Georgia Tech Head Coaching Candidate Profile: Dan Mullen

Would former SEC head coach Dan Mullen be a candidate at Georgia Tech?

Jackson Caudell | Oct 5, 2022

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Georgia Tech Football is currently getting ready for their matchup with Duke on Saturday and interim head coach Brent Key is going to be looking to get to 2-0. While Key is looking to show that he could be the guy to lead the program into the future, it is not going to stop the rest of us from speculating who could be discussed as candidates for this job.

After writing profiles for Deion Sanders, Jamey Chadwell, and Bill O'Brien, it is time for a new installation in this series.

Dan Mullen is a name that has been associated with the search and one that does make some sense. He is the former head coach at Mississippi State and Florida and is regarded as a bright offensive mind and quarterbacks coach.

Former Florida head coach Dan Mullen — Would Dan Mullen be a fit at Georgia Tech? / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Mullen got started as a college football coach as the wide receivers coach at Wagner from 1994-1995 and then moved to Columbia University to be the wide receivers coach for two more seasons from 1996-1997. Mullen got his first major college job as a grad assistant at Syracuse in 1998 before moving on to become a grad assistant at Notre Dame from 1999-2000.

He moved up to be the quarterback's coach at Bowling Green from 2001-2002 under then head coach Urban Meyer and then Mullen followed Meyer to Utah and Mullen was the quarterback's coach there as well from 2003-2004. Mullen got a chance to coach Alex Smith while at Utah, who would become the #1 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. Utah won the Fiesta Bowl after an undefeated season.

His first coordinator job came at the University of Florida when he followed Meyer there. Meyer named Mullen the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the Gators and it was a position he held from 2005-2008. While with Florida as the offensive coordinator, Mullen was a part of two national championship teams (2006 and 2008) and coached Tim Tebow, who is regarded as one of the best players in college football history. Tebow would win the Heisman Trophy in 2007

Florida had prolific offenses every season under Mullen and Meyer and that helped him land the head coaching job at Mississippi State, his first head coaching job. Mississippi State is regarded as one of the toughest jobs in the SEC and it was going to be a challenge for Mullen to build a program there.

Dan Mullen led Mississippi State to their best run in school history — Dan Mullen led Mississippi State to one of the best stretches in school history / Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

While the Bulldogs went 5-7 in his first season in Starkville, it was not long before Mullen had them in a bowl game. In his second season in 2010, Mullen went 9-4, and that included a bowl win against Michigan in the Gator Bowl.

In Mullens's next three seasons he won seven, eight, and seven games and was 2-1 in bowl games. His big breakthrough came during the 2014 season, when he got the Bulldogs as high as number one in the country in the first-ever college football playoff rankings and Mississippi State finished the season 10-3, with a loss to Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. His final three seasons in Starkville saw him win nine, six, and eight games and then Mullen got a chance to go back to coach the Gators after the 2017 season. He finished his time at Mississippi State with a record of 69-46 and a 33-39 record in the SEC.

Florida was 4-7 the year before Mullen took over and in just one season, he turned them around to 10-3 and got a win over Michigan in the Peach Bowl. In 2019, Mullen led the Gators to an 11-2 record and got another New Years' Six Bowl Game win in the Orange Bowl against Virginia.

The 2020 season started off great for the Gators, as they were 8-1 and coming off of a big win over Georgia, and had one of the best offenses in the country. However, they finished the season on a three-game losing streak and that is where things started to turn sour in Gainesville.

Florida started the 2021 season with a 3-1 record, including a close loss to Alabama. However, after a string of embarrassing losses, Florida made the slightly surprising decision to fire Mullen. He finished with a 34-15 record overall, two New Year's Six Bowl wins, and one SEC East title. Quarterback Kyle Trask was a Heisman finalist in 2020 and then a second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. He also coached tight end Kyle Pitts, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, which is the highest ever for a tight end.

Former head coach Dan Mullen — Dan Mullen failed to keep up with Georgia and Alabama on the recruiting trail. / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The reasons why Mullen was fired at Florida boils down to one thing: he failed to keep up with Georgia and Alabama on the recruiting trail. Another thing that did not help was that he kept defensive coordinator Todd Grantham on staff, despite the defenses consistently falling short of expectations at Florida. He was a successful coach with the Gators, but the program felt things were not trending in the direction and decided to let him go and Mullen is currently a TV analyst for ESPN.

So after going through all of that, let's get to the questions that matter: Would Mullen be a good fit at Georgia Tech and would he be interested in the job?

I will say that I am a fan of Mullen's and think that Tech should go after him to be the head coach. The main reason for that is his success as a playcaller and quarterback developer. Smith, Tebow, Dak Prescott, Nick Fitzgerald, and Trask all had success under Mullen and Smith and Prescott went on to have success in the NFL. Player development is one of the most important aspects to look for in a head coach and Mullen has done that with offensive players, especially quarterbacks. Geoff Collins could not develop talent while in Atlanta and that is something that Mullen has shown.

He won consistently at Mississippi State, which is one of the hardest jobs in the SEC. Georgia Tech is one of the hardest jobs in the ACC and the fact that he has had success at tough jobs should be appealing

He is obviously not a perfect candidate though. His recruiting problems are something that he will have to show he can overcome, especially at a place like Georgia Tech that is going to have academic restrictions. His ability to hire the right coordinators can be questioned after hiring and not firing Grantham while at Florida. If Mullen is asking for a high salary, is Georgia Tech going to be able to meet whatever he is asking? I doubt it.

Would he be interested in the Georgia Tech job? Possibly. Mullen does live in the state now and has coached around the southeast for the last decade plus. The recruiting pressure, while challenging, would not be the same that it is at Florida and that might be something that appeals to Mullen.

It is unknown whether he wants to get back into coaching right away or wait for what he feels like is the right opportunity, which might not be available. Other jobs that are currently open are Nebraska, Wisconsin, Arizona State, and Colorado. Other jobs like Auburn and Lousiville could be open soon as well.

Overall, I think this would be a good hire for Georgia Tech, but I worry that Mullen is going to be asking for too much money and Tech won't pay up for him as the head coach. It will be worth waiting and seeing if that is the case however. Mullen is qualified for the job and I think would be a good hire for Georgia Tech.

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