I've Kinda Held Off

[Spiderman]

starting a thread because I wanted to be rational and not let emotions rule.... here goes

Sirmon has to be shit canned Sunday if Mullen is planning on staying.

Rule number one for me, and it is usually true... hire people familiar with your area in most of your coaching positions....... on D, T-Buck only one that fits the bill. And hire people that have proven they can do the job. Let the Sirmon's of the world learn what it takes somewhere else.

Fitz is special, talent wise. If he stays healthy, and Mullen stays, he will hold most, if not all, QB records. He is the only true winner, (Williams, Mixon and Dear have a chance to be), we have on O. Ross and Gray are talented but drop the ball too often when it counts too much.

Poor Graves has the yips. It's not only stupid, but cruel to him to keep sending him out there. Just go for it this week whenever in FG range if you have no faith in whoever is the #2 kicker.

Not sure if you watched Mullen's PC on YouTube this week, but he looked pissed and disgusted. Not sure if because of the crappy season or if pissed and disgusted to still be our coach and is just ready to move on.

I hope at his defensive staff. Either way, I bet a million dollars he has been zero fun to be around this week.

He down played the game, which is concerning, and looked like he would rather have his pecker in a meat grinder than be at that PC.

Hugh Freeze will spend all week trying to figure out a way for AJ Brown to catch, run, throw and hell, maybe even kick for a score, because he is that type of guy and knows his Yancy loving *** fans will eat it up.

Back to Fitz, if Mullen leaves, if the next coach isn't a Mullen philosophy type guy, Fitz's talent will be wasted.

I have attended most of Mullen's spring coaching clinics. He always talks about his plan to win. What HAS to happen to be successful.

#1, and he stresses it, is #1 above and beyond all others, is play great defense. If the D coaches want a player recruiting or already on offense, they get him because that's how important D is.... I agree.

The next most important part of the team is special teams. So much so that's why he coached the ST's his 1st couple of years, to impress on the players how important it is. The ST players even get to be 1st in line at team meals and events, again to show how important they are. He always says, if you can't make the special teams, you can't make the team.

So any of you media guys reading this that wanna ask him a question that nobody has asked, and be a real reporter, ask what happened to the Plan to Win?

It's a good plan, ask why he isn't following it.

And, I hate Ole Miss. So do something to win, please.

[civildawg]

I agree sirmon has to be let go. It sucks but he never should have been hired in the first place. We look like a Texas tech defense out there. I have always hated our defensive philosophy under Mullen. I really wish he would play more aggressive on defense and go get a proven defensive coordinator.

[Irondawg]

I was hoping the Sirmon thing would work out but it just hasn't. He's a good recruiter so that would hurt to lose but I have to question how much he can improve next year.

Other thing I thought while reading the was wondering if they ever asked for shump to go to defense. He'd at least lay some licks at lb

[Schultzy]

But what if Sirmon's D plays well this weekend and we win? He and his side of the ball are where all the recruiters are on this staff.

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

That is a really good plan to win. But sure doesn't look like we're following it. If Mullen could go out and get a John Chavis type guy to turn the defense completely over to, he could spend 90% of his time strictly on offense, which would improve it even more. But when you have a guy like we do now, there's no way Mullen can focus as much time as he needs to on offense. Think about this week....as important as it is....playing your rival, who is beat up and on the ropes. A real chance to beat their ass at their place and start the downward spiral that is getting ready to take place over the next several years. Instead of Mullen focusing on offense this week, he's having to spend time on that shit storm of a defense that got run slap over by Arkansas. And by doing that, it is hampering our efforts to accomplishing our goals for this weekend.

I know it will look bad having our 8th or whatever the hell it is DC in a row, but if we can get a bonafide DC in here, we need to do it. What I'm afraid of, and why we had to hire Sirmon in the first place is that a true bonafide John Chavis type DC doesn't want to come here under the circumstances we are currently under with Mullen only having a 1 year contract himself and looking to leave every year. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[Todd4State]

I agree with everything that you said Spider. I tried to give Sirmon as fair a chance as possible because of the revolving door we have had at DC with the exception that he turned out to be Ron Cooper bad. Unfortunately, he has been Ron Cooper bad and there is no question that he is in over his head right now and it is killing us. We have more talent on the defensive side of the ball than what the production is indicating. We’re not lining up correctly, our guys are making wrong reads and there is general confusion and on top of that there is loafing and not playing with emotion. All of those things to me fall on the coach. I don’t see as many guys loafing and confused on the offensive side of the ball other than maybe the o-line at times earlier in the year but even Hevesy has them playing at a respectable level lately.

I think Dan’s problem on defense is he has an identity crisis. He always says that he wants an aggressive, attacking defense, but then other times he will say that we’re always bend but don’t break. I think he needs to come to grips with the fact that he is a bend but don’t break guy, that’s what he prefers and he needs to go out and get an EXPERIENCED DC that runs that kind of a system and knows how to maximize results out of it. I think that’s where some of the clash with DC’s comes in because I’m pretty sure he tells these DC’s when they are interviewing that he wants an aggressive defense but then when something goes wrong, he freaks out and then we’re playing soft coverage and doing things that the DC he hired doesn’t believe in. The end result is hard feelings and spotty defense for us. So, he probably needs someone like Jimmy Burrow who is at Ohio University right now to come in and do that for him and is a native of Amory, MS and has his defense in the top 24 in scoring defense and 28th in total defense right now and helped Ohio U to a division championship tonight. He pretty much does want Dan has us doing and it’s pretty basic- but he’s effective with coaching it. It appeared to be a 4-3 defense for those wondering.

http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/jimmy_burrow_217575.html

I think we have solid special teams performers in Graves and Cooke and rumor is Graves has a back injury and Cooke we know has dealt with injuries himself. That doesn’t negate your point about putting Graves out there being unfair and a terrible idea. And the fact of the matter is if we don’t have capable back-ups that’s still on Dan and not good. We totally neglect the kicking game and that is something we really should be solid in every year.

[Todd4State]

That is a really good plan to win. But sure doesn't look like we're following it. If Mullen could go out and get a John Chavis type guy to turn the defense completely over to, he could spend 90% of his time strictly on offense, which would improve it even more. But when you have a guy like we do now, there's no way Mullen can focus as much time as he needs to on offense. Think about this week....as important as it is....playing your rival, who is beat up and on the ropes. A real chance to beat their ass at their place and start the downward spiral that is getting ready to take place over the next several years. Instead of Mullen focusing on offense this week, he's having to spend time on that shit storm of a defense that got run slap over by Arkansas. And by doing that, it is hampering our efforts to accomplishing our goals for this weekend.

I know it will look bad having our 8th or whatever the hell it is DC in a row, but if we can get a bonafide DC in here, we need to do it. What I'm afraid of, and why we had to hire Sirmon in the first place is that a true bonafide John Chavis type DC doesn't want to come here under the circumstances we are currently under with Mullen only having a 1 year contract himself and looking to leave every year. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

We should be able to get good coordinators here since we are one of only 14 SEC DC jobs in the country. We need to pony up a million dollars to get someone good which we certainly could do. I don't want Chavis - he's quickly approaching has been status and they have completely melted down this year on that side of the ball. His defensive play calling against Ole Miss was nonsensical and going soft like he did allowed Ole Miss to get back in and come back on them in the second half. Especially given the fact that they are playing with their own back up QB who can not run any of their option/QB run plays.

Now, I do agree with you in general and I'm all for going after someone like a Tom Allen, a Jim Leavitt, and etc. Just not Chavis in particular.

[Todd4State]

But what if Sirmon's D plays well this weekend and we win? He and his side of the ball are where all the recruiters are on this staff.

I'd have to give him a lot of credit for that because that would be a huge and unlikely turnaround in a week. I hope that we would also go to a bowl to see how the defense responds to him to see if it is smoke and mirrors. Just because we get a new DC doesn't mean that we would have to clean house entirely on that side of the ball. I'm all for T-Buck staying. Linquist hasn't really impressed me as a coach, and Baker seems to be OK at worst if not good. It's really hard to overlook the total body of work and that has to be considered as well.

[DudyDawg]

But what if Sirmon's D plays well this weekend and we win? He and his side of the ball are where all the recruiters are on this staff.

But are they here because of him? I don't think so. I thought he should've been canned in august. Regardless of one egg win, 11 games of shit is still shit

[Schultzy]

I'd have to give him a lot of credit for that because that would be a huge and unlikely turnaround in a week. I hope that we would also go to a bowl to see how the defense responds to him to see if it is smoke and mirrors. Just because we get a new DC doesn't mean that we would have to clean house entirely on that side of the ball. I'm all for T-Buck staying. Linquist hasn't really impressed me as a coach, and Baker seems to be OK at worst if not good. It's really hard to overlook the total body of work and that has to be considered as well.
Yeah but his D should've been good enough for wins against BYU and USA when our offense failed. Can, if Mullen doesn't take a pay cut for another job, we afford a 7th DC change in his tenure?

[dawgday166]

But are they here because of him? I don't think so. I thought he should've been canned in august. Regardless of one egg win, 11 games of shit is still shit

What made you want to can him in August?

[dawgday166]

Yeah but his D should've been good enough for wins against BYU and USA when our offense failed. Can, if Mullen doesn't take a pay cut for another job, we afford a 7th DC change in his tenure?

Shhh ... we ain't supposed to talk about it when the offense fails.

But I will say this D is just not even trying now at all. And I wonder why. Is it Sirmon, or something else?

Dan's got big headaches. If he micromanages DCs as we all believe, then he won't get a proven one I don't believe. And if you think he does micromanage DCs now, then after this year wait till next year. He'll probably be all over whoever the DC is. I think he's between a rock and a hard place right now on this. His reputation relative to this is probably not helping him much.

[Todd4State]

Yeah but his D should've been good enough for wins against BYU and USA when our offense failed. Can, if Mullen doesn't take a pay cut for another job, we afford a 7th DC change in his tenure?

Absolutely we can afford it. After doing some research a million would be way overpaying. Manny made 575K not including bonuses in 2015 and if we can bump that up to 750-800K that would be in the top 25 based on 2015 figures. And honestly, I would be all for overpaying a million dollars to the right guy like a Tom Allen which would put the DC in the top 15 easily as far as assistant coach pay.

I don't think changing a DC again is ideal- which is why I gave Sirmon the long leash personally and haven't complained about him at all until this week. But I also don't think we can afford a massive failure at DC for another year either.

[Todd4State]

Shhh ... we ain't supposed to talk about it when the offense fails.

But I will say this D is just not even trying now at all. And I wonder why. Is it Sirmon, or something else?

Dan's got big headaches. If he micromanages DCs as we all believe, then he won't get a proven one I don't believe. And if you think he does micromanage DCs now, then after this year wait till next year. He'll probably be all over whoever the DC is. I think he's between a rock and a hard place right now on this. His reputation relative to this is probably not helping him much.

That's my fear. That's also why we need a strong personality like a Leavitt or a Tim DeRuyter who can tell Dan to go take a hike. We need a Jackie/Joe Lee situation.

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

We should be able to get good coordinators here since we are one of only 14 SEC DC jobs in the country. We need to pony up a million dollars to get someone good which we certainly could do. I don't want Chavis - he's quickly approaching has been status and they have completely melted down this year on that side of the ball. His defensive play calling against Ole Miss was nonsensical and going soft like he did allowed Ole Miss to get back in and come back on them in the second half. Especially given the fact that they are playing with their own back up QB who can not run any of their option/QB run plays.

Now, I do agree with you in general and I'm all for going after someone like a Tom Allen, a Jim Leavitt, and etc. Just not Chavis in particular.

I didn't mean Chavis per se; I was just using a noted, established DC who didn't need his hand held by Mullen. Tom Allen would be a double win as that would drive OM folks over the edge if we pulled him in.

[BrunswickDawg]

I'm going to play devil's advocate a bit. The D has been very Jekyll and Hyde from half to half. I think there are some reasons for that - primarily injuries and personnel in the secondary. Fact is we miss Tolando - and that says a lot about our personnel. It's also why you see us heavy on JUCO Secondary recruiting right now. Our LB personnel - Richie in particular - have not adapted well to the new scheme but show some signs of acclimating at times. Over the long haul, I think the scheme switch is a good idea for the way the game is going on O and some of the rule changes. Defense is a thing of the past, and you are seeing it everywhere except Bama and maybe LSU. I hate it, but you also aren't going to see enforcer bad asses like Nickoe anymore either. The rules have simply eliminated that from the game.

I think this season really boils down to two badly timed decisions. First was not naming Fitz as the starter coming out of spring. That cost us the USA & LSU games. The second was switching to the 3-4 this year. I think we needed a year of recruiting personnel to fit the system before making the switch - especially with the coaching turnover we have had on D. The D has played all season like they are thinking too much - or begin a play thinking old assignments then go "oh shit, I'm supposed to cover X now." That cost us in almost every game this season. I think we need to try to keep some consistency and see if the 3-4 is going to work with a year of learning.

[civildawg]

But what if Sirmon's D plays well this weekend and we win? He and his side of the ball are where all the recruiters are on this staff.

Who gives a shit? 1 game doesnt make up for the historic bad defense we have had all season. We are scared to fire him because he might can recruit? Well doesnt matter how many five stars you field if you have no idea what plays to call and how to gameplan. Arkansas didnt punt last week. When is the last time that has happened to any team?

[CadaverDawg]

starting a thread because I wanted to be rational and not let emotions rule.... here goes

Sirmon has to be shit canned Sunday if Mullen is planning on staying.

Rule number one for me, and it is usually true... hire people familiar with your area in most of your coaching positions....... on D, T-Buck only one that fits the bill. And hire people that have proven they can do the job. Let the Sirmon's of the world learn what it takes somewhere else.

Fitz is special, talent wise. If he stays healthy, and Mullen stays, he will hold most, if not all, QB records. He is the only true winner, (Williams, Mixon and Dear have a chance to be), we have on O. Ross and Gray are talented but drop the ball too often when it counts too much.

Poor Graves has the yips. It's not only stupid, but cruel to him to keep sending him out there. Just go for it this week whenever in FG range if you have no faith in whoever is the #2 kicker.

Not sure if you watched Mullen's PC on YouTube this week, but he looked pissed and disgusted. Not sure if because of the crappy season or if pissed and disgusted to still be our coach and is just ready to move on.

I hope at his defensive staff. Either way, I bet a million dollars he has been zero fun to be around this week.

He down played the game, which is concerning, and looked like he would rather have his pecker in a meat grinder than be at that PC.

Hugh Freeze will spend all week trying to figure out a way for AJ Brown to catch, run, throw and hell, maybe even kick for a score, because he is that type of guy and knows his Yancy loving *** fans will eat it up.

Back to Fitz, if Mullen leaves, if the next coach isn't a Mullen philosophy type guy, Fitz's talent will be wasted.

I have attended most of Mullen's spring coaching clinics. He always talks about his plan to win. What HAS to happen to be successful.

#1, and he stresses it, is #1 above and beyond all others, is play great defense. If the D coaches want a player recruiting or already on offense, they get him because that's how important D is.... I agree.

The next most important part of the team is special teams. So much so that's why he coached the ST's his 1st couple of years, to impress on the players how important it is. The ST players even get to be 1st in line at team meals and events, again to show how important they are. He always says, if you can't make the special teams, you can't make the team.

So any of you media guys reading this that wanna ask him a question that nobody has asked, and be a real reporter, ask what happened to the Plan to Win?

It's a good plan, ask why he isn't following it.

And, I hate Ole Miss. So do something to win, please.

Excellent excellent post, Spider.

[shoeless joe]

We need to have a DC lined up before we drop the ax. If not there's a chance we end up in the exact same situation next yr.

[civildawg]

I think literally anyone will be better than Sirmon. You can go get any lower level program DC at the end of the year. You dont have to have anyone lined up.

[RougeDawg]

Until Dan allows a DC to actually "coach" the defense, we will continue to see this shit. It's the same story every year, just a different chapter. It's as plain as day to see. Either Dan has to stop trying to coach defense or leave, or our defensive struggles will continue. We could have Monte Kiffin in his prime and still suck on defense because dan would be telling him what to run and when to run the bend don't break defense. There's a reason our defense looked different against A&M.

And to Mullen, if he had a plan to win, why would he be taking secret interview trips in the offseason when he's "on a recruiting trip"? I won't go down that road but Daniel has a 3-4 yr track record of actions that indicate he's baabdoned his own plan and the players appear to have adopted this mindset. One in particular wears #1.

[BB30]

Until Dan allows a DC to actually "coach" the defense, we will continue to see this shit. It's the same story every year, just a different chapter. It's as plain as day to see. Either Dan has to stop trying to coach defense or leave, or our defensive struggles will continue. We could have Monte Kiffin in his prime and still suck on defense because dan would be telling him what to run and when to run the bend don't break defense. There's a reason our defense looked different against A&M.

And to Mullen, if he had a plan to win, why would he be taking secret interview trips in the offseason when he's "on a recruiting trip"? I won't go down that road but Daniel has a 3-4 yr track record of actions that indicate he's baabdoned his own plan and the players appear to have adopted this mindset. One in particular wears #1.

Our defense has not been this terrible since Dan has been here even with his micromanaging. We have got to go spend some money if we decide to get rid of Sirmon. My guess is Sirmon will be here next year though. At some point we have to have some consistency on that side of the ball. He has been atrocious this year but I bet he gets another year unfortunately. At some point we will have to fork out some money if we want to get a good to great DC and keep him for more than a year or two. Bad thing is we will have to over pay the position or the guy will just get poached and leave for the same pay at a larger school.

[Tbonewannabe]

starting a thread because I wanted to be rational and not let emotions rule.... here goes

Sirmon has to be shit canned Sunday if Mullen is planning on staying.

Rule number one for me, and it is usually true... hire people familiar with your area in most of your coaching positions....... on D, T-Buck only one that fits the bill. And hire people that have proven they can do the job. Let the Sirmon's of the world learn what it takes somewhere else.

Fitz is special, talent wise. If he stays healthy, and Mullen stays, he will hold most, if not all, QB records. He is the only true winner, (Williams, Mixon and Dear have a chance to be), we have on O. Ross and Gray are talented but drop the ball too often when it counts too much.

Poor Graves has the yips. It's not only stupid, but cruel to him to keep sending him out there. Just go for it this week whenever in FG range if you have no faith in whoever is the #2 kicker.

Not sure if you watched Mullen's PC on YouTube this week, but he looked pissed and disgusted. Not sure if because of the crappy season or if pissed and disgusted to still be our coach and is just ready to move on.

I hope at his defensive staff. Either way, I bet a million dollars he has been zero fun to be around this week.

He down played the game, which is concerning, and looked like he would rather have his pecker in a meat grinder than be at that PC.

Hugh Freeze will spend all week trying to figure out a way for AJ Brown to catch, run, throw and hell, maybe even kick for a score, because he is that type of guy and knows his Yancy loving *** fans will eat it up.

Back to Fitz, if Mullen leaves, if the next coach isn't a Mullen philosophy type guy, Fitz's talent will be wasted.

I have attended most of Mullen's spring coaching clinics. He always talks about his plan to win. What HAS to happen to be successful.

#1, and he stresses it, is #1 above and beyond all others, is play great defense. If the D coaches want a player recruiting or already on offense, they get him because that's how important D is.... I agree.

The next most important part of the team is special teams. So much so that's why he coached the ST's his 1st couple of years, to impress on the players how important it is. The ST players even get to be 1st in line at team meals and events, again to show how important they are. He always says, if you can't make the special teams, you can't make the team.

So any of you media guys reading this that wanna ask him a question that nobody has asked, and be a real reporter, ask what happened to the Plan to Win?

It's a good plan, ask why he isn't following it.

And, I hate Ole Miss. So do something to win, please.

Blair Walsh was just let go from the Vikings because he missed a kick last year that would have sent them to the playoffs and now he is horrible. Kicking is more mental than anything and when it gets in your head you are just screwed. I don't know if Graves is really hurt but that USA missed FG for the win has sent him into a downward spiral to the point he is missing by 20 - 30 yards on FGs now. Hopefully he gets right in the head but we don't have the ability to keep trotting him out there when he is barely making extra points.

[Tbonewannabe]

That is a really good plan to win. But sure doesn't look like we're following it. If Mullen could go out and get a John Chavis type guy to turn the defense completely over to, he could spend 90% of his time strictly on offense, which would improve it even more. But when you have a guy like we do now, there's no way Mullen can focus as much time as he needs to on offense. Think about this week....as important as it is....playing your rival, who is beat up and on the ropes. A real chance to beat their ass at their place and start the downward spiral that is getting ready to take place over the next several years. Instead of Mullen focusing on offense this week, he's having to spend time on that shit storm of a defense that got run slap over by Arkansas. And by doing that, it is hampering our efforts to accomplishing our goals for this weekend.

I know it will look bad having our 8th or whatever the hell it is DC in a row, but if we can get a bonafide DC in here, we need to do it. What I'm afraid of, and why we had to hire Sirmon in the first place is that a true bonafide John Chavis type DC doesn't want to come here under the circumstances we are currently under with Mullen only having a 1 year contract himself and looking to leave every year. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

That level DC isn't going to come to run Mullen's bend don't break defense unless their philosophy actually matches. Mullen has had a pretty good eye for talent picking up Manny and Collins but those type of guys are going to leave to somewhere that they can have a higher level of control of the defense.

[Johnson85]

The D has played all season like they are thinking too much - or begin a play thinking old assignments then go "oh shit, I'm supposed to cover X now." That cost us in almost every game this season. I think we need to try to keep some consistency and see if the 3-4 is going to work with a year of learning.

I was receptive to this argument until we started getting worse. We can't even get lined up right a decent percentage of the time. The 3-4 is such a bad fit for us and makes it so hard for recruiting, sticking to another year of 3-4 is just delaying the inevitable. I hate to fire a DC after one year. He has some legitimate excuses in that there are talent issues and the transition to a 3-4 is usually painful. It might make it that much harder to find a qualified replaceent because they might be worried about not getting a fair shake transitioning back to a 4-3. Changing DC's now ensures that we went through the pain of a 3-4 for nothing. It also continues the we go yet another year with no continuity at DC.

But shit we have been awful on defense and not getting better. He just hasn't shown anything to give us any hope that things will get better next year. And we need to be building towards 2018, when we could have another good team. Next year will be solid with a decent defense. If we bring back a shitastic defense next year and then spend 2018 transitioning on D, we will have wasted an upcycle. And all the sudden it will have been a long time since recruits have seen us be good. We just can't afford to do that right nwo after the year we've had this year.

[Todd4State]

People talk about the rule changes in football and all of that- we're still really bad relative to everyone else this year that has to abide by the same rule changes.

[CadaverDawg]

People that bring up Mullen "meddling In the defense" make me laugh. That theory has taken on a life of its own within our fan base. Especially the ones that say, "WE'll never have a good D until Mullen butts out of the defense!"....yet by saying that, you're giving Mullen all of the defensive credit for Geoff and Manny's defensive success if that were true.

It'd be better to just admit you dislike Mullen and want him gone, so anything good you're going to give credit to a coordinator and anything bad you're going to blame directly on Mullen.

[Really Clark?]

That level DC isn't going to come to run Mullen's bend don't break defense unless their philosophy actually matches. Mullen has had a pretty good eye for talent picking up Manny and Collins but those type of guys are going to leave to somewhere that they can have a higher level of control of the defense.

I know this has been discussed before, but nearly every DC in the country runs a bend don't break defense. Probably 80% of all defenses have that philosophy at its roots. The bend don't break is NOT a defensive scheme or plays, it is a philosophy.

[Mjoelner34]

People that bring up Mullen "meddling In the defense" make me laugh. That theory has taken on a life of its own within our fan base. Especially the ones that say, "WE'll never have a good D until Mullen butts out of the defense!"....yet by saying that, you're giving Mullen all of the defensive credit for Geoff and Manny's defensive success if that were true. Ha

It'd be better to just say you dislike Mullen and want him gone, so anything good you're going to give credit to a coordinator and anything bad you're going to blame directly on Mullen.

Starkvegas mentioned this a while back but last spring, a mutual friend of ours was told by a current defensive starter that Mullen doesn't have a thing to do with the defense. He doesn't even know half their names. He only wants the defense to get the ball back for his offense. Now I seriously doubt its as bad as him not knowing half of their names but I'm just repeating what was told to my friend.

[Cooterpoot]

Pay a ******* good DC whatever it takes to get him. Let him bring his own people and leave him the hell alone. Sirmon has had all season to fix this shitastic defense and it's worse now than it was to start the season. I would've fired him last weekend. After Umiss rapes us this week, I'd tell him to find a ride to Nashville from there.

[CadaverDawg]

Starkvegas mentioned this a while back but last spring, a mutual friend of ours was told by a current defensive starter that Mullen doesn't have a thing to do with the defense. He doesn't even know half their names. He only wants the defense to get the ball back for his offense. Now I seriously doubt its as bad as him not knowing half of their names but I'm just repeating what was told to my friend.

Good post. I would not be surprised if Mullen had very little if anything to do with D. Yea, I'm sure he knows their names, but the rest wouldn't surprise me. It's convenient for those that want Mullen gone to use the Meddlin' Merlin theory though. Which may or may not be true, it's just funny to see people act so sure that he meddles, haha. Makes me laugh.

[Spiderman]

People that bring up Mullen "meddling In the defense" make me laugh. That theory has taken on a life of its own within our fan base. Especially the ones that say, "WE'll never have a good D until Mullen butts out of the defense!"....yet by saying that, you're giving Mullen all of the defensive credit for Geoff and Manny's defensive success if that were true.

It'd be better to just admit you dislike Mullen and want him gone, so anything good you're going to give credit to a coordinator and anything bad you're going to blame directly on Mullen.

I hear the Mullen meddling with the D too much narrative is mainly myth.

Mullen truly believed Sirmon was an up and comer. He missed, it happens..... move on

[Tbonewannabe]

Good post. I would not be surprised if Mullen had very little if anything to do with D. Yea, I'm sure he knows their names, but the rest wouldn't surprise me. It's convenient for those that want Mullen gone to use the Meddlin' Merlin theory though. Which may or may not be true, it's just funny to see people act so sure that he meddles, haha. Makes me laugh.

Most people think that because the defense has looked the same with every DC. Manny Diaz and Geoff Collins defense doesn't look the same at their new teams. It could be that they are adapting to what those head coaches want or more likely they are running their Aggressive type defense that Mullen always says he wants but then we are back to passive rushing 3 or 4 DL.

I have no inside information but it is hard to tell 1 year from the next that our defense is any different even though we change DC every year. This year is probably the first because we now run the passive defense with 3 DL instead of 4 but we still never cover the TE.

[CadaverDawg]

I hear the Mullen meddling with the D too much narrative is mainly myth.

Mullen truly believed Sirmon was an up and comer. He missed, it happens..... move on

I agree. I'm worried that we will retain Sirmon another year, and that would be a very very bad decision. Admit it wasn't a good fit, and move on. Don't let it infect our defense and ruin our entire Fitz tenure on O. That's my opinion.

[basedog]

I hate "flag football" now days.

Scoring is up and seems to be on the rise.

Changes need to be made for the secondary especially, I would love to see the bump and run defense in college football.

Also I wish something would be done to the hurry up offenses such as a slight delay before getting the ball snapped except the 2 minute mark for each half.

[msudawglb]

I agree. Do three things after Saturday... (1) Get a new DC (2) Find a kicker (3) Recruit your ass off.

[Commercecomet24]

Starkvegas mentioned this a while back but last spring, a mutual friend of ours was told by a current defensive starter that Mullen doesn't have a thing to do with the defense. He doesn't even know half their names. He only wants the defense to get the ball back for his offense. Now I seriously doubt its as bad as him not knowing half of their names but I'm just repeating what was told to my friend.

I've heard this exact same thing from several former defensive players. I've showed them a couple of the posts about Dan meddling in the defense and they laughed. fwiw

[CadaverDawg]

Most people think that because the defense has looked the same with every DC. Manny Diaz and Geoff Collins defense doesn't look the same at their new teams. It could be that they are adapting to what those head coaches want or more likely they are running their Aggressive type defense that Mullen always says he wants but then we are back to passive rushing 3 or 4 DL.

I have no inside information but it is hard to tell 1 year from the next that our defense is any different even though we change DC every year. This year is probably the first because we now run the passive defense with 3 DL instead of 4 but we still never cover the TE.

Our defense's have been middle of the SEC pack or higher most years under Dan, so I'm still not seeing why that's a problem. This is the best defensive conference in football too. My complaint is us not being able to keep any of the previous coaches. Mullen may very well look for a guy that coaches a certain way, but that doesn't mean he meddles. Plus, this year and the Torbush year somewhat squash that theory imo.

I would take Geoff Collins or Manny Diaz quality Defense's every single year going forward if we're going to keep getting the QB and offensive play we're getting under Mullen. Hell, it led to multiple 8+ win seasons so far, and anybody expecting more out of a 7 year stretch at MSU than what Mullen has given us, might as well find a new team to root for...bc no amount of hiring and firing will put us in a better position to compete for SEC West titles than Mullen has the last few years. But I'm sure I'll get accused of being "poor ole MSU" by some for stating that opinion.

[thf24]

I could buy "Mullen meddles in the defense" over the past 4-5 years on circumstance, but not this one. Most of the things that are supposedly "Mullen's philosophy" have not held true this year, even as those of you so married to this theory continue to claim you're seeing them. We've just been so bad that it's not immediately apparent.

[Really Clark?]

I could buy "Mullen meddles in the defense" over the past 4-5 years on circumstance, but not this one. Most of the things that are supposedly "Mullen's philosophy" have not held true this year, even as those of you so married to this theory continue to claim you're seeing them. We've just been so bad that it's not immediately apparent.

Good point. One thing that has been brought out repeatedly this year, with good reason, is the number of times the players don't where to line up, confused, missed assignments, thinking about what to do instead of executing, etc. If we are running the the exact same defense under Mullen and he is controlling the defense play calls, then how have any of our defensive players stayed academically eligible because they must have the IQ of a rock. It should be second nature to them by now. Rouge brought up the A & M as looking different. It did but that was because we executed better, tackled and had good DL play that game. We blitz a good bit that game but we did against Arkansas as well. But the execution, especially run defense the first half, was poor.

[DudyDawg]

What made you want to can him in August?

Ha I never wanted him here. Hes beyond unqualified. Thought so in august and think so now. I guess canning him was more an expression. He should have never been hired to learn to run a defense in the toughest division in football

[DudyDawg]

Wasn't there a rumor that his family didn't move here? Barring any really unique circumstance, I think that shows his level of commitment and sheds a bit of light on the players lack of effort as well. If he isn't all in, why should they be.

[Tbonewannabe]

Wasn't there a rumor that his family didn't move here? Barring any really unique circumstance, I think that shows his level of commitment and sheds a bit of light on the players lack of effort as well. If he isn't all in, why should they be.

I believe his family moved to Birmingham because his son is a LB prospect and they wanted him on that really good high school team over there. Also could be his wife didn't want to live in a small town in MS.

[Bass Chaser]

I believe his wife and kids are in Nashville. Something about one of the daughters being big into gymnastics and we didn't offer it here. I believe his son plays at Brentwood Academy.

[RocketDawg]

Wasn't there a rumor that his family didn't move here? Barring any really unique circumstance, I think that shows his level of commitment and sheds a bit of light on the players lack of effort as well. If he isn't all in, why should they be.

Well ... Trump's wife and son are not going to move into the White House ... at least not for a while. :) That doesn't mean that he's not dedicated to his new job (but he may or may not be worth a crap).

[Bothrops]

If we win Saturday, God willing, Sirmon ain't going anywhere.

[dawgday166]

So I'm scratching my head here Spidey ... if special teams are #2 on Dan's list, why do our kicking and return games always suck?

[Spiderman]

So I'm scratching my head here Spidey ... if special teams are #2 on Dan's list, why do our kicking and return games always suck?

That's what I'm saying. Some real reporter should ask

[dawgday166]

That's what I'm saying. Some real reporter should ask

And the reporter's name should be Cohen. Maybe he can ask Dan about his plan to win ... and grade him accordingly.

BTW, I think Dan has a good plan. I just would like to see it on the field.

[blacklistedbully]

I'm going to play devil's advocate a bit. The D has been very Jekyll and Hyde from half to half. I think there are some reasons for that - primarily injuries and personnel in the secondary. Fact is we miss Tolando - and that says a lot about our personnel. It's also why you see us heavy on JUCO Secondary recruiting right now. Our LB personnel - Richie in particular - have not adapted well to the new scheme but show some signs of acclimating at times. Over the long haul, I think the scheme switch is a good idea for the way the game is going on O and some of the rule changes. Defense is a thing of the past, and you are seeing it everywhere except Bama and maybe LSU. I hate it, but you also aren't going to see enforcer bad asses like Nickoe anymore either. The rules have simply eliminated that from the game.

I think this season really boils down to two badly timed decisions. First was not naming Fitz as the starter coming out of spring. That cost us the USA & LSU games. The second was switching to the 3-4 this year. I think we needed a year of recruiting personnel to fit the system before making the switch - especially with the coaching turnover we have had on D. The D has played all season like they are thinking too much - or begin a play thinking old assignments then go "oh shit, I'm supposed to cover X now." That cost us in almost every game this season. I think we need to try to keep some consistency and see if the 3-4 is going to work with a year of learning.

Solid post.