Where do all of you who wanted Mark Hudspeth stand today?

[Jack Lambert]

I remember the boards having many arguments over the subject.

[louisvilledawg]

I still like him. He's from a great city and a proven winner at every stop. I would be cool with having two guys from Louisville on the coaching staff, although i'm not sure that's what you're asking

[Reason2succeed]

After what Mullen has built here I believe Hud could come and do well. It really depends on what type of staff he can put around himself.

[32 Dive]

Never wanted him (for the Head Coaching Job), and probably never will. However, I wish we could have kept him on staff a while longer, for crootin'.

[TrapGame]

I think Mullen has moved this program beyond a Hud type hire over the last three years.

[KB21]

I was a supporter of Hud, but he's tainted now with the David Saunders thing.

[Thick]

I think Mullen has moved this program beyond a Hud type hire over the last three years.

I agree.

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

I think Mullen has moved this program beyond a Hud type hire over the last three years.

Definitely. I think we're even past the point of having to find the next Dan Mullen. We should be able to get a Tom Herman type, meaning someone with head coaching experience at a lower level school who has been successful where he's been.

[Johnson85]

I remember the boards having many arguments over the subject.

I don't know that I wanted Hudspeth because I don't think I really knew who he was at the time Mullen was hired other than knowing that he was a successful coach at whatever small school in Bama (that I think was DII?).

Looking at what Hudspeth did at ULL, I think he would have been a better than average hire. Hard to believe he would have been better than Dan, but I could believe that he would have actually been a little better at first just because he probably would have recruited well enough that we wouldn't have the major weaknesses where we just had one or two positions where we were playing people that at best belonged at Group of 5 schools.

He probably would not have lasted nine years though and presumably we would have ended up in more serious NCAA trouble than we ended up with for the Mirando thing.

As far as whether he would be an option in the future, not if he has any taint from the David Saunders (sanders? sp?) deal. If he doesn't have any taint in the NCAA's eyes, he'd probably still be an ok hire. He's been solid at a place that was a wasteland before he got there. We should have better options if it came down to it, but depending on how the market for coaches was, I could see us doing worse.

[Johnson85]

Definitely. I think we're even past the point of having to find the next Dan Mullen. We should be able to get a Tom Herman type, meaning someone with head coaching experience at a lower level school who has been successful where he's been.

To be fair, he's been successful. He's been to a bowl 5 out of 6 years at ULL. That's pretty good compared to what they have done in the past. And it shows some staying power. It's certainly not good enough to make him a hot coaching prospect, but the guys that have a couple of good years at a Group of 5 school may be superstars, but often are just solid coaches that happened to have caught lightening in a bottle at the beginning of their tenure.

[Jack Lambert]

I still like him. He's from a great city and a proven winner at every stop. I would be cool with having two guys from Louisville on the coaching staff, although i'm not sure that's what you're asking

That will work.

[Really Clark?]

Since Saunders violations were found and he was fired, Hudspeth has gone 11-16. Makes you wonder how legitimate his earlier run at ULL was. At this point you have to disregard his earlier success and look at his track record since the allegations and that says he needs 2-3 years of a significant turn around.

[DownwardDawg]

I'm not interested anymore, and I was a big Hud fan a few years back. The Saunders stuff, his recent record, and the way Dan has built this program have all swayed my opinion.

[PMDawg]

I like where Dan has us now. Still aggravated with some of the same stuff though. Kicking game is bad, OL recruiting is bad, just last year we had Holloway and Shumpert over Aeries for the 1st half of the season. He screwed away the South Alabama game....and laughed. As long as he keeps recruiting hard and continues to not so openly chase jobs every offseason, I'm glad he's here. He's a good overall coach for us. 7 or 8 out of 10.

[was21]

I never was interested. If he's so good, why haven't other programs been interested. He rep is probably somewhat tainted and hopefully that ship has sailed as far as State is concerned. If Mullen were to leave don't believe he would be anywhere the top of prospective candidates...just my opinion and everybody has one

[Political Hack]

Unfortunately I think Hud will need another step before arriving at state. ULaLa isn't NG enough to make that jump anymore and that's due to CDM. That's said, I think he's a great coach and motivator and gets a lot out of his kids (sometimes more quickly than we do).

[preachermatt83]

Definitely. I think we're even past the point of having to find the next Dan Mullen. We should be able to get a Tom Herman type, meaning someone with head coaching experience at a lower level school who has been successful where he's been.

Or even someone who has been successful at smaller school and taken the leap to a middle of the road team. Like a PJ Fleck.

[Eric Nies Grind Time]

That was many moons ago. We are too big time for Mark now.

[TrapGame]

Look at what Mullen has done for us in just the last 3 years. Now think about what will happen over the next 3 years with om in shambles (we're seeing a glimpse now with recruiting). Mullen will create some awfully big shoes to fill.

[Bothrops]

I want Hud to do well, but our job would have been over his head. Hud could use a clean start some place else though.

[Commercecomet24]

I think Mullen has moved this program beyond a Hud type hire over the last three years.

Agreed. We are in position to draw bigger fish if Dan decides to leave one day.