Thanks to Dan Mullen‘s success at Mississippi State in 2014 as well as his ties to Florida, and given the Gators struggles the past two seasons under Will Muschamp, a pair of website -- HireDanMullen.com and WeWantDan.com -- were recently launched urging the Gators to poach the former UF offensive coordinator from their SEC rivals.
The man who the websites are centered on, however, isn’t impressed. At all.
In fact, during a radio interview Wednesday, Mullen ripped the concept of both “Hire(CoachX).com” and “Fire(CoachX).com” websites, calling them an “insult” to everyone involved.“It’s really an insult to coaches and to players at institutions. Whether they’re putting websites out to hire you or fire you or do all these different things, I don’t think that does any good for anybody. ...
“At the end of every season, there are coaching changes, but people put so much in. You’re so committed, yourself, your family, your team, everybody’s so committed, that I think it’s insulting to the job everybody does.
“I know there are fans that like that stuff. I don’t think that stuff is great. People can have their opinions and call in on shows, but to take it that far, I don’t think it’s good for anybody on either side of the fence.”
That said, Mullen will likely be at or near the top of the list for UF athletic director Jeremy Foley if/when Muschamp is dismissed. As should be expected, Mullen proclaimed his love for his current program.
“One, both my kids are born here. I love Mississippi State. I’ve loved being here. I love the community. I love the state,” Mullen said during the interview. “I have a great administration. They’ve given us what we need to build a successful program. I think we’ve built that program. We love being here. That’s No. 1.”
It should be noted that, just last season, Mullen was in a somewhat similar position to Muschamp. While the Bulldogs were 36-28 overall and had qualified for bowl games four straight seasons, they were still just 16-24 in SEC play in Mullen’s first five seasons in Starkville.
That subpar conference mark had some calling for Mullen’s head last year, a fact that the coach openly acknowledged.
“I know there was a website here at Mississippi State to fire Dan Mullen last year,” the sixth-year coach said. “Now, there’s probably one to keep me here.”
Entering Week 8, the MSU Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time in the history of the Associated Press poll.