret HC-in-waiting?

      • Yeah, we’re kinda there at this point. No sane Bama fan believes Saban is still at his peak. Mullen needs to learn the recruiting game from the GOAT and then get back in the job market; where better to learn than under Saban?
        At the same time, his lack of recruiting prowess could be the thing that kills his chance to even be interviewed: CNS values both coaching acumen and recruiting skills. We shall see. I’m definitely not opposed to Mullen being the Tide OC.

        Grantham, though…(shudder) deer Lawd no.

    • Exactly. Chris Low already reported that Dan wasn't interested and is enjoying his current gig on TV.

    • Wasn’t all the talk in Gainesville that Mullen’s wife hated it there and dealing with the fans?

      • If she does not like dealing with fans, she may be more comfortable with some small New England college where no one gives a $h!t.

    • Hate to disappoint you. BTW, the o line coach that Saban poached from y’all last year isn’t exactly knocking me out - want him back?

      • We told you when he came to you that we weren't shedding any tears over the "loss." He left without even telling his players. Not to mention he left the cupboards bare and didn't continue the development of the great O line Coach Schlarmann left him.

        Sorry you guys are having to deal with him, but our o line is in enough trouble without taking him back!

  • Like probably most of the fans on this page, we all have an above average interest in the sport. With that said, like him or dislike him Saban is certainly one of the best college football coaches out there. I can't imagine questioning the choices of Saban in picking his staff. He has to live with them and knows more about what is needed and how it's done than any of us.

      • JTF: "The best."

        Saban is entrenched in his enshrinement; with the "ponzi scheme" firmly established by contracts that will make it nearly impossible to topple, Saban's enshrinement is protected, we can be assured of that...

        what's interesting is how they have began to use the same "ponzi scheme" system to enshrine Smart...

        the only question that remains to be answered is...

        will Smart be able to use, and maintain, the "ponzi scheme" advantages as effectively as Saban did to rise to his own enshrinement.

        Not saying Saban didn't work for what he has earned, but, please, be honest when you call him the "best" and admit he has advantages that others coaches could only dream of having.

        Saban's greatness comes from the fact that he used, and maintained, those advantages in ways that helped many rise-up to be a better person; there are many who would have upended themselves by misusing those advantages; Saban didn't!

        Smart does seem to be of the same mold as Saban, time will tell if he can use, and maintain, the advantages the "ponzi scheme" gifts him with as effectively as Saban has; as of now, Smart has.

  • I don't see it happening. Saban knows recruiting is King in CFB & a 24 hr job. Mullen only recruits during the summer.

    • To be fair, we just had BoB for two years and he barely did any recruiting. He mostly only recruited when players were on campus.

  • I don’t think so. Mullen is kind of like Muschamp, in that they both have a difficult time swallowing their pride to become a coordinator again. I don’t think Muschamp could work for any HC other than his friend Smart. Would Mullen take an a $ $ chewing on the sideline if a play goes horribly wrong? I can’t see it.

  • The article gives Mullen credit for developing Tebow and Trask; BS!. Tebow came in to college already "skilled" enough to get playing time on what would turn out to be the National Champion. Trask, clearly the best QB on the team (and one of the best in the nation) would have withered away on the sidelines, except for an injury to the demonstrably inferior Franks.

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Matt Hayes