Successful Mississippi HC to Florida?
Will Muschamp’s days as the head coach at the University of Florida seem to be numbered. His seat just keeps getting hotter and hotter. How much longer will his backside be able to tolerate it? And how much longer will Florida athletics director Jeremy Foley be able to tolerate Muschamp’s butt?
We’ll all find out.
Apparently, though, Florida Gator fans want our head coach, Dan Mullen. They’ve even started websites: wewantdan.com and hiredanmullen.com
It really does make sense that the fans would want him. He was their highly successful offensive coordinator the last time they were good. They won two national championships during his tenure there. Things really seem to have fallen off in Gainesville (coincidentally?) since Mullen left. Why wouldn’t they want him back?
Photos like this one, that I’m absolutely positive was either done by a fan of Florida or umiss (cuz they want Mullen out of Starkville as much as Florida fans would like him in Gainesville) are starting to show up on the internet:
Is this even a possibility, though? Need we Bulldawg fans concern ourselves with this threat?
Well, for this to happen, a couple of conditions have to be met. First, Dan has to want to go to Florida. Does he?
Per his own habits and generally accepted protocol when dealing with this sort of question, Dan doesn’t answer. He just says:
"Yeah, well, you know… I’ve really come to love Mississippi State and the people of Mississippi. My wife loves it here. Mississippi is a fabulous place to live. The people in Mississippi are some of the best people you can be around. My kids were born here so they’re locals, even if I’m a yankee transplant."
But what about the money? Florida has and spends more on their athletic budget than we do, right? Well, yes, but Muschamp’s salary just barely exceeds Mullen’s, and I’m quite sure that after this season Mullen and his entire staff are due for a raise that would easily match any number Florida might put on the table.
Mullen has taken his time over the past 6 years to carefully and meticulously build this program from the bottom up just the way he wants it, and it appears he may be very near to presenting the final product. He has job security unmatched anywhere else in the SEC. BleacherReport recently ran an article outlining why Mississippi State and Dan Mullen were perfect matches for each other. Why would he want to go anywhere else?
Another condition that would have to be met for this to happen is for the Florida athletics department to want Mullen. Do they?
Despite rampant repeated rumors to the contrary, Florida has denied ever having offered Mullen the head coaching job in the past.
Is there any other head coach in which Florida has hinted at having interest? Hard to keep a finger on the pulse of the goings and doings down in the The Swamp because Florida AD Jeremy Foley is not on Twitter. (Which is weird to me, because Stricklin has been highly successful in addressing our fanbase and even organizing future game schedules via Twitter). The Florida Athletics Department does have a Twitter account (@GatorZoneNews), though, and occasionally have had “Ask Jeremy Foley” days. Take a look at how Foley answers the big coaching question:
Does this sound like any other coach that you know of? Is it possible that UF has their eye on another successful head coach from the Magnolia State? There’s no doubt Coach Hugh Freeze (CHF) is a great recruiter. That recruiting class last year is Exhibit A there. And he certainly seems to be thriving. Currently ranked #3 in the nation! Jeff Driskel is having his own set of problems right now down in Florida, but could the whole “good Bo/bad Bo” thing be what Foley is referring to when he mentions not having a reliable QB?
Really? CHF to Florida? But umiss is his dream job!
Is it? Anyone see the SEC Network bit on the SEC coaches’ wives about Mrs. Freeze? The story of how Freeze took a detour on their way to honeymoon in Gatlinburg for the two of them to sneak into Neyland Stadium in Knoxville where he promised her that one day he would be a head coach in the SEC was very moving, but also somewhat telling.
Freeze said he would be an SEC head coach — that was his dream. Not, specifically, the head coach of umiss. And he took her to monstrous Neyland Stadium to tell her this. To be honest, Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with it’s capacity of 88,500+ is a good bit closer to the 102,000 seats in Neyland Stadium than the 60,000 capacity of Vaught-Hemingway.
Freeze has also, in interviews, said that his earliest coaching hero, aside from his own father who coached high school ball, was Steve Spurrier… At Florida!
Is there any indication that CHF might be interested in being Muschamp’s successor in Gainesville? Let’s look, again, to “Ask Jeremy Foley.”
I noticed that this tweet cannot be located now. Perhaps Hugh realized he might be tipping his hand a hair early and deleted it? It does seem however, that if Hugh isn’t interested in taking the job, he’s at least interested in Muschamp being gone. Why else would CHF want that position vacated? And how does one explain this picture of ole CHF snapped in Gainesville back on September 20 when Muschamp and the Gators were busy playing Bama in Tuscaloosa and the Black Bears were on a bye week?
September 20, 2014 – Gainesville, FL
I don’t know, but it seems this Freeze to Florida rumor might have some legs. And why not? It makes perfect sense. After all, he’s a much better coach than Dan Mullen. Just ask the umiss fans.