Did UF overpay for Lateral Move?

[Gutter Cobreh]

I'd have to say yeah...and so does this article below from our Bama brethren. It shows (at our expense) how average he was during his tenure here.

https://www.rollbamaroll.com/2018/5/10/17339016/question-of-the-day-did-florida-settle-on-a-substandard-hire-in-dan-mullen

Fully disclosure - he did lay a solid foundation and leave the cupboard somewhat stocked. I am still a bit salty with how he left, but "extremely wooly" that we have Moorhead who I think is more relatable to both the fanbase and players (on top of being extremely intelligent).

[Leroy Jenkins]

Nevermind... I thought I had an opinion, but I dont.

[TUSK]

I'd have to say yeah...and so does this article below from our Bama brethren. It shows (at our expense) how average he was during his tenure here.

https://www.rollbamaroll.com/2018/5/10/17339016/question-of-the-day-did-florida-settle-on-a-substandard-hire-in-dan-mullen

Fully disclosure - he did lay a solid foundation and leave the cupboard somewhat stocked. I am still a bit salty with how he left, but "extremely wooly" that we have Moorhead who I think is more relatable to both the fanbase and players (on top of being extremely intelligent).

Absolutely they overpaid... But UF was desperate amid a coaching drought... They still coulda gottem for less than $6M, IMO...

[Leroy Jenkins]

Absolutely they overpaid... But UF was desperate amid a coaching drought... They still coulda gottem for less than $6M, IMO...

Loafers panicked after Chip Kelley dropped them for UCLA.

[dogshiek]

Loafers panicked after Chip Kelley dropped them for UCLA.

Loafers did what he was told to do.

[maroonmania]

That article just laid out what MSU fans have known for years. That is, Mullen's teams very rarely upset teams they are underdogs to and very rarely are upset by teams they are favorites against. Given what we had experienced before Mullen showed up with the last 3 years of Sherrill and the Croom years we were more than happy with that result because it was good enough to get us to a minor bowl. I mean in 9 years we only had a winning SEC record with Mullen once. And in the few years we had something special going like 2014 and last year we ended poorly so it took some of the shine away. Dak's senior year and last year were really wasted by Mullen whoring himself out to other schools rather than preparing for the Egg Bowl. Anyway, we were satisfied with pretty good because prior to Mullen we experienced possibly our worst 10 year stretch ever. I don't think Florida will be satisfied with anything less than double digit football victories EVERY year. The only thing that might give Mullen a fighting chance to do something close to that is playing in a weak SEC East (at least for now). Just not sure his staff will recruit at a high enough level to sustain it though if the East improves.

[Goldendawg]

Like I have said before, he built a program from the Sylvester "Doom" debacle that could beat the teams we were supposed to beat, (more than you could say about some of our coaches in the 55 years I have been going to our games). Seldom ever beat the "big boys" and never bama. He also never had a strong finish in any season as the job search was always on after his annual bama loss. Let us down several games against UNM. I'm a 63 year old hardcore Dawg and Jackie is still the only MSU coach to get us to a SEC Championship game in my lifetime. Dan never got close. Win 4 OOC games, KY, another weak East team, Arky, and UNM every once in a while and there it is: a seven to eight game winning season. He had reached his ceiling with MSU. I predict a better product with a higher ceiling with Jo. The bama article is right on target. 7 to 8 victories with none over FSU, bama, Ga, etc. won't keep him and his country club in Fl more than 3 years. Hail State!

[MetEdDawg]

I'm stunned at how many folks think Mullen is going to turn that program into a consistent contender. Mullen proved something at MSU. We were capable of being way better than we were by making some big changes. Stadium expansion, raising expectations, recruiting a little better, develops talent better.

Florida already has all of that. They need a coach that can win big games. In 9 years I would be able to count 5-6 big games we won. And our record against ranked opponents was abysmal. They severely overpaid and I think Mullen has 8-5 to 10-2 written all over him. And in 7 years when they've been to one conference championship and never come close to sniffing a national championship, they are going to be really pissed.

[Rick Danko]

Im confused, what year was the third victory over LSU?

[TrapGame]

They paid big money for a coach that sucks his balls up his ass in big games.

[Gutter Cobreh]

Im confused, what year was the third victory over LSU?

'14 and '17 were the only years I remember beating LSU

Hard to fault Bama fans for making that mistakes. Math isn't their strong suit, as they can't count their Nattys correctly either...***

[Gutter Cobreh]

I'm stunned at how many folks think Mullen is going to turn that program into a consistent contender. Mullen proved something at MSU. We were capable of being way better than we were by making some big changes. Stadium expansion, raising expectations, recruiting a little better, develops talent better.

Florida already has all of that. They need a coach that can win big games. In 9 years I would be able to count 5-6 big games we won. And our record against ranked opponents was abysmal. They severely overpaid and I think Mullen has 8-5 to 10-2 written all over him. And in 7 years when they've been to one conference championship and never come close to sniffing a national championship, they are going to be really pissed.

I think UF lags in the facilities category (which includes The Swamp), but they seem to be addressing those. From some of you on here "in the know" - I'm honestly wondering if they think Lateral can recruit at a level to turn the program around? I don't think he wins enough to satisfy the fanbase though, so it may be a mute point.

I see no reason why Moorhead won't be successful, as Mullen has proven that just winning the games you're supposed will get you "success". I'm stumped at why all of what you mentioned regarding the elevation of the ancillary factors that go into a program aren't factored in when discussing the rise of our program.

I credit The Ninja for where we are today within our football program over what Mullen accomplished. I also give Stricklin credit for his marketing ability.

[Pit Bull]

Article said he never took MSU to a New Years 6 game. I thought our Orange Bowl loss to GaTech was New Years Day 6 game?

[FriarsPoint]

I think UF lags in the facilities category (which includes The Swamp), but they seem to be addressing those. From some of you on here "in the know" - I'm honestly wondering if they think Lateral can recruit at a level to turn the program around? I don't think he wins enough to satisfy the fanbase though, so it may be a mute point.


Recruiting and winning are the chicken and egg question with a definite answer. In this case, we know he can?t recruit at a level consistently enough to compete with the top ten programs in the country, whom ever they may be at the time. So, you?re correct, he won?t win enough and it will be because of his recruiting. Go take a look at his current class versus FSU.

[TUSK]

'14 and '17 were the only years I remember beating LSU

Hard to fault Bama fans for making that mistakes. Math isn't their strong suit, as they can't count their Nattys correctly either...***

8 hundred and eleventy four dozen.... pair...

[Gutter Cobreh]

Article said he never took MSU to a New Years 6 game. I thought our Orange Bowl loss to GaTech was New Years Day 6 game?

Says he never won one, so they're not acknowledging reaching the Orange Bowl to help their case.


8 hundred and eleventy four dozen.... pair...

Need to spread some rep. around, but that's funny!

[ckDOG]

Mullen is a smart dude with an eye for overlooked talent that helped a historically dismal program become competitive in a tough league. Credit where credit due.

What will hold him back from being elite in college is being an awkward personality that doesn?t translate to quality recruiting and an arrogance that thinks his intelligence will help compensate for that.

I think he?s made an excuse for himself to date being in the same division as Saban. He?s fleeing that in hopes of winning an easier division. Unfortunately for him, Smart is progress of building Bama 2.0 in that division so he will be run out of town in 3-4 years after UGA owns that side of the league. Mullen could be twice the coach that Smart is in the Xs and Os department but he?s not going to compete with him unless he?s putting together consistent top 10 classes. Time will fell but I don?t see it happening. His max should be second place in east and that won?t keep him around long there.

My guess is he?s fired after the 2020 season and he gives the NFL a shot afterwards. I think he could succeed there as an OC (no clue how possible) where he can focus on drawing up plays, gsmeplans, and working with QBs. Then hopefully he writes that book where he finally tells the Cam Newton story...

[Todd4State]

Mullen is a smart dude with an eye for overlooked talent that helped a historically dismal program become competitive in a tough league. Credit where credit due.

What will hold him back from being elite in college is being an awkward personality that doesn?t translate to quality recruiting and an arrogance that thinks his intelligence will help compensate for that.

I think he?s made an excuse for himself to date being in the same division as Saban. He?s fleeing that in hopes of winning an easier division. Unfortunately for him, Smart is progress of building Bama 2.0 in that division so he will be run out of town in 3-4 years after UGA owns that side of the league. Mullen could be twice the coach that Smart is in the Xs and Os department but he?s not going to compete with him unless he?s putting together consistent top 10 classes. Time will fell but I don?t see it happening. His max should be second place in east and that won?t keep him around long there.

My guess is he?s fired after the 2020 season and he gives the NFL a shot afterwards. I think he could succeed there as an OC (no clue how possible) where he can focus on drawing up plays, gsmeplans, and working with QBs. Then hopefully he writes that book where he finally tells the Cam Newton story...

I agree. But I would also add that I think Florida State and Miami will outrecruit them and FSU will probably beat them on the field. That in addition to losing to Georgia will probably be his undoing.

I could see Urban Meyer coming to his rescue and making him an OC though. I'm not sure that Dan is creative or aggressive enough to be an OC on the NFL level especially where the talent gap isn't that great between the best team and the worst.

[Todd4State]

Basically what Dan did that most coaches that we have had couldn't do is beat people we were supposed to consistently. If he had won big games at the same clip that Jackie did he would be our best coach ever. And to be honest, I think Dan's poor recruiting really reared it's ugly head when we played ranked teams. Anyone remember Alabama 2015 when we tried to run Holloway up the gut on the goal line? Yeah- that didn't work.

Hopefully Joe will be a combination of Dan winning the games we're supposed to and Jackie winning the big ones.

I do think that some of our fans give Dan way too much credit as a coach and gave him way too much of a pass for things like recruiting and poor Egg Bowl performances.

[ShotgunDawg]

I think you guys are nuts to think Florida will run Mullen off in 3 or 4 years. That lacks any basis.

Mullen is a really good football coach and extremely talented at building a solid foundation.

I predict a Mark Richt/ UGA type tenure for Mullen in which he sticks around for 8-10 years and never wins anything. He'll be just successful enough though to keep his job.

[Rick Danko]

I think you guys are nuts to think Florida will run Mullen off in 3 or 4 years. That lacks any basis.

Mullen is a really good football coach and extremely talented at building a solid foundation.

I predict a Mark Richt/ UGA type tenure for Mullen in which he sticks around for 8-10 years and never wins anything. He'll be just successful enough though to keep his job.

I agree with this. He is a good coach (even though he?s on my shit list right now and I hate admitting that), and will have success at Florida. They are not gonna fire him if he doesn?t win the east for the first three to four years. And he will eventually win the east I believe. But if he doesn?t and at some point gets run out, he is not going to be a damn OC somewhere, there will be schools lining up to hire him.

[msbulldog]

Im confused, what year was the third victory over LSU?

In an article that is full of grammatical errors and typo's, the author also states that we held the #1 for one week when actually it was 5 weeks. I hope this guy has a second career.

[bulldogsmsu]

In an article that is full of grammatical errors and typo's, the author also states that we held the #1 for one week when actually was 5 weeks. I hope this guy has a second career.

I saw the same thing. You know he had to look if he was looking at everyone we beat. So it had to be intentional.

[maroonmania]

I predict a Mark Richt/ UGA type tenure for Mullen in which he sticks around for 8-10 years and never wins anything. He'll be just successful enough though to keep his job.

I think you hit on a very good comparison. My thought is Dan will do plenty well enough to avoid being fired but that the fanbase will never really be satisfied with him. That is pretty much the definition of a Richt type tenure.

[Todd4State]

I think you guys are nuts to think Florida will run Mullen off in 3 or 4 years. That lacks any basis.

Mullen is a really good football coach and extremely talented at building a solid foundation.

I predict a Mark Richt/ UGA type tenure for Mullen in which he sticks around for 8-10 years and never wins anything. He'll be just successful enough though to keep his job.

McElwain is my basis for Dan lasting three years.

[CarolinaDawgs]

I agree with this. He is a good coach (even though he?s on my shit list right now and I hate admitting that), and will have success at Florida. They are not gonna fire him if he doesn?t win the east for the first three to four years. And he will eventually win the east I believe. But if he doesn?t and at some point gets run out, he is not going to be a damn OC somewhere, there will be schools lining up to hire him.

Wait.. How do you come to this conclusion when they did exactly that to the last coach? This lacks common sense.

[Gutter Cobreh]

Wait.. How do you come to this conclusion when they did exactly that to the last coach? This lacks common sense.

Please remember there were folks on here ready to open the checkbook and give him the same type money he is making at UF. Common sense can sometimes be skewed and time will tell whether that should have happened or not.

The difference is the fanbase at UF are truly nutjobs. Now, most of the logical ones have hit rock bottom and are just looking for a coach that puts a competitive team on the field. The others have expectations that even Saban at UF wouldn't be able to love up to. Lateral Move will never beat UGA, regardless of how long he is there and that will ultimately be the catalyst that gets him removed (just my opinion).

[msstatelp1]

I think you guys are nuts to think Florida will run Mullen off in 3 or 4 years. That lacks any basis.

Mullen is a really good football coach and extremely talented at building a solid foundation.

I predict a Mark Richt/ UGA type tenure for Mullen in which he sticks around for 8-10 years and never wins anything. He'll be just successful enough though to keep his job.

Mullen wasn't hired to win games. He was hired to win championships. Their fans are expecting him to get them back to the Urban Meyer level very quickly, as in he's got this year to get a QB and get his offense installed. Next year is "game on" and the heat ratchets up every year after that he doesn't win a championship.

[TrapGame]

Some of y'all are thinking a little too rationally. UF will not keep Mullen more than four years without at least one trip to Atlanta. If he makes it four years and Kirby is his daddy that seat will be flaming hot.

[BrunswickDawg]

Y'all forget - before Mullen left UF for MSU, there was a loud portion of the fanbase wanting him fired as OC. They even had a fireddanmullen.com going. They saw the same things we saw year in and year out but had superior athletes who could overcome the things that made Dan go 7-6 or less here on 4 occasions. Dan hates recruiting. Dan hates pre-madonnas**. Dan thinks he invented football. Dan thinks Hev is a quality guy. Dan puckers up under big game pressure. The difference in Dan Mullen '05-'08 and Dan Mullen '18+ is that he had Urban Meyer to over rule him and superior talent. He has neither at UF now.

[ckDOG]

McElwain is my basis for Dan lasting three years.

👆👆👆

[Rick Danko]

Wait.. How do you come to this conclusion when they did exactly that to the last coach? This lacks common sense.

They ran McElwain off because 1. He sucked, and 2. His teams were boring to watch even as they won.

I agree Florida can be irrational as can any fan base, but I believe Mullen will do enough in three years that they will give him rope, and he will eventually be very successful there. Just my opinion. And I firmly believe that if he were fired (barring scandalous reasons), of the however many over 100 football programs there are in this country that are D1, a strong percentage of them would come calling to swoop him up. I think a large portion of our fan base (or at least message board warriors) are fools to think he is not a good coach. Now recruiter on the other hand......

And no, I?m not Megan...

[BrunswickDawg]

They ran McElwain off because 1. He sucked, and 2. His teams were boring to watch even as they won.

I agree Florida can be irrational as can any fan base, but I believe Mullen will do enough in three years that they will give him rope, and he will eventually be very successful there. Just my opinion. And I firmly believe that if he were fired (barring scandalous reasons), of the however many over 100 football programs there are in this country that are D1, a strong percentage of them would come calling to swoop him up. I think a large portion of our fan base (or at least message board warriors) are fools to think he is not a good coach. Now recruiter on the other hand......

And no, I?m not Megan...

You are correct - because Dan Mullen is a very good football coach. He is not an elite football coach. He has not demonstrated the tools of an elite coach, and UF has the expectations of Dan providing elite coach results. That is just reality.
Now, if Dan were to realize that he needs to be all in on recruiting, hire a true OC to run his system, get rid of his country club staff on offense, ditch the two gloves and khaki shorts - he might be able to elevate himself to elite status.

[CarolinaDawgs]

They ran McElwain off because 1. He sucked, and 2. His teams were boring to watch even as they won.

I agree Florida can be irrational as can any fan base, but I believe Mullen will do enough in three years that they will give him rope, and he will eventually be very successful there. Just my opinion. And I firmly believe that if he were fired (barring scandalous reasons), of the however many over 100 football programs there are in this country that are D1, a strong percentage of them would come calling to swoop him up. I think a large portion of our fan base (or at least message board warriors) are fools to think he is not a good coach. Now recruiter on the other hand......

And no, I?m not Megan...

I would agree with you on the last point about Dan being a good coach, but McElwain was the man when he got there..The hottest name on the street. I'll address point number 1.. I hope JoMo sucks enough to get us to Atlanta 2/3 years. On to point number 2.. So if Mullen puts some flashy teams out there that lose, all is good?

I really don't understand your thought process on this one.

[msbulldog]

Please remember there were folks on here ready to open the checkbook and give him the same type money he is making at UF. Common sense can sometimes be skewed and time will tell whether that should have happened or not.

The difference is the fanbase at UF are truly nutjobs. Now, most of the logical ones have hit rock bottom and are just looking for a coach that puts a competitive team on the field. The others have expectations that even Saban at UF wouldn't be able to love up to. Lateral Move will never beat UGA, regardless of how long he is there and that will ultimately be the catalyst that gets him removed (just my opinion).

Yeah but that was facing the unknown, if we knew we were getting as quality a coach that we think JoMo is, we would have all been happy to tell Dan 'See Ya, wouldn't want to be Ya'.

[FISHDAWG]

Wait.. How do you come to this conclusion when they did exactly that to the last coach? This lacks common sense.

it wasn't just McElwain ... Muschamp didn't last long either

[Turfdawg67]

McElwain is my basis for Dan lasting three years.

Completely agree. He'll mostly get a pass when he gets throttled by UGA this year, but when it happens in year 2... the mob will start forming. After Grantham departs and UF loses to UGA again, who'll be on their way to a 4th consecutive East title, Mullen will get the boot... guaranteed. He'll have a very nice overall record but also 12 straight loses to Smart (9 as DC).

[Political Hack]

He was over paid here the last 3-4 years. Hes certainly over paid there. They're not catching UGA any time soon and that's not going to be good enough for the bull gators.

[Token Bammer]

Absolutely they overpaid... But UF was desperate amid a coaching drought... They still coulda gottem for less than $6M, IMO...

This is correct. :cool:

[msbulldog]

He was over paid here the last 3-4 years. Hes certainly over paid there. They're not catching UGA any time soon and that's not going to be good enough for the bull gators.

You're right Hack, he got a good bump after 2014 and then used his new agent to work things. But if you look at the whole conference, we were paying him about average for the rest of the conference when he quit.

[Token Bammer]

I think you guys are nuts to think Florida will run Mullen off in 3 or 4 years. That lacks any basis.

Mullen is a really good football coach and extremely talented at building a solid foundation.

I predict a Mark Richt/ UGA type tenure for Mullen in which he sticks around for 8-10 years and never wins anything. He'll be just successful enough though to keep his job.

Florida doesn't need a foundation (their fanbase and money men), they need to win. Im calling 3 years, 4 years tops.

[TUSK]

Florida doesn't need a foundation (their fanbase and money men), they need to win. Im calling 3 years, 4 years tops.

Yeppers... He's gonna HAFTA smoke: MO, SC, UT, VDY, KY, OOC (3), and go 2-2/3-1 vs LSU, UGA, FSU, SECW ongoing to stay in good graces... and even that will buy him only so much time...

IMO, that's very doable...

[Goldendawg]

Y'all forget - before Mullen left UF for MSU, there was a loud portion of the fanbase wanting him fired as OC. They even had a fireddanmullen.com going. They saw the same things we saw year in and year out but had superior athletes who could overcome the things that made Dan go 7-6 or less here on 4 occasions. Dan hates recruiting. Dan hates pre-madonnas**. Dan thinks he invented football. Dan thinks Hev is a quality guy. Dan puckers up under big game pressure. The difference in Dan Mullen '05-'08 and Dan Mullen '18+ is that he had Urban Meyer to over rule him and superior talent. He has neither at UF now.

Agree 100%, Rep given.

[Goldendawg]

Just wait until all the best Fl/Ga area OL choose to go elsewhere due to that great personality of Hev!

[I seen it dawg]

They paid big money for a coach that sucks his balls up his ass in big games.

We have a winner.

[I seen it dawg]

Y'all forget - before Mullen left UF for MSU, there was a loud portion of the fanbase wanting him fired as OC. They even had a fireddanmullen.com going. They saw the same things we saw year in and year out but had superior athletes who could overcome the things that made Dan go 7-6 or less here on 4 occasions. Dan hates recruiting. Dan hates pre-madonnas**. Dan thinks he invented football. Dan thinks Hev is a quality guy. Dan puckers up under big game pressure. The difference in Dan Mullen '05-'08 and Dan Mullen '18+ is that he had Urban Meyer to over rule him and superior talent. He has neither at UF now.

Sorry trapgame while your post is winning quality on prose alone, this one is the real winner. 100% fact here