Paul Finebaum addresses Florida, Dan Mullen job security ahead of Georgia game
Dan Mullen and the Florida Gators are off to an uncharacteristically subpar 2021 season, boasting just a 4-3 record after falling far from its AP preseason ranking of No. 13, and ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum believes the state of the Gators might spell trouble for Mullen’s popularity in Gainesville.
After losing to Alabama, Kentucky and LSU, Mullen has led Florida to a losing record in SEC play, with its only wins coming over Vanderbilt and Tennessee. And things could get worse for Florida, which is set to host the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs on Oct. 30.
As for how much faith Finebaum has in the Mullen-led Florida Gators?
“None,” Finebaum said in The ESPN College Football Podcast. “That has become a really interesting story where I live. Because it seems like a fete de compli that [defensive coordinator] Todd Grantham is going to be gone at the end of the season. Fans do not want to see Emory Jones anymore, they want to see Anthony Richardson. It seems like both will play against the Dogs, and quite frankly, I believe this is a critical game for Dan Mullen in the sense of how does he come out of this — a loss to the No. 1 team, the fourth of the season, which would match last year’s games. That is not acceptable.”
Could this be the beginning of the end for Mullen?
Florida’s defense has allowed an average of 338.4 yards per game under Grantham’s scheme, good for 38th in the country. But perhaps more concerning is the Gators’ inability to stop the rushing attack, which costed them the game against a lowly LSU team. Mullen’s Gators, then-ranked No. 20, could not come up with an answer for Tyrion Davis-Price, who broke all sorts of LSU rushing records by taking 36 carries for 287 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
On the offensive side of the ball, things are looking bleak for a team with two quarterbacks that have shown glimpses of promise, but neither have done enough to solidify their spot as the starter. The current starter, Emory Jones, has completed 67 percent of his passes for 1,305 yards, but with ten touchdowns and nine interceptions, he’s paved a path for true freshman Anthony Richardson to see the field. Richardson, an athletic quarterback, has completed 56.8 percent of his passes for 392 yards, five touchdowns and three picks, while rushing for 348 yards and three touchdowns.
“Hear me clearly: he’s not getting fired,” Finebaum said of Mullen, who in June agreed to an extension with Florida through 2026 season. “But it is going to put him in an awkward position. His popularity with the fanbase is going to evaporate quickly if this game goes really poorly.
“They’ll end well,” Finebaum said. “It’s not going to help him, though.”
Following its game against Georgia, Mullen finishes the season with four consecutive winnable games against South Carolina, Samford, Missouri and Florida State. Losing to Georgia and winning out would give the Gators an 8-4 record to end the year, matching its 8-4 campaign in 2020 — but Finebaum isn’t impressed.