The Way Mississippi State Athletics Gets Rid of Coaches

Yesterday I saw this tweet from Beast Man Steve and it got me thinking.

The rumor comes from this article, on a website dedicated to rumors. Obviously it’s probably speculation, but you never know for sure.

Oct 5, 2013; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen during the game against the LSU Tigers at Davis Wade Stadium. LSU Tigers defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 59-26. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

The undercurrent of folks talking about Dan Mullen getting fired has been there all season, and it continues to grow with each passing day. With the next two games against teams the experts are calling for MSU to get blown out in, the swelling of MSU fans looking for a change is likely to reach a pretty undeniable level.

When was the last time MSU “fired” someone? I mean, technically “fired” someone? They “retired” Rick Stansbury and “resigned” Sylvester Croom…but I can’t remember the last coach to actually get “fired”. Of course, those two were forced out, but what about the more subtle instances with regards to football coaches…

• Defensive Coordinator Carl Torbush left for Kansas. We all know Torbush didn’t cut it for Mullen and he would not have been the DC in 2010 – plain and simple. The guy has just lost his edge or something, he spent 2012 as the LB coach at Liberty, and just took over East Tennessee State’s restarted program. But Mullen gave him the opportunity to find another job before “firing” him.
• Cornerbacks coach Melvin Smith left for Auburn to take a similar position. From everything I’ve heard, he was told he should find another job…and he did, announcing on Christmas Day that he would be leaving. I don’t have much doubt that this is the case as he served two separate coaching stints at MSU (1995-2001, 2006-2012) totaling 14 seasons. I highly doubt, at age 55, he thought it was time to pack up and move to Auburn for the same job.
• Defensive Coordinator Chris Wilson left to become the Defensive Line coach at Georgia. I imagine both he and Smith were told similar things, but Wilson couldn’t find a job prior to the bowl game, so he coached the D-line while Geoff Collins ran the defense. Soon after, Collins was named permanent DC and Wilson accepted the position at UGA later that day.
• Tight Ends coach Scott Sallach has was “reassigned within the athletic department” (director of football scouting) to make room for new WR coach, Billy Gonzales (Tim Brewster moved to TE coach). Sallach didn’t have to find a new place of employment because as many have said, ‘he’s Dan Mullen’s boy’. After Tim Brewster left for Florida State, Sallach went back to being the TE’s coach.

Could the writing be on the wall for Mullen and he is looking for an exit strategy? I kind of doubt it, but it’s certainly possible. Looking at the way MSU gets rid of their coaches, “leaving for another job” is just a way to avoid a pink slip.