The Mullen eventuality.

[Shamoan]

I think that the vast majority of state fans appreciate and recognize that mullen has done a solid job here....not outstanding, but considering the circumstances, he raised our ceiling along with expectations here.

the meltdown many are equating with the ole miss win a bit misplaced. for me, its the recognition that guys in their first year under worse-case circumstances, have something that dan does not...signature wins vs top 15 opponents. the om game was just an extra kick to the gut. the pain is that coaches named jones, pinkel, franklin, freeze, and malzahn are beating coaches named spurrier, miles, sumlin, and richt all while ours is too preoccupied eeking out wins against bowling green.

its time to face the realization that our coach is bottom tier for our conference in coaching and recruiting. this was probably not the case just a few seasons ago, but turnover is extremely high in america's most talented and cut-throat league. i think there is a bit of inevitability regarding mullen's future here....if you stop swimming, you die, and we have stopped swimming.

 

[MaronMatters]

the pain is that coaches named jones, pinkel, franklin, freeze, and malzahn are beating coaches named spurrier, miles, sumlin, and richt all while ours is too preoccupied eeking out wins against bowling green.

This is depressing as hell.

 

[TBone.sixpack]

Hard to believe that for 3 whole years we were brutally rubbing their noses in it. How quickly things can change. Talk about your momentum swing.

 

[maroonmania]

I think that the vast majority of state fans appreciate and recognize that mullen has done a solid job here....not outstanding, but considering the circumstances, he raised our ceiling along with expectations here.

the meltdown many are equating with the ole miss win a bit misplaced. for me, its the recognition that guys in their first year under worse-case circumstances, have something that dan does not...signature wins vs top 15 opponents. the om game was just an extra kick to the gut. the pain is that coaches named jones, pinkel, franklin, freeze, and malzahn are beating coaches named spurrier, miles, sumlin, and richt all while ours is too preoccupied eeking out wins against bowling green.

its time to face the realization that our coach is bottom tier for our conference in coaching and recruiting. this was probably not the case just a few seasons ago, but turnover is extremely high in america's most talented and cut-throat league. i think there is a bit of inevitability regarding mullen's future here....if you stop swimming, you die, and we have stopped swimming.

Best compliment I can give Dan is that he has raised the floor at MSU. He doesn't lose to teams that would be an embarrassment to lose to. Bowling Green may actually be the closest we've come to that and truly Bowling Green is a very good team for a non-BCS school. Only problem is that Dan hasn't really raised the ceiling. Croom really had almost as many wins in his time here against good teams as Dan has had. But who cares if every blue moon you beat a good team when you suffer the embarrassment of a loss to Maine.

 

[Indndawg]

Again, I think Dan could/can be a helluva coach, if he had taken

a job at a non-SEC, smaller school.

I really could see him doing a great job in the MAC at Akron, Youngstown, or Toledo then making the jump to an MSU or Vandy or KY.

I like Dan and he knows a lot about football but he needed some time as HC at a smaller school to learn how to be a HC (and politician and recruiter and so forth)

MSU didn't help by raising him to a million and I'm afraid a little fire has left. Its hard to blv that Croom's players were better than most of Dan's, but we wouldn't have won if Croom had stayed.

I'd like for us to get to a minor bowl and reload for next year, but I don't see it happening. On paper, OM should smoke us.

 

[esplanade91]

That's probably the most true thing I've ever heard. The quacks who were mad about firing Croom pointed out his wins against Bama and Auburn, and while Mullen hasn't really done too much of that he's beaten bad UGA and UF teams. I think if/when we fire Mullen all I'll be able to think about is how he should have beaten LSU, should have beaten Tebow's UF, should have won that 2010 Arkansas game, should have beaten USC in 2011, should have beaten Auburn almost every year since showing up... it won't be that he never lost a game against a crappy team.

 

[RocketDawg]

Best compliment I can give Dan is that he has raised the floor at MSU. He doesn't lose to teams that would be an embarrassment to lose to. Bowling Green may actually be the closest we've come to that and truly Bowling Green is a very good team for a non-BCS school. Only problem is that Dan hasn't really raised the ceiling. Croom really had almost as many wins in his time here against good teams as Dan has had. But who cares if every blue moon you beat a good team when you suffer the embarrassment of a loss to Maine.

Don't forget Troy and Louisiana Tech last year.

 

[RocketDawg]

I think, or maybe hope, that he can still be a good coach for us. We'll be fortunate to win 6 this year. I think 4 or 5 is more likely.

But next year should be a lot different, given the much easier schedule. And it will be Dak's team, and he's good. If not, then I agree he'll have to go.

As I said earlier, a near $3M coach should be 10-2 or better, even at MSU and even in the West. And I still believe that.

 

[kired]

You do realize Mullen has beat two of the four coaches you listed. Just sayin...

 

[ChinaDogSunflower]

Who were you responding to?

You do realize Mullen has beat two of the four coaches you listed. Just sayin...

Are you slow, or just mistaken?

 

[Strike.sixpack]

I can see where you are coming from. But for a different perspective, when you look at the bottom 6 teams in this league since 1980 (1992 for Arkansas and So Carolina) his winning percentage is in pretty good company. If you compare all of the coaches in their first 4 years at one of the bottom schools, then he ranks fourth behind Petrino, Nutt, and Cutcliff. Tubberville at UM and Spurrier's first four years at So Carolina are right behind him. Pretty solid but there are things to work on for sure and other than Nutt they are all still coaching and having success.

 

[Shamoan]

he beat sumlin while at houston and richt the first gator bowl year. true, but he also doesnt have a winning record against any of them either.

serious proposition to anyone...list the bottom 43% of sec coaches (the worst 6). i dont see how mullen could not be in that same bottom 6 even by the most sunshine-pumping poster.

 

[kired]

I guess I'm responding to the original post where he listed four coaches that the new guys are beating (spurrier, miles, sumlin, & richt). Not sure how I could make that more obvious...

 

[121Josey]

No major disagreements here

I think that the vast majority of state fans appreciate and recognize that mullen has done a solid job here....not outstanding, but consideri

its time to face the realization that our coach is bottom tier for our conference in coaching and recruiting. this was probably not the case just a few seasons ago, but turnover is extremely high in america's most talented and cut-throat league. i think there is a bit of inevitability regarding mullen's future here....if you stop swimming, you die, and we have stopped swimming.

Sure, he has raised the floor. but that's got more to do with OOC scheduling. I wonder if everybody realizes that Mullen, by punting the current problems to future years, is allowing other SEC teams to set the ceiling for him.

We've seen that OKSU, AU, and LSU were all beatable. Sideline incompetence cost State those game.

Mullen has proven that he can win with other people's talent. He's shown he can't come from behind in the 4th QTR. He's shown that he has no sense of urgency.

 

[Shamoan]

you make a strong case, and really, thats the only reservation at this point, however, you can always find an exception to a rule if you look hard enough.

i want us to act in the best interest of mississippi state. based on action alone, i think mullen turning this thing around is a fantasy. coaches that turn programs dont roll over to anybody, dont feel sorry for themselves, and dont make excuses when the coaches and players dont give max effort. i think many would feel better about moving forward with mullen if he showed more fire in the belly and willingness to fight till the last whistle blows. i know i would. the guy has a family and i think he is a good enough guy, but nothing should happen at the expense of mississippi state athletics.

you are definitely right and cited some good examples...coaches can turn the ship around, but more often than not, they crash into the reef trying to correct and can sink a program. i just want to be sure we make the smart long-term move.

 

[MaronMatters]

Mullen has proven that he can win with other people's talent. He's shown he can't come from behind in the 4th QTR. He's shown that he has no sense of urgency.

And apparently he's forgotten what to do during halftime.

 

[Palos verdes]

I think that the vast majority of state fans appreciate and recognize that mullen has done a solid job here....not outstanding, but considering the circumstances, he raised our ceiling along with expectations here.

the meltdown many are equating with the ole miss win a bit misplaced. for me, its the recognition that guys in their first year under worse-case circumstances, have something that dan does not...signature wins vs top 15 opponents. the om game was just an extra kick to the gut. the pain is that coaches named jones, pinkel, franklin, freeze, and malzahn are beating coaches named spurrier, miles, sumlin, and richt all while ours is too preoccupied eeking out wins against bowling green.

its time to face the realization that our coach is bottom tier for our conference in coaching and recruiting. this was probably not the case just a few seasons ago, but turnover is extremely high in america's most talented and cut-throat league. i think there is a bit of inevitability regarding mullen's future here....if you stop swimming, you die, and we have stopped swimming.

I tend to agree with Shamoan here, but I'm anxious to see how we perform against another bottom 3 league team on Thursday. If we look like **** on any possession during the game, I won't expect another win anywhere this year and won't expect a whole lot next year. Remember, after our first 3 games next year it's basically the same schedule, except everyone should be better.

 

[Strike.sixpack]

There can be exceptions to the rule but in recent history (since 1980) in this league if you have compiled the win percentage he has, irregardless of how it occurs, then the coach has shown to have sustained success at that school or stepped up to another job. The lone exception to that would be Cutcliff and personally I believe he has shown he can coach and win especially when you consider the job he done at Duke as well. Whether UM did the right thing or not is debatable but he did have good success there. Mullen would end up being the exception to the rule. None of those coaches ended up with less than a 9 year career (Petrino still going obviously).

 

[ckDOG]

Don't forget Troy and Louisiana Tech last year.

That LaTech game is actually one of Mullen's better wins.

 

[maroonmania]

That LaTech game is actually one of Mullen's better wins.

No doubt, in the 2011 regular season La Tech was our best win. Troy last year would have been bad but it was on the road and the game really didn't come down to the last drive being in doubt like the BG game did this past Saturday.

 

[fishwater99]

I guess I'm responding to the original post where he listed four coaches that the new guys are beating (spurrier, miles, sumlin, & richt). Not sure how I could make that more obvious...

And those coaches teams were ranked in the Top 20. Has Dan beaten a Top 20 team? Never and he never will..
Dan's Big Win's came in 2009 and 2010, with Croom's players. What has he done lately? Not crap...
Dan is in year 5, and we have regressed every year since 2010.
We deserve more for our $2.6 million.

 

[Thrl595]

And those coaches teams were ranked in the Top 20. Has Dan beaten a Top 20 team? Never and he never will..
Dan's Big Win's came in 2009 and 2010, with Croom's players. What has he done lately? Not crap...
Dan is in year 5, and we have regressed every year since 2010.
We deserve more for our $2.6 million.

If this was the business world, the board would have voted him out. Not much ROI based on his salary.

 

[hatfieldms]

I never knew you felt this way

....

 

[SwampDawg]

Yes. When you are paid 2.7 you are being paid to do, not to try.