Mullen getting some love from Sports Illustrated

[FQDawg]

Article here... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...ill-muschamp-dan-mullen-mack-brown/index.html

Relevant text here for those who don't want to click:

Hi Stewart, Urban Meyer (at Ohio State), his successor at Florida (Will Muschamp) and his two former coordinators (Louisville's Charlie Strong and Mississippi State's Dan Mullen) all currently have undefeated teams. In your opinion, which of the four men has done the best coaching job thus far with the talent and resources -- or lack thereof -- that he inherited?-- Jason P, Woodbridge, Va.


First of all ... wow. Between Meyer, Strong, Mullen and the fact that 21 starters or major contributors from Florida's 2008 team currently play in the NFL, it's easy to see how the Gators won the national title that year -- while also completely inexplicable how they lost to Houston Nutt. And former Texas defensive coordinator Muschamp's success so far in Gainesville may help explain why Mack Brown finds himself in his current predicament.


As for comparing the four, Meyer is doing exactly what's expected of Ohio State's coach. We didn't necessarily think the Buckeyes would start 7-0, but you know with the right coach they're never going to be down for too long. I'd say much the same thing about Florida, though Muschamp and his staff have unquestionably had a profound impact on that team. In fewer than two years, they've completely reinvented the program and found a way to start 6-0 despite some obvious offensive limitations. If they keep this up, he's a legitimate Coach of the Year candidate. Strong has also done a tremendous job rebuilding Louisville's program from the depths of the Steve Kragthorpe era, and he has the Cardinals squarely in the hunt for a BCS berth. But that's also not unprecedented; Bobby Petrino did the same thing just six years ago.


My answer is Mullen. While acknowledging that Mississippi State hasn't played the strongest competition to this point (its best win was last week's victory over 3-3 Tennessee) and could well get exposed once it faces Alabama and LSU, the fact that the Bulldogs are 6-0 and no one's surprised is a testament to how dramatically Mullen has changed the culture in Starkville. Two years ago, in Mullen's second season, the Bulldogs won nine games for the first time in 11 years and just the fourth time since World War II. This year, his team seems headed for at least that many victories, particularly with remaining games against Middle Tennessee, Arkansas and Ole Miss.


Mind you, he's doing this at a time when the SEC has rarely been stronger. I loved those late '90s Jackie Sherrill teams, and you may recall the Bulldogs played in the 1998 SEC title game. But things were different then: Alabama was in between probations, LSU was a mess, Auburn had forced out Terry Bowden, etc. This Mississippi State team is not brimming with talent -- it's got a skilled quarterback (Tyler Russell) and a heck of a secondary (Johnthan Banks, Darius Slay) -- but top-to-bottom it's probably the league's eighth- or ninth-most talented team. Yet it could wind up having one of the best seasons in school history. Nice work, Mr. Mullen.

 

[tenureplan]

On 680 the fan in ATL a couple of days ago, the question was asked if Richt were fired, who would they want for a new HC. Mullen was the overwhelming choice from most of their callers.

 

[FISHDAWG]

yeah ... I heard that segment and the response for Mullen was immediate ... I was also unaware that Mullen has some kind of repore with their AD

 

[TaleofTwoDogs]

This SI article continued two trends that the media has been repeating since our current rise in fame:

1) MSU has a 110 year old history of football suckatude

2) Mullen is a good coach.

How many times have we heard comments like "its been 10 years since state has been 5-0, or "they have been 6-0 only X number of times in their 110 year history". OK we get it. MSU football is not Alabama. How many other teams have been undefeated by mid-season 10, 20 30 or more times in their history? With the exception of the football elite, I imagine (without looking it up) we are in the same boat as most programs in the country. Hopefully, these comments ( although true) will go away as Mullen continues to win here.

 

[sickasadawg]

This is nothing new. If there's a negative angle the media can find to anything positive for the university they are going to play on it. End of story! It's the same thing that a lot of TSUN posters do over here.