Dan Mullen overall tenure question/ramble

[Statecoachingblows**]

If 2014 and 15 go as planned and we win 8-9-10 games (and Dan doesn't choose to go elsewhere) how long does he stay? I'm not trying to get into a Dan debate but more a realistic idea of him being a guy that coaches at the same school for a long period of time. Assuming we get minimum 8 wins the next two seasons he's got to be locked in for several more after that right? So after 14&15 he'd have 2-3 more you would think minimum guaranteed no matter what, putting him at 9-10 years. Guess my question is what does everybody think long term outcome will be for him? I would think by then he's the guy as long as he wants to be within reason and the college football version of jersey shore hasn't taken over the team. I know there's been some questionable things go on play calling wise, personell, and so on but we have made great strides not only on the field but in perception. Not to mention facility improvements. I'll add that for fun assume there's a coaching change once during that time at OM and just doubling current record he would be 8-2 against OM.

Now I know ill probably get shit because of my name and being on *cough**cough**cough**cough**cough**cough**cough* side but in my defense I found this board and created the name on a drunken night about 20 minutes after the end of the Auburn game.

[preachermatt83]

I think Dan will be in Starkville for atleast 10 years. He's not leaving for another school. He makes top 70% money, he's in the SEC and he loves Starkville along with his family. My guess is he has some good years but somewhere down the line our unwillingness to pay to keep a top notch defensive coordinator will cause us to start to slip and eventually Dan will resign after a couple of down years but as the schools all time winingest coach.

[missouridawg]

If Dan wins 8 to 10 games the next two years, I think most of us would pretty happy with him for a few years.

He'd leave for a bigger name job, but I'm not so sure a big name job would want him (Ohio State, Texas, USCw, etc...). My real fear of losing him would be to Penn State because of his obvious tie here.

What would spur Dan to leave? I remember just 2 months ago when everyone wanted him fired except for the few sane people in our fan base. Another episode like that could cause him to look elsewhere... so I guess the next tough skid of games for him could be the catalyst for a departure.

[preachermatt83]

BTW 20 years from now we will still be talking about "The Dak Years" Just watch and see. I honestly think Dak Prescott will be an all SEC QB next year.

[nsvltndog]

Interesting question. We've done a lot of the things he's asked of us from a fan support and facility standpoint. If I'm Dan, I probably have similar concerns as the fan base - the most strict compliance department in the SEC that looks for problems rather than solutions and underpaid assistants. Show me a plan to fix those and I'd be a happy coach looking to build my legacy.

Does he become Frank Beamer and make a career at MSU or do a Mack Brown/Nick Saban and chase the glory of a bigger program? His oldest must be approaching school age. If they start Starkville public schools and Mom/Dad are comfortable with the education they may very well stay. A lot of our athletic department employees have kids in SPS and seem very supportive.

[RougeDawg]

If Dan wins 8 to 10 games the next two years, I think most of us would pretty happy with him for a few years.

He'd leave for a bigger name job, but I'm not so sure a big name job would want him (Ohio State, Texas, USCw, etc...). My real fear of losing him would be to Penn State because of his obvious tie here.

What would spur Dan to leave? I remember just 2 months ago when everyone wanted him fired except for the few sane people in our fan base. Another episode like that could cause him to look elsewhere... so I guess the next tough skid of games for him could be the catalyst for a departure.

A lot of the grumblings were for a change. Either in team attitude and on field product/performance/effort for 4 quarters and a coach who looked like he gave a shit or a coaching change. You cans deny the fact that we had an "I don't give a ****" attitude a good but during the beginning and middle of the season, from coaches and players alike. We had mental breakdowns at ends of the half and at the first sign of adversity (missed fg, etc.). This trend of lackadaisical effort had carried over from the end of last year. A lot of of were concerned that if this kept up we would lose all the momentum that had been gained to this point. We knew that something must change and thankfully it did. From the Bama game until now, we started showing up to play for 60+ minutes each week, and started bringing the pain again on defense. These drastic changes eased the concerns of us who knew some changes had to happen.

If we had ended the year like we started, we would be sitting at home this bowl season sporting a 4-8 record.

[MetEdDawg]

Dan has the opportunity to be the best coach ever at an SEC school. That's pretty damn cool. I don't see us ever finishing worse than 6-6 under him, so that means that he will finish his time at MSU (whenever that is), with more wins than losses and at least 40 games coached (he's currently one of 3 in our history to do that), which puts him in very rare company at MSU. He will be loved forever and will be able to come back and be adored by our fan base and I think that's a legacy that he can live with.

He's already 4th on the all time wins list in just 5 years and will pass Bellard very early next year. So in less than 5 1/2 years he will be at least the 3rd best coach we've ever had. He's got 35 wins now in 5 years and can make it 36 win a bowl win for an average of 7 per year. So if we average 7.5 wins a year under Mullen for the next 5 years, he will be within 2 wins of Sherrill for the all time wins leader. How can we ever justify firing that unless we just absolutely tank? I'm not sure he will ever take us to a conference championship because of the strength of the division we are in, but I feel very confident that we will be a very consistent program from here on out. 7-9 win years with the possibility of 10 wins every so often. That's realistically what we can expect and if we do that, Mullen will have taken only 10 years to be the greatest of all time at MSU. Hopefully way down the road (10-15 more years), we can build something that can expect 8-10 win seasons. But for right now, he's at least raised the bar to where we need a 7 win season to at least feel like the season wasn't a total waste.

[Political Hack]

He legitimately thinks he's going to win at Natty at State. No shit... serious as a heart attack... he is bound and determined to win it all at State.

I'm more worried about us doing something stupid to push him out than him leaving. he's got a great contract. He's got things covered in his contract that remove a lot of stress and BS from his life. His wife loves Starkville, hated the big program of Florida, and will always be in our corner. I trust his intentions to stay a lot more than I trust our administrations efforts to ensure continuity over the next 10-20 years.

[Coach34]

Mullen wants a statue of his ass built somewhere. He is working to make State the best it can be and to win a title here.

I think Mullen is going to be in Starkville 10 more years. Alot will change the next 2 years because these will be his best 2 teams to this point. Gonna be interesting

[preachermatt83]

As hard as I was on Mullen it was bc of the lackluster attitude but he won me over from Alabama game on. I never figured we would have been bowling this year so Im gonna support him and I think the next two years will be very special. Im calling an over/under of 18 over the next two years (bowl games included). What cha got? over or under?

[MetEdDawg]

As hard as I was on Mullen it was bc of the lackluster attitude but he won me over from Alabama game on. I never figured we would have been bowling this year so Im gonna support him and I think the next two years will be very special. Im calling an over/under of 18 over the next two years (bowl games included). What cha got? over or under?


I think it's a push, but if I had to choose, I would say over. I think the potential is there to win 10 total next year. 9 regular season and a bowl game. The only two games I would say we go in saying we don't win are LSU and Bama. Until we do it, we just count those as losses. After that, every team who might have a legitimate claim to say they are better than us is a team we get at home. We will take care of business on the road against OM and UK and the 9 wins are there if you include a loss to a team like an Auburn or TAMU. I just think next year it all comes together. Then in 2015 I think we win 8 regular season. Get a bowl game and that's 19 wins in two years. That would be extremely impressive in today's SEC and considering where we were 7 years ago when Mullen took over.

[hells bells]

I think it's a push, but if I had to choose, I would say over. I think the potential is there to win 10 total next year. 9 regular season and a bowl game. The only two games I would say we go in saying we don't win are LSU and Bama. Until we do it, we just count those as losses. After that, every team who might have a legitimate claim to say they are better than us is a team we get at home. We will take care of business on the road against OM and UK and the 9 wins are there if you include a loss to a team like an Auburn or TAMU. I just think next year it all comes together. Then in 2015 I think we win 8 regular season. Get a bowl game and that's 19 wins in two years. That would be extremely impressive in today's SEC and considering where we were 7 years ago when Mullen took over.

We could have God coach this team and most would be dissatisfied. Dan Mullen has done more for this team and school as a franchise than any other coach we have had, Jackie thank you. We now see a 2014 class shaping up and 2015 really good. For once trust the 17 system.

[SDDawg]

I hope he stays 10 more years, if he does State will win at least a couple of SEC West titles and might make a good run at the playoff along the way. We're lucky to have him.

The ONLY THING I'd like to see him improve on is the quality of his staff (he could upgrade a spot or two and fight for more budget to do so). That and maybe to see him get a little more fired up about recruiting, he doesn't seem to enjoy it much. He has the potential to be better than Jackie with less baggage.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Aren't y'all the same people that said to let the OM fans believe big things are on the horizon, it'll just make their fall harder? Y'all are setting yourself up for big time disappointment. I hope for the best, but I'm not going to start predicting championships and 10 win seasons just yet.

[SDDawg]

Aren't y'all the same people that said to let the OM fans believe big things are on the horizon, it'll just make their fall harder? Y'all are setting yourself up for big time disappointment. I hope for the best, but I'm not going to start predicting championships and 10 win seasons just yet.

Hope and optimism are one thing, delusion and failed attempts at self-aggrandizement are quite another. Ole Miss thinks they're a recruiting class or two away from being better than Bama. They don't realize that Bama has a legacy going back decades that isn't going to be washed away by a down season or two. Most of the people on this thread realize that to break through and get 9 and 10 win seasons is quite different from being a perennial top 10 team. State needs to take a couple of steps forward and Dan can help us to do it. I applaud Dan for thinking big and inspiring people to think big about our potential, but even Dan says that the next step is to compete in the SEC West. We've won it before so there's no reason we shouldn't win it again. OM thinks they're magically going to win a Natty if Kimdeecheez can stay off the dope, ain't in the same ballpark.

[Pollodawg]

We're not going to have a NC next year, and I don't think anyone is saying that we will. But to suggest that we can't have a solid 8-9 season is just silly.

[engie]

Here's where I stand --

I didn't get off the Mullen bandwagon over 1-2 games --- and I'm not jumping headfirst back onto it that way. Now -- he will certainly have the chance to win me back wholeheartedly next year and I hope he does. As it sits, I'm back on the fence. Roster sets up in a manner that makes it difficult in theory for him to screw it up next year outside of special teams(which I am going to be pissed as hell if I don't see drastic improvement in -- since it's potentially the difference between us winning 8 and 10 or 11 games). I want to see continued improvement in recruiting. Very excited about the start of the 2015 class -- hope we close strong and flip a few guys for the 2014 class. Hitting on these last 4-5 players this year are KEY toward further changing Mullen's perception in recruiting. Grab Epps, Thomas, Stallworth, and make a push for the "mystery visitor(s)", and I'll feel alot better about the future. I realize that's 3 3* guys on paper -- but their realities are VERY different from that based on what I saw in the MS/ALA all-star game and read about the practices that week.

[hacker]

Mullen wants a statue of his ass built somewhere.

Taken literally, that's pretty funny

[maroonmania]

I hope he stays 10 more years, if he does State will win at least a couple of SEC West titles and might make a good run at the playoff along the way. We're lucky to have him.

The ONLY THING I'd like to see him improve on is the quality of his staff (he could upgrade a spot or two and fight for more budget to do so). That and maybe to see him get a little more fired up about recruiting, he doesn't seem to enjoy it much. He has the potential to be better than Jackie with less baggage.

I don't believe Mullen will ever win the West with the strictest compliance department in the SEC along with the lowest paid coaching staff in the SEC. Color me shocked if he pulls that off.

[SDDawg]

I don't believe Mullen will ever win the West with the strictest compliance department in the SEC along with the lowest paid coaching staff in the SEC. Color me shocked if he pulls that off.

Your comment about the coaching staff is a good one and I made that point as well, Mullen needs to fight for his guys to get paid and make sure we have Collins-level guys in each of those spots. As for the compliance department, it has little to no bearing on recruiting much less what happens on the field so I don't agree with you there.