Is this your final year to decide on Mullen as being the coach...
- Thread starter dawgstudent
- Start date
No.
But I'm not from the drive thru service generation.
Unless we have several key injuries or our coaches have a massive brain fart I see at least 8 wins on our schedule from depth alone.
But I'm not from the drive thru service generation.
Unless we have several key injuries or our coaches have a massive brain fart I see at least 8 wins on our schedule from depth alone.
Our schedule and talent/depth on the defensive side of the ball alone should yield 7 total wins (inclusive of a bowl win); so, I will be disappointed if we only get to 7. I think 8 regular season wins with a shot at 9 is very doable. Pick up a 9th or 10th win in a bowl game and I will be very pleased.
ETA: Things change if Prescott goes down.
Also ETA: I think this is the most talented coaching staff we've had in many years, if ever.
ETA: Things change if Prescott goes down.
Also ETA: I think this is the most talented coaching staff we've had in many years, if ever.
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I have always been a big supporter of Dan, but 7 is really underachieving with the roster and schedule we have this year. I would not be on the "Fire Dan" Bandwagon immediately, but it would certainly change my current position. The only exception would be an injury to Prescott.
Call me a realist or a pessimist, but winning 7-9 games a year on a consistent basis is what I'm after. Offset the 5 win seasons with the occasional 10 win seasons and I'm good.
I don't think we will ever climb into the upper echelon on the SEC. But if Mullen can change the perception of our program from being a bottom feeder to a middle tier SEC team, we shouldn't complain. When the perpetual discussion of "this conference's lower 1/3 is better than the SEC's lower 1/3" does NOT involve MSU, Mullen has done his job.
I don't think we will ever climb into the upper echelon on the SEC. But if Mullen can change the perception of our program from being a bottom feeder to a middle tier SEC team, we shouldn't complain. When the perpetual discussion of "this conference's lower 1/3 is better than the SEC's lower 1/3" does NOT involve MSU, Mullen has done his job.
If Mullen only gets 7 wins (without any significant injuries - Dak, oline), I'd be pretty disappointed. He's been here 5 years, and he's got "his" guys in the system. It's time.
I'd be content with 8-4 but all the offseason hype has my heart saying 9 wins. Bleh.
I'd be content with 8-4 but all the offseason hype has my heart saying 9 wins. Bleh.
He shouldnt get a contract extension if he wins 7 games and everyone stays healthy for the most part. This is the year to either **** or get off the pot.
Not even close to the final year. I'll stick with the same thing I have for the last 3 years: ask me after a decade of bowls. It took Beamer 9 years to get Virginia Tech a Big East title. Bowden got FSU to the Orange Bowl in 4 years, but it took 12 before they were a national power year-in and year-out, and that's what the next level is given the state of our conference and particularly our division.
If we get to 7 wins, I'll be disappointed, but in no way ready to throw in the towel on Mullen.
If we get to 7 wins, I'll be disappointed, but in no way ready to throw in the towel on Mullen.
What if we have the nightmare scenario as our USA Today preview called it:
Nightmare season: The Bulldogs go 6-6, losing the Egg Bowl by four touchdowns.
Barring injuries, it's hard to see how you could think Dan has what it takes to ever truly do anything if he has a 6 or 7-win season with this team and this schedule...
Nightmare season: The Bulldogs go 6-6, losing the Egg Bowl by four touchdowns.
Barring injuries, it's hard to see how you could think Dan has what it takes to ever truly do anything if he has a 6 or 7-win season with this team and this schedule...
Dan has been given just about every thing he has asked for from the University and the fans. Season ticket sales, sell out games, practice facilities, stadium expansion, etc. He has even upper his learning curve on recruiting, last years class was very good, this years has the potential to be outstanding. He has all the pieces in place, now it's HIS turn to produce. Average will be 6-7 wins, above average 8-10, outstanding 10+ wins. Barring major injuries I expect outstanding results.
He's already proven it for me. Say what you want about not quite meeting fan expectations and all that, but he's done something that no one in the history of MSU football has ever done in getting us to 4 straight bowl games(and most likely a 5th straight). Oh, that's easier now that there are so many bowl games? Well, tell that Arkansas and Ole Miss. It's tough to create a culture of consistent winning in SEC football and while our ceiling may not be as high as we'd all like, he has undoubtedly moved our floor a long way.
If we win 7 games this year, the main thing that it will have proven to me is that we're going to have to keep recruiting like we're doing so far with our 2015 class. It would be pretty clear to me at that point that the talent that Mullen has gotten here in his last 5 classes is just not going to get us beyond 7-8 wins.
If we win 7 games this year, the main thing that it will have proven to me is that we're going to have to keep recruiting like we're doing so far with our 2015 class. It would be pretty clear to me at that point that the talent that Mullen has gotten here in his last 5 classes is just not going to get us beyond 7-8 wins.
He's already done better than I thought he would. He needs to cement his legacy at MSU by winning against a big boy (LSU, Alabama, etc.). Not just capitalizing when they're having an awful year (Auburn 2012) but a true upset of a very good team.
Decision year was last year. Doing year is this year. He did a magic trick and got State to 7 wins on a down year with lots of injuries.
How do we define the next level? I consider the next level 10 wins. But if you consider the next level Atlanta, if he misses 10 this year with a stocked arsenal, Atlanta couldn't come for at least another 4 years, if ever in his tenure.
How do we define the next level? I consider the next level 10 wins. But if you consider the next level Atlanta, if he misses 10 this year with a stocked arsenal, Atlanta couldn't come for at least another 4 years, if ever in his tenure.
Final year if there are no key injuries.
If we win 7 and it's not because of an injury to Dak or two key Olinemen going down, then I will resign myself to the fact that 8 wins with four cupcake OOC opponents, UK, and either a good draw on east opponents or a down year in the west is Dan's ceiling for the regular season.
If we win 8, it will depend on how the SEC shakes out, but I will most likely be on the fence (about whether he can take the next step, not about him being fired).
If we win 9, I will consider it a big step forward. It's possible the SEC could be down enough that it doesn't show that much (like UM's second cotton bowl season with Nutt), but most likely one or more SEC team with question marks will end up being much better than expected, so getting 9 wins will mean we beat at least one or two pretty good teams.
honestly, if we keep winning (meaning ending the season with more wins than losses), im fine with dan staying forever. that would mean we keep winning the ones we are supposed to (something we have struggled with in the past) along with winning a few sec games. i am looking at the big picture here. never before have we had this kind of sustained success and we are right at the .500 mark all time (on the field) and something like 18 games down all-time with the ncaa sanctioned games taken out. a small milestone for me personally is to become a winning program overall which means we need to keep picking up a few games every season and digging ourselves out of that hole. obviously, many of you dont care about that, but it matters to me. additionally, dan's stretch is only moderately eclipsed by the success we enjoyed during the late 90's and is allowing us to do things we never imagined. if dan isnt here, i still think we have some of the worst facilities in the sec, now we are middle of the pack and just got done with a large renovation and one of the best practice facilities in the sec. in a world that is all about perception, we are making huge strides and the last thing we need to do at this point is compromise our stability. im hoping we have a frank beamer type situation where we keep building on previous years to the ultimate goal, but the foundation has been poured. no reason to take a jackhammer to it now assuming we keep doing what our history suggests we cannot (keep winning consistently).
I think it depends on the 7. I would be a lot happier with 7-5 if two of the wins were from the Ole Miss/Auburn/Bama/LSU group. Even if that means losses to two of the TAMU/Ark/UK/Vandy/OOC group.
If we go 7-5 with the losses being to Ole Miss/Auburn/Bama/LSU/TAMU or even 8-4 depending on how good TAMU turns out to be, then I'll pretty much concede that Dan has plateaued as a coach. I would not be advocating making a change mind you, but I wouldn't complain if we did.
If we go 7-5 with the losses being to Ole Miss/Auburn/Bama/LSU/TAMU or even 8-4 depending on how good TAMU turns out to be, then I'll pretty much concede that Dan has plateaued as a coach. I would not be advocating making a change mind you, but I wouldn't complain if we did.
Seven wins is another winning season...which is much better than a losing season...which is what we had almost every year from 2000-2009, unless everyone has forgotten. We were a laughingstock and knew before most games that we couldn't win and very likely wouldn't even be competitive.
Here's a quick reminder/reality check:
Year
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Firing Dan Mullen would make us look stupid and unrealistic and would absolutely delight the Black Bears.
The next step for us is 5-3 in the SEC, and 8-9 wins in a season IMO.
Here's a quick reminder/reality check:
Year
| 2001 | Mississippi State | 3–8 | (2–6 SEC) | 6th <small>(West)</small> | |||
| 2002 | Mississippi State | 3–9 | (0–8 SEC) | 5th <small>(West)</small> | |||
| 2003 | Mississippi State | 2–10 | (1–7 SEC) | 5th <small>(West)</small> |
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| 2004 | Mississippi State | 3–8 | (2–6 SEC) | 6th <small>(West)</small> | |
| 2005 | Mississippi State | 3–8 | (1–7 SEC) | T–5th <small>(West)</small> | |
| 2006 | Mississippi State | 3–9 | (1–7 SEC) | 6th <small>(West)</small> | |
| 2007 | Mississippi State | 8–5 | (4–4 SEC) | T–3rd <small>(West)</small> | W Liberty Bowl |
| 2008 | Mississippi State | 4–8 | (2–6 SEC) | T–4th <small>(West)</small> |
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| 2009 | Mississippi State | 5–7 | (3–5 SEC) | T–4th <small>(West) </small> | |||
| 2010 | Mississippi State | 9–4 | (4–4 SEC) | 5th <small>(West) </small> | W Gator Bowl | ||
| 2011 | Mississippi State | 7–6 | (2–6 SEC) | 5th <small>(West) </small> | W Music City | ||
| 2012 | Mississippi State | 8–5 | (4–4 SEC) | 4th <small>(West) </small> | L Gator Bowl | ||
| 2013 | Mississippi State | 7–6 | (3–5 SEC) | T–5th <small>(West) </small> | W Liberty Bowl |
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Firing Dan Mullen would make us look stupid and unrealistic and would absolutely delight the Black Bears.
The next step for us is 5-3 in the SEC, and 8-9 wins in a season IMO.
7 wins this year would be his most disappointing season yet.
There are 7 games we have no excuses for losing. Then we have 3 I consider tossups, and an LSU that is replacing so much compared to us, and we play so early, that we have a shot.
I would give Mullen another year at 7-5 as a courtesy, and to see if in Dak's senior year, he can pull it off. But if with that roster and that schedule, 8 wins should be the minimum we are willing to accept. For one year only, 10-2 is not crazy talk.
There are 7 games we have no excuses for losing. Then we have 3 I consider tossups, and an LSU that is replacing so much compared to us, and we play so early, that we have a shot.
I would give Mullen another year at 7-5 as a courtesy, and to see if in Dak's senior year, he can pull it off. But if with that roster and that schedule, 8 wins should be the minimum we are willing to accept. For one year only, 10-2 is not crazy talk.
I think it speaks volumes about the state of our program that so many people would be highly upset with 7-5 this year. In 2007, we went 7-5 and our fanbase was ECSTATIC and our coach won a bunch of "coach of the year" awards. I never want to go back to those days. And if you think it cannot happen, listen to Fayetteville talk radio.
Not saying Mullen gets a lifetime pass, but lets keep things in perspective.
Not saying Mullen gets a lifetime pass, but lets keep things in perspective.
I agree. The next step is 5-3 in the SEC. I would love 7-1 or 8-0+1. Those also can be the next step.
We suck at the coaching carousel. I'm sticking with the cards I have instead of risking another Crooms. When Mullen stops winning the games we are supposed to win I'll start talking about moving on, but as long as we win more than we lose and go to bowl games I'm going to see if he can dial this thing in and get the rare 10 win season. I've seen way too many years of MSU football to get all worked up about Dan not crushing the SEC superpowers. I fear that people who want to fire Dan have forgotten how bad it has been before.
One other thing, I don't think we have the luxury of judging our coaches on wins and losses. We have be a "have not" in the SEC too long to pop up into the top tier in a few years. I'm looking at recruiting and player development and I think Dan is doing well in those areas. We are starting to see kids decide to come to MSU instead of Alabama. That used to not happen. I know we can rip some of the recruiting in past years but again, he wasn't going to step in an jump us to superpower status overnight. I'm still happy regardless of this season.
One other thing, I don't think we have the luxury of judging our coaches on wins and losses. We have be a "have not" in the SEC too long to pop up into the top tier in a few years. I'm looking at recruiting and player development and I think Dan is doing well in those areas. We are starting to see kids decide to come to MSU instead of Alabama. That used to not happen. I know we can rip some of the recruiting in past years but again, he wasn't going to step in an jump us to superpower status overnight. I'm still happy regardless of this season.
Considering where our basketball program is right now Mullen has earned himself a lot of rope imo. We have media picking us to win the SEC and have Dak as a heisman candidate and comparing him to Tebow and Cam. When has that ever happened at MSU? We have a new stadium renovation being completed and another huge jumbotron and we are going on year 6 of consecutive sellouts. Dan has developed talent and has greatly improved the talent he's brought in. We have legit SEC QBs now and big tall WRs and 1st round projected defensive players. We just signed big deals with Adidas and oh yea we have 27 players already committed for next year. Dan is the anti-Croom.
Agreed. We might can win 7 games without beating a top 40/50 team this year depending on how Arkansas materializes.
USM
UAB
South Alabama (road)
Mid TN State
UK (road)
Ark
Vandy
Five out of those are at home.
USM
UAB
South Alabama (road)
Mid TN State
UK (road)
Ark
Vandy
Five out of those are at home.
Whether Mullen can take us to the next level is a totally separate question from whether you want to fire Mullen. If we win seven, I will not believe Mullen can do better than 8 wins with an easy schedule, and I also will not want to get rid of Mullen. I would be adamant about not getting rid of him except that I think we have an adequate replacement in the wings. But the only real benefit to making that change would be new blood and excitement; not a strong likelihood that we're going to upgrade in coaching enough to move our average season win total up by a game or two.
Agree !00% ...
Anyone that thinks we should fire a coach taking us to yearly Bowl games needs to read this on the "Worse Firings in CFB in the past 10 years ... http://www.elevenwarriors.com/blogs...gs-over-the-past-10-years-in-college-football
#1 is Ole Miss firing of David Cutcliffe and one of the Honorable Mentions is Southern Miss axing of Jeff Bower
Keep hammerin OM at a 80% clip and I'll start a 'statue fund'
Anyone that thinks we should fire a coach taking us to yearly Bowl games needs to read this on the "Worse Firings in CFB in the past 10 years ... http://www.elevenwarriors.com/blogs...gs-over-the-past-10-years-in-college-football
#1 is Ole Miss firing of David Cutcliffe and one of the Honorable Mentions is Southern Miss axing of Jeff Bower
Keep hammerin OM at a 80% clip and I'll start a 'statue fund'
Put me in the pro Dan crowd, regardless. I think that he has proven that he can coach. I think that coaching tenure is a key to long term success.
I sat thru the prior five years of hopelessness before DM
Yes, that is right, because even if we were likely to win a game, you still had to set on pins and needles.
And, I don't even want to talk about the many years before The Kang.
When I see progress, moving forward, competing (and winning), I'm ok.
I'll keep DM for the time being.
Yes, that is right, because even if we were likely to win a game, you still had to set on pins and needles.
And, I don't even want to talk about the many years before The Kang.
When I see progress, moving forward, competing (and winning), I'm ok.
I'll keep DM for the time being.
I correctly predicted 6-6 last year because of the strength of schedule and lack of depth. Both are not an issue this year unless there are surprises and DAK goes down. No question we more talent at the QB position than we ever have at one time. Only a few minor questions remain with this team and the biggest is the OL. I think those guys will be better than we expect.
Bottom line, 7-5 is the basement, 8-4 is the floor, 9-3 is quite doable, 10-2 is high cotton. Put me down for somewhere between 8-4 and 9-3 with a chance at 10-2. A few lucky bounces like Auburn got last year and who knows.......
Bottom line, 7-5 is the basement, 8-4 is the floor, 9-3 is quite doable, 10-2 is high cotton. Put me down for somewhere between 8-4 and 9-3 with a chance at 10-2. A few lucky bounces like Auburn got last year and who knows.......
I agree with this...
I've seen way too many three, four or five win seasons during my time as a State fan... and there were plenty more of them before I was born.
For us to be in a position where we are going to a bowl game every year is a great step forward from where we have been historically as a program. As long as we keep going to bowl games, I'm happy. If we somehow luck out and end up with 8 or 9 wins, I'll be thrilled but I don't see more than seven wins this year. And since that puts us in a bowl for the fifth straight year (when has that ever happened for us before?), I'll be happy.
I've seen way too many three, four or five win seasons during my time as a State fan... and there were plenty more of them before I was born.
For us to be in a position where we are going to a bowl game every year is a great step forward from where we have been historically as a program. As long as we keep going to bowl games, I'm happy. If we somehow luck out and end up with 8 or 9 wins, I'll be thrilled but I don't see more than seven wins this year. And since that puts us in a bowl for the fifth straight year (when has that ever happened for us before?), I'll be happy.
I think Dan is improving as a head coach a little each season
He's made improvements to the coaching staff and he's made adjustments in recruiting. I think Dan is taking small steps every year towards becoming a more complete coach. That being said, I'm looking for eight wins in 2014. Less than that will be a disappointment.
He's made improvements to the coaching staff and he's made adjustments in recruiting. I think Dan is taking small steps every year towards becoming a more complete coach. That being said, I'm looking for eight wins in 2014. Less than that will be a disappointment.