Could one of the SEC’s top coaches leave to take over the Michigan Wolverines?
It could happen. And, no, it’s not LSU’s Les Miles.
Michigan may attempt to lure Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen out of college football’s toughest division.
“Per sources, [interim athletic director Jim] Hackett and his staff have discussed both Jim Mora and Dan Mullen with the [Board of] Regents,” FootballScoop.com’s Scott Roussel reported. “Sources in Michigan that I have spoken with believe that if either Mora or Mullen were willing to come, then Hackett would support those hires.”
It appears highly unlikely Mora is willing to take the leap from sunny California to frigid Ann Arbor.
Mullen, however, is an intriguing option. The coach may be willing to make the leap due his current circumstances.
“Both sources explained to me how they felt Michigan would provide a potentially easier route to the college football playoffs; and hence the opportunity to win a national championship,” Roussel added. “Said one, ‘This might have been Dan’s most talented team ever, and in a year when LSU, A&M and Arkansas were down, he still didn’t even win his division.’”
Despite earning the No. 1 ranking for the first time in the school’s history, the Bulldogs finished 10-2 overall and outside of the College Football Playoff. Mississippi State will instead face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Orange Bowl.
If Mullen believes he can win at a higher level at Michigan than he can at Mississippi State then a move seems logical.
It would certainly create an interesting dynamic with Mullen at Michigan and his mentor, Urban Meyer, at Ohio State, which could become a modern version of Bo Schembechler versus Woody Hayes.