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Did Florida rush to judgment when firing Dan Mullen?

Discussion in 'RayGator's Swamp Gas' started by GatorBait42, Dec 18, 2023.

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  1. rmonteag

    rmonteag GC Hall of Fame

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    Him and his agent were besides themselves that no NFL team came calling after 2020...at that point he put all his eggs into the Bama 21 game...we came close..and then he gave up.
     
  2. Gatorhead

    Gatorhead GC Hall of Fame

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    Not an unexpected inquiry, of course no one has a crystal ball but, as mentioned, in terms of recruiting Dan
    was really struggling, his bump class was a complete disaster.

    His trend line was difficult as well.

    10-3
    11-2
    8 - 4
    6 -7 (Well that team anyway / Dan was fired and replaced with an interim).

    Wheels really came off @ home vs LSU 2020
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2023
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  3. UF24ou14

    UF24ou14 GC Hall of Fame

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    Did you ride the short bus to school when you were a kid?
     
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  4. 1980gator

    1980gator Sophomore

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    LSU was a home game in 2020.
     
  5. No. I was a big fan of Dan Mullen until his brain hit the transfer portal sometime in 2020. Fun fact: Florida will be paying Mullen $1M a year until 2027 to not coach the Gators. No need to feel sorry for him.
     
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  6. antny1

    antny1 GC Hall of Fame

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    PB sandwiches and all. If you know the episode you know
     
  7. eastowest

    eastowest GC Hall of Fame

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  8. shelbygt350

    shelbygt350 VIP Member

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    No, it was not a rush to judgement. He was trending downward and his attitude toward recruiting was dismal. But we hired the wrong guy. The Template has been wrong with Nochamp, MacButterteeth and Napier. They were all "shiny objects" like many others in past: Dino Babers. PJ Fleck. etc.

    Guys who win here there and everywhere is who we needed after Moon Mullens.

    Available: Hugh Freeze (forget the past, he turned the corner and will take Aubie up like he did with Ole Miss and Liberty). Lane Kiffin (another personality case, but he has matured and has the capital to have gotten the job). Lincoln Riley (who does not have defensive teams, but he could simply hire an ace and turn that part over to asst like SOS did). Dabo (dont know if he was ever interested in leaving Clem, but he wins and recruits FL well). James Franklin (lower on my list, ex SEC, and has issue w/ OSU and Mich in B10). So there were better options.

    Napier had little resume capital to warrant the job offer. In addition, all one had to do was watch a couple of ULL games and see he ran a 1990 offense, the kind Spurs said he would light up.
     
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  9. uftaipan

    uftaipan GC Hall of Fame

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    It doesn’t matter, because what’s done is done. But I do often wonder if he didn’t just need a Come to Jesus from the Athletic Director along the lines of “Remove head from ass when it comes to recruiting and being excessively loyal to assistants who need firing.” And, yeah, I understand the argument that if we have to tell him to do the obvious, then he’s not a head coach. I agree, and I also feel the same way about another head coach who seems intransigent when it comes to special teams, playcalling, and not going for it on 4th in dumb situations.
     
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  10. homer

    homer GC Hall of Fame

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    Why can’t we have nice things?
     
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  11. gatorscotty

    gatorscotty Recruit

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    and Urban for ST Coach...
     
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  12. airgator96

    airgator96 GC Legend

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    No, he was a turd with no personality and could not recruit.

    Though, I wish we would have had hired Kiffen the turd instead of Mullen and I think we would be in a much better place today.
     
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  13. shelbygt350

    shelbygt350 VIP Member

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    The combine the coaches is funny. Problem is Napier would screw it up by over riding a winning offensive play with some goofy trick play that Zook drew up the night before resulting in a pick 6 topped with a 2 pt conversion.
     
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  14. KronoGator

    KronoGator GC Hall of Fame

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    Florida was always a 2-3 year stepping stone for him, the whole reason he left MSU was to get to a bigger school and then onto the NFL.
     
  15. gatormagic

    gatormagic GC Legend

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    NO.
     
  16. uftaipan

    uftaipan GC Hall of Fame

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    I remember how opposed to it I was at the time. Man, was I wrong …
     
  17. homer

    homer GC Hall of Fame

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    Don’t know if I should duck before posting it but,,,,

    I wanted Norvel or the Pirate instead of Mullen.
     
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  18. 62gator

    62gator GC Hall of Fame

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    IMG_2745.jpeg
     
  19. gatorwalrus

    gatorwalrus GC Hall of Fame

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    Manana? I got nada.
     
  20. GatorBait42

    GatorBait42 Junior

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    I’ve asked some questions on this board about a rush to judgement about the previous Coach, or hiring a name like Prime to Coach the Gators. I haven’t expressed my opinion on these topics, but I will say if asking these things is so outlandish on a discussion board than maybe we all need to just sit back and give Napier his time to get things right even if that’s 2-3 years away.
     
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