Well, here we go

[RougeDawg]

Or......

I actually think Dan could win a title here, but you are right... Alabama has to have a down year. (e.g., Auburn and Arkansas).

Alabama has to play someone from the East, other than cupcakes and they'll slip up and lose 2 SEC games and we can consistently beat one of two between LSU and Bama. We've been extremely close to takin down LSU since Dan has been here and have played Bama close. Just haven't had the depth to compete for 60 min. Throw in the Cam newton factor and you see who we've had to play the past two seasons. Some of the greatest teams in the history of the SEC in the best division of the best conference in the NCAA. Not to mention a conference playing its best combined football as a whole, EVER.

 

[00Dawg]

No one said anything about a special power. It's just an accepted fact that Slive wants the SEC as strong as possible, and that means we aren't allowed to cannibalize each other. He's taken overt efforts to make that known to the decision makers at the schools. Schools that decide to piss him off will likely find an uncooperative conference office the next time they need something.

 

[Incognegro]

I actually agree with him somewhat. The majority of the posters here seem to be relatively levelheaded when it comes to expectations since those same individuals have dealt with some extremely ****** years as being a state fan. But let's be real... right now we already have a very small minority of "fans" that are still (for whatever reason) not convinced that Mullen is the guy.

One of the key things I've noticed with a lot of these people is that they haven't been MSU fans for that long, so their expectations don't match up with the current majority. There are some of those special cases that have been here for a while and just can't bring themselves to like Dan. At the moment, however, they're completely negligible. But let us get relatively consistent with 8 to 10 win seasons. That minority will start to become vocal.

And with success, you're practically guaranteed to get newer fans. If those newer fans start to hear the vocal minority, quite a few of them will start to take on that same thought process. Then there may be some fans that have been with MSU for a while even get tired of being on the very edge of greatness and are tired of just only being good. That's just the cycle of fans, and it's very likely here too.

 

[patdog]

Which side are you arguing here? First you say

No one said anything about a special power.

Then you say

we aren't allowed to cannibalize each other.

Of course hiring coaches away from other conference schools is discouraged. It always has been. Not just from the commissioners office but from peer pressure. After all, the other schools are your partners. That's why it's rarely happened in the conference's history. But if you think for a second that the conference office is going to punish Bama (or any of the other big 6 SEC schools) if they hire a coach away from one of the other members, I think you're going to be very mistaken.

 

[00Dawg]

The heck? Dude, we're trying to tell you Slive has put a special emphasis on this. Certainly far more than Kramer did. Maybe Mike is all talk like you say, but what he's done to date tells me he punishes those who work against his aims.

 

[patdog]

I understand what you're telling me. And I'm telling you that the big schools are going to do what they want to do and the SEC isn't going to stop it. You people are acting like schools used to raid each other for coaches all the time and Slive put a stop to it. That's not the case. It's always been rare. It will continue to be rare. But it could happen.

 

[was21]

I understand what you're telling me. And I'm telling you that the big schools are going to do what they want to do and the SEC isn't going to stop it. You people are acting like schools used to raid each other for coaches all the time and Slive put a stop to it. That's not the case. It's always been rare. It will continue to be rare. But it could happen.

agree that just because Slive frowns on it doesn't prevent it from happening nor should it..a man has a right to enter into, not enter into, or get out of a contract and pay whatever penalty his contract calls for.

 

[engie]

I understand what you're telling me. And I'm telling you that the big schools are going to do what they want to do and the SEC isn't going to stop it. You people are acting like schools used to raid each other for coaches all the time and Slive put a stop to it. That's not the case. It's always been rare. It will continue to be rare. But it could happen.

You don't think he could stop it? More than one way to skin that cat...

It could be as simple as him requesting that non-compete clauses(within the league) be added to all future head coaches contracts when he took over as commissioner. I have no idea if/which coaches have them, but it is damn sure a good insurance policy for the smaller schools in the SEC to include such clauses...

As far as I know, none of the contracts are fully disclosed public record, so this is hard to establish one way or another. But to say that "Slive has no authority over it" is misguided at best.

 

[maroonmania]

The fact is, there have never been many times where a school has hired a coach away from another school in the conference's history. It's happened a few times. Tubberville, Dinardo, maybe Doug Dickey (I think he coached at both Tenn & Fla, but I don't know if there was a gap between the 2 or not). That's mostly due to professional courtesy, not because of any decree from the commissioner. Slive didn't have a problem at all with us hiring Kentucky's baseball coach away from them.

Are you sure Slive is even aware the SEC plays baseball??

 

[RocketDawg]

I think it's a little more than that. Dan wants ... maybe NEEDS ... to win a championship on his own. I don't think he wants to take over another successful program ... he want's what he's got, MSU, and to build it from the ground up so it is DAN's project and nobody else's.

 

[patdog]

I don't think he would stop them even if he could. You're making a huge leap to say that he mandated non-compete clacuses in all contracts, or that he even could mandate something like that. Talk about misguided.

 

[engie]

I don't think he would stop them even if he could. You're making a huge leap to say that he mandated non-compete clacuses in all contracts, or that he even could mandate something like that. Talk about misguided.

Link to any use of the word "mandate" other than your own? You are the one using that terminology, not me...Misguided? More like misinterpreted!

What makes you think that the SEC offices have to "mandate" policies that it wants it's institutions to follow as basic usage policy? Some things don't have to be "legal" to be understood as true...

 

[Dawgzilla]

People always talking about Mullen leaving for "more attractive destinations" really do not understand Mullen or what makes him "tick" at all. They are just thinking about "what would I do?" Mullen is cocky. He thinks he can be a better coach than everyone else. You can never "prove" that at places like Florida and Texas. You are just the "new guy doing the same job as the old guy" even in winning titles. To some extent, it seems that that idea disgusts him. He does not want to be the next. He wants to be the first. As long as he feels like he can eventually get that done at Mississippi State, he will stay at Mississippi State.

Mullen has been on top of the mountain as an OC. He made every step with Meyer from Notre Dame, to Bowling Green, to Utah, to Florida. He also saw Florida cannibalize Meyer for one bad season(in which he still won 8 games). His wife saw.him getting cussed and booed for the OM loss in the Swamp, when his appendix had ruptured 3 days earlier, and he checked himself out of the hospital against doctor's orders in order to coach that game. Zero appreciation in those places. His wife(vocally) treasures the appreciation that he gets in Starkville, even after heartbreaking losses..

I agree with you, but its why I think Tennessee could have a shot at him. While Tennessee is definitely a big program with a lot of tradition, they are on hard times right now. If Mullen built them back up, it would be his team, and he wouldn't just be carrying on the tradition of other coaches. I'm not saying he will bolt for Tennessee, I'm just saying that is the type of program I could see him leaving for