...list the programs that could afford him and he'd leave for that could have an opening in the next 2-3 years.
I come up with LSU, UT, and UGA in the SEC, although by making a bowl game this year, Dooley may be in for a while. Richt and Miles are definitely on year to year deals and with Meyer out at Florida, Georgia might be more appealing to Mullen. Florida is off the radar now. Bama will have Saban for the foreseeable future. Ties are cut with Auburn. Petrino is locked in at Arkansas, and everything else is lateral.
Outside of the conference, I think Penn State is the biggest threat by far. Michigan will likely stay away from another spread guy if they get rid of Rich Rod. Obviously, if Tressel left OSU and they were interested, he'd go there. He apparently wasn't interested in Miami, which is probably the biggest program in the ACC. The Big East has nothing that is too scary. Barring Brown or Stoops leaving anytime soon, there's not much in the Big 12. I don't think there is anything in the Pac10 that would pull him out there. Oregon is stable and USC is in bad shape at the moment. Obviously if Notre Dame collapses under Kelly, you could see that.
In summary, I think you worry about LSU, UT, UGA, Penn State, and Notre Dame. And for all those teams, I think Mullen has to put together another 8-9 win season to get on their radar. If he goes 6-6 next year, his hot name fades a bit. Bottom line, getting through the Meyer retirement was HUGE for our program. I am starting to think we struck it rich with this guy.
I come up with LSU, UT, and UGA in the SEC, although by making a bowl game this year, Dooley may be in for a while. Richt and Miles are definitely on year to year deals and with Meyer out at Florida, Georgia might be more appealing to Mullen. Florida is off the radar now. Bama will have Saban for the foreseeable future. Ties are cut with Auburn. Petrino is locked in at Arkansas, and everything else is lateral.
Outside of the conference, I think Penn State is the biggest threat by far. Michigan will likely stay away from another spread guy if they get rid of Rich Rod. Obviously, if Tressel left OSU and they were interested, he'd go there. He apparently wasn't interested in Miami, which is probably the biggest program in the ACC. The Big East has nothing that is too scary. Barring Brown or Stoops leaving anytime soon, there's not much in the Big 12. I don't think there is anything in the Pac10 that would pull him out there. Oregon is stable and USC is in bad shape at the moment. Obviously if Notre Dame collapses under Kelly, you could see that.
In summary, I think you worry about LSU, UT, UGA, Penn State, and Notre Dame. And for all those teams, I think Mullen has to put together another 8-9 win season to get on their radar. If he goes 6-6 next year, his hot name fades a bit. Bottom line, getting through the Meyer retirement was HUGE for our program. I am starting to think we struck it rich with this guy.
