Why We Should Hire Dan Mullen
by bluebland on Dec 5, 2011 6:48 PM PST
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PrintBumped. While here at BruinsNation, we are not specifically endorsing any coach as a preferred candidate, Dan Mullen is the kind of coach if UCLA administrators should be taking a close look at. He is the kind of candidate who could potentially galvanize Bruin Nation. - BN Eds.
I know it's not BN's policy to get behind a specific coach, but I think it's time for anyone who supports Dan Mullen as our next coach to make their support known to our athletic department. Mullen is not the sure thing that would've excited us all like Petersen or Leach -- the latter of whom we could've easily had, if our AD wasn't such a small-minded ignoramus. But given what's left, I think Mullen presents the most exciting and promising choice, unless some star college coach nobody suspects (like Bobby Petrino) would be willing to switch schools.
Mullen, I believe, would be a far wiser hire than Sarkisian, Mora, Jones, Belloti, or Al Golden, the current favorite because of his connection to Gene Block. I will make my argument as concise as possible.
Every coach but a handful are "risks." But there are worthy, high reward risks and there are stupid risks (like hiring a position coach with no known acumen or playcalling experience who learned from Donahu, or hiring a guy out of coaching for 4 years).
The way to know a high reward risk is to examine the knowns and unknowns. Here is what we KNOW about Dan Mullen.
1. Championship college experience
He has been the right hand man of arguably the best coach in college, Urban Meyer, at three programs: Bowling Green, Utah, and Florida. Some consider him the brains behind Meyer's offensive system, but whether or not he deserves such a singular designation is beside the point. The point is, he knows from the inside how to run a championship quality college program from all angles. Most great coaches out there worked for a great coach. Mullen more than worked with one; he was in many ways integral to that great coach's success.
Al Golden's experience, in contrast, came first under an ancient Paterno and then as DC for Al Groh at Virginia, who never had better than a 32nd ranked D. Not nearly as inspiring as Urban Meyer, IMO.
2. Overachiever as a head coach at the highest level/Building a program
Mullen has spent three seasons at MSU, the worst program in the SEC along with Vanderbilt (but without the academic prestige that might land Vanderbilt more recruits). The year before he took over they were 4-8. To save myself time, here is the Wikipedia summary of his first two seasons:
"In his first season as head coach at Mississippi State in 2009, his team went 5–7 against the toughest schedule in the nation [1]. In 2010, his Bulldog team went 9-4 overall and 4-4 in the SEC including victories over Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, and Mississippi, and the 4 losses came only to teams ranked in the Top 12. Mississippi State capped off the 2010 season by thrashing traditional power Michigan in the 2011 Gator Bowl 52-14 [ahem, Rich Rod, ahem], and achieved a #15 ranking in the final AP poll."
I will add that those losses last year included a 3 point loss to eventual champion Auburn, and a double overtime loss to top 7 Arkansas.
This year MSU is only 6-6...but again against a murderous schedule, in which they only had one blowout -- to Arkansas. They lost to LSU only 19-3...a better showing than most other teams that lost to LSU. To me, that 6-6 record is far superior to Al Golden's 6-6 at Miami, with far superior talent in a far weaker conference, and several more blowouts.
3. Proficiency at both Offense and Defense
Most coaches have only one known strength. Mullen has two -- in that his teams have played well on both sides. He is an offensive mind, yet his defense is always tough, and he found and hired Manny Diaz out of Middle Tennessee. Always a good sign when a coach's team performs in the department that's not his specialty. Something you can't say of Sark, Jones, etc.
As a sidenote on staff hires: Al Golden's TE coach at Miami is none other than Brennan Carroll. Yes, that diaper boy.
4. Is young, aggressive, has swagger
Not unique qualities, but very important, as they show that he will only get better...as opposed to older coaches whose ceilings are known. Also, he will take on the other egos in this conference face-to-face, which is very necessary to survive in LA.
5. Presents a definitive contrast to other coaches in our conference
To me, hiring the diet version of a superior coach in the same conference is stupid. With Leach here, you know that Sumlin or Jones would be running an inferior version of the same offense. Kiffin and Sark run the same pro-style offense as well, similar to Stanford's and Cal's. Mullen would bring his unique, Meyerian offense with him, a spread-option that can be likened abstractly to Chip Kelly and Rich Rod, though he clearly has a mind of his own.
Incidentally, Mullen has kicked Rich Rod's ass with far less talent, and has a very high underground reputation as one of the "New Hampshire" mafia together with Kelly (their systems are still quite distinct). To me, he is exactly the kind of outsider guy who can shock our program back to life.
6. Recruiting
Mullen has been signing some top 20 classes at MSU, which is again the worst school to recruit to in the SEC.
In short, Mullen has a number of very promising KNOWNS, without any negative KNOWNS -- which is what makes him a very worthy risk. Most coaches left on the list have some very glaring bad-knowns. He has his share of unknowns, as we don't know if he can HC his way to a championship, but there is not a single 39 year old coach who could do that after 3 years at MSU.
I will end it here with a call for all BNers who support Mullen to make their support loudly known. I'm not sure Dan Guerrero has ever heard of him, unless somebody in the AD has told him recently. I think he's a guy who would provide real hope to our fanbase and program, and free up the suicide hotline.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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Good stuff....I was just going to do a Fanpost on Mullen
I think he is our best option right now. Here are some positives I listed before:
1) He is young at 39
2) He has no ties to X University thefore with no ties and young age, he could be here for a long time and/or this could be a final destination
3) He has learned under Urban Meyer. He was a GA at ND when UB was an asst there. When Urban got the HC job at Bowling Green, he took Mullen. Urban then took him to Utah and Florida too. To me, that says a lot that Urban chose to continually keep Mullen on his staff.
4) Mullen helped develop Josh Harris (BG), Alex Smith, Brian Johnson, Chris Leak (helped him salvage his college career after the Zooker) and Tebow. We’ve had issues at the QB position and I’m confident he can 1) identify QB talent and 2) develop them.
5) He rebuilt Miss St. into a competitive team in the daunting SEC.
6) Although his record is average this year, his losses have come against: @Auburn (lost on last play at goal line), #3 LSU, @UGA, #15 S. Caro, #3 Bama and @#6 Ark. The scores may not reflect it but Miss St was very competitive in those games. They just didn’t have the talent to matchup with them or pull out the W. That is a murderous schedule and the SEC as we know is beyond tough.
7) We’ve gotten an influx of offensive coaches but I can’t help but drool when I think of what he can do with the talent on this roster. Imagine Hundley playing Tebow, Joystick playing Harvin and Barr (as RB/HB/TE) as Hernandez. I have no doubt he would know what to do with them.
8) People are throwing out Manny Diaz as someone that we should contact. Well…Mullen had Manny as his DC before he left for UT. Prior to that, Manny was at Middle Tenn so maybe he may feel indebted to Mullen for bringing him back into major D1 FB. Diaz is a Miami native that started out under MIckey Andrews at FSU before going to NC State with Chuck Amato before he Amato got fired. If you remember, those FSU teams were fast and aggressive which shows in his philosophy and play calling at UT.
8) He wants the job. Therefore, this guy isn’t afraid to go heads up with suc nor is he afraid of taking on the challenge of restoring our program. The guy is a FB junkie so he isn’t showing interest without a decent level of understanding about the history and situation that is UCLA FB.
Agree with all, plus
MSU’s defense has not dropped much without Diaz. As usual, head coaching is the most important factor on all sides of the ball. Clearly Mullen has a very effective, aggressive defensive philosophy which he will find the right staff to run. A guy who can spot great coordinators without being hostage to them is the perfect combination of a program leader.
Agree
The HC sets the tone and the HC is responsible for finding the right people for his staff to further his vision for the FB team’s identity. I’m quite confident that we wouldn’t have been playing charmin coverage if Mullen was HC. He would have straight told Tressey to cut that b******t and go attack!
Another note on Diaz
Unsubstantiated rumors that Mack Brown may step down after the season. It’d be smart for the next HC to keep Manny. However, since we’re willing to pay now, Manny might feel more secure working for someone he knows.
It's a real possibility, but unlikely soon
I’m in Austin and the chatter here is that Diaz is a real possibility to replace Mack Brown at some point.. But both DeLoss Dodds and Brown are saying he’ll be around for many more seasons, so whoever started the rumor that Brown was going to retire soon didn’t know anything.
He wants the job?
Is this true? He’s been linked to practically every opening out there. It’d be great if they can bring in a quality coach that actually wants to be here. At least that would show commitment to the program despite the ineptitude of its leaders.
Agreed...what's the source?
Almost sounds too good to be true.
Plus, maybe he could get some of that southern talent. The DT, DEs and LBs that we just don’t have the same abundance of here in the West
by Flem on Dec 5, 2011 10:48 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
he and Briles and my favorites
how do we know he wants the job?
How do we know he wants the job?
I have not seen his name anywhere in conjunction with this opening?
I'm on board w/ this pick
What is curious to me because I havent seen it anywhere myself is if he has “expressed” in interest specifically in UCLA. If that is the case, then DG should be all over talking to him.
I should be working right now...
I don't have a link
but it’s been reported first hand that he is interested in the job
by truebluebruin on Dec 4, 2011 10:48 PM PST up reply actions
Is Dan aware that football is played east of Boise?
We at BN should raise awareness since its apparent that somebody at the Morgan Center is using BN feedback and that person sure isn’t Dan.
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 5, 2011 7:25 AM PST up reply actions
First hand?
Do you remember where you saw it, even if no link?
I think Mullen is more exciting than Leach
sure, he hasn’t had a book, but he has been a top coordinator and, as you note, has paid attention to both sides of the ball as a head coach.
I think he is absolutely a guy who could aggressively fight for top talent in the Southland and beyond, and bring in a staff that will get the job done.
I think it’s possible he might look to jump back to the SEC (or even NFL), but I think he would want to build a program first (as you note, it’s not like he is tied to any school, having been an itinerant with Meyer – and the Florida job presumably won’t be open any time soon (the most logical school to try to steal him in the future))
Mullen might be a better hire than Peterson – I think he has more relevant ‘big conference’ experience, and better pedigree developing NFL talent.
and rec'd
for breaking a streak of terrible fanposts pimping terrible candidates.
by VeniceBruin on Dec 4, 2011 10:53 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
(that's an overstatement - I think Diaz is a decent candidate)
I just can’t believe some of the names people seem to see as worthy candidates.
If another person mentions Tressel
I think I will vomit.
Mullen is good. Interestingly, when he came up as a name for the Penn State job a lot of people in State College didn’t like him for the job. I still think he woud be solid.
http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-football-five-coaches-psu-wont-hire-950244/
by JimmyBurke on Dec 5, 2011 9:19 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
The win/loss record is definitely deceiving, but after you explained it here
I can get behind this candidate
Lets do it!!!
where’s the petition at? We had a ‘Fire RN and DG’ one, lets get a ‘Hire DM’ one up.
You've convinced me!!
I am now in full support of Mullen! Great argument. Where is the FBOOK group?
by PopnFried on Dec 4, 2011 11:43 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Good Stuff
He was one of the first calls I wanted to see made only him Strong, and Hudspeth remain the rest have bneen snagged.
If DG has a clue he takes a trip to Mississippi with a boatload of cash.
I'm sold! He's great!
If we wants to come, I’m all in, but who wants to work for Chianti Dan? See my fan post on the Five Questions.
Damn, I would love Mullen, but it ain’t happening with this crew. Will somebody prove me wrong! Please!
by uclahy on Dec 5, 2011 12:38 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
With our athletes......
Mullen would be perfect. And with the athletes in So Cal, the system that Mullen runs would give us a big up in recruiting on u$c who runs a more traditional offense.
to expand
u$c wanted the black mamba to play corner for them because he didnt really fit into there O, but ended up at oregon cause an athlete like him is perfect for a spread, especially a run first/option oriented spread. if mullen was our HC, we could get guys like that.
Exactly. I've been arguing this point for years
So long as SC — and now Washington and Cal and Stanford, our biggest competition for local recruits — sticks to a traditional pro-style O, it opens a whole new market for offensive talent to UCLA if we can have an unconventional offense.
Also…USC will always try to emulate a conventional NFL style — it’s in their blood, part of their arrogance actually, and gives others an opportunity to outthink them. All their hires have been either in the family or NFL targets. They’re able to get the talent to make that system work, especially when they’re cheating. There’s room in this town for a different way of football, but lately we’re just trying to imitate them.
Yup
Tired of seeing everyone on the West Coast (or even as far east as Texas) who would be great in the spread go to Oregon.
HEY!
The ‘Black Mambas’ of Southern California belong to OREGON now.
Don’t you dare force that brianiac known as Chianti Dan to hire a head coach who would limit the talent coming up to Oregon… it isn’t right!!!
Listen to your AD! Trust him!
He’ll have a great new head coach hired once he gets off his Italian booze cruise. So show some patience, you Bruins.
Chip Kelly and us Oregon fans thank you for your consideration.
by ConfofChamps on Dec 5, 2011 10:26 PM PST up reply actions
We've suffered longer than you
…and we’re fresh outta patience. If you want our AD, we’ll sell him, cheap.
Sell?
Sell would imply value. We’ll pay for you to take him off of our hands. At this point, paying $700K to get rid of him would be a great long-term investment.
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 6, 2011 10:30 AM PST up reply actions
Mullen
has been my top choice throughout this process. Been on my radar since last year. Great write up
Great Post!
For all those silly fan boys STILL pimping NFL retreads with single line explanations; (Jon Gruden would kill it in recruiting, bro! bro!) THIS is how you pimp your candidate.
Solid reasoning Bluebland. Ever since we lost out on all the home run hires, I have not had a single candidate to really get behind. Hell, I even suggested the devil himself out of shear desperation.
I am now firmly on Team Mullen. Where’s my 2×4? I need to go hit The Donut upside the head. See if I can’t knock some sense into him.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
but Jon Gruden wears a bisor, bro! bro! BRO!?
Before hitting the Donut with a 2 × 4, I think someone needs to let him know that there’s a conference called the SEC, where football is played. Maybe he’ll Google Dan Mullen after that!
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 5, 2011 7:27 AM PST up reply actions
It was funnier with bisor
I think we should tell The Donut football is played in the SEC and we should hit him with a 2×4.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
PETRINO
logged on to see if his name had come up and BLAM: Found it.
Mullen’s a fine a candiate as any run through the BN sieve I suppose, but at this point — with Petrino pulling a 66% win-pct out of a 4Y swim in the shark-invested waters of the SECw, including a 10-2 outing in 2011ntm Ryan Mallett as proof of his QB recruting coaching skills — Bobby Petrino should be at/near the top of the already short list of acceptable, Brand_Name_Candidates.
Guy’s only two losses were to the two teams headed to the BCS Championship.
Bring on the Petrino Post, please.
GO BRUIN BLUE
To save Nestor or Ty the time making the comment...
feel free to write it.
Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
We would all wet the bed if Petrino were even considering
But we don’t need a post to announce that. If there’s even an inkling of a possibility of that, the Bruin brass and upper-level donors better have already been on it.
No way Petrino is even interested.
Don’t get your hopes up. Not with DD & the current “support” level at ucla.
Getting Petrino would be bigger then getting Petersen or Leach. Ain’t gonna happ’n
by Flem on Dec 5, 2011 11:09 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Mullen 2012
GET IT RIGHT, DONUT!
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
by MexiBruin on Dec 5, 2011 7:34 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Wish list:
1. Mullen
2. Butch Jones
3. Manny D
GIT ER DONE CHIANTI.
i Was leaning towards Butch Jones...
Was. Past Tense. Fantastic write up, thoughtful, insightful, hits the counter-arguments with a baseball bat to the head.
I’m Sold. Let’s get on it
Agreed.
He would be solid and about the best we could do assuming Petersen is no longer an option (I am still not ruling him out).
Can we afford him?
Thanks Bluebland for the due diligence on him.
I just read that he just got a 4 year contract extension last December which pays him on average $2.65 million per year. I’m sure he’s living like a king in Mississippi. I wonder how much more money it would take to lure him to LA. And are we willing to pay that.
We can easily afford him
Money is not an issue in this search. And besides, I think he’d take the job for the same amount of money, because MSU is hell.
Question:
If we hire a former SEC guy, do we have to worry about him jumping ship in 3-4 years to an SEC program?
Otherwise, you sold me on Mullen. Would bring back excitement, if we pay him we could keep him for 10-15 and is WAYYYYYYYY better than an NFL retread.
Michael C
www.onviolence.com
We have the money to lock him up if it goes there
And he’s not a lifetime SEC guy. He’s from New Hampshire I think.
yeah he only went to the SEC with Meyer
he doesn’t have any roots there
by bucknellbruin on Dec 5, 2011 2:30 PM PST up reply actions
Then I see no problems.
Let’s grab him if we can.
Michael C
www.onviolence.com
Who cares?
Ih he leaves what does that mean he did for us… BCS or way better then the past decade!
Yeah I said I'm worried, but the money is the best thing to keep him.
Michael C
www.onviolence.com
google says
he’s most frequenty linked to penn state. hopefully that protecting-a-child-molestor thing pushes him our way. but he was born in PA, he went to school in PA, his wife’s from PA and i think i just read somewhere that his dad went to penn state..
I was reading that people wanted him on BRO
but I hadn’t done my homework on him yet. Thanks. And I’m sold :)
Mullen would be my #1 target
Of course, I’m not the AD, but the guys here know how high I am on him.
We’re already running a spread so the transition won’t be too difficult. We have enough $$$ to pay for a top notch DC.
Formerly AllHailMightyBruins
Hate to burst your bubbles...
but despite Mullen’s agent trying to initiate contact (via the 1-sheet and etc), he has yet to get a call from the Moron Center.
Flounder Guerrerrror: Dan Mullen? Why is the old Lions GM trying to contact us?
by beanandcheeseburrito on Dec 5, 2011 7:15 PM PST reply actions
How do you know this, B&CB?
Is this first hand knowledge of yours, or of someone who’s word your trust? Or is this just an assumption based on the way things have been going at Morgan Center?
DAN MULLEN
HE SEEMS LIKE THE EXCITING YOUNG COACH WE SHOULD BE AIMING FOR. HE CAN TURN THIS PROGRAM AROUND AND HE HAS THE BACKGROUND TO REAIZE WHAT THE JOB ENTAILS.
LITTLE DOWN SIDE HERE. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LET A TALENT LIKE THIS GO. AS COACH WOODEN ALWAYS SAID, WHEN CHOOSING BETWEEN TALENT AND EXPERIENCE, GO FOR THE TALENT BECAUSE EXPERIENCE IS A VASTLY OVERRATED COMMODITY.
ARE WE USING OUR OUTDOOR VOICES?
LOUD NOISES!!!!
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 5, 2011 10:00 PM PST up reply actions
Some Downside
Mullen is an excellent coach with proven experience running a program. He’s done a solid job at Mississippi State. Personally, I think UCLA could do a lot worse and Mullen would be a solid hire. But where you don’t want to get too caught up in the hype is with recruiting. Delve a little deeper into the recruiting rankings and you’ll see he hasn’t improved Mississippi State’s recruiting position within the SEC since he took over. He has a mixed reputation as a recruiter and is widely regarded as arrogant. See, e.g., this article from a few years back.
The thing is, I’m not sure there is an actually available, viable candidate that “has it all,” – i.e., a clear slam-dunk – but Mullen would be a pretty good choice from within the pool of potentially available candidates.
I have heard that as well
Recruiting is the main ding against him from the Penn St folks. And he may be arrogant, everyone in Mississippi knows about the billboards (not as daring as the “Monopoly is over” ads, but the Rebels weren’t so happy). The important part is the billboards didn’t come up until he had beat Ole Miss, even though the Rebels still had higher ranked recruiting classes.
FWIW, a HUGE Ole Miss fan came into my office today to ask if we were looking at Mullen and stating that he would be a great hire.
He is bold. We need a guy like that who can back it up
Rather than thanking other coaches for beating us.
He also had a video come out in which he guaranteed that Mississippi State would never lose again to Ole Miss. And he does the old Urban Meyer thing (itself borrowed from Woody Hayes) in not referring to Ole Miss by name. So if UCLA were to hire Mullen, get prepared to hear the phrase “the school downtown” or some such. I ultimately don’t think those little trash-talk things are a big deal. It can be a positive, as a lot of fans eat it up – as long as you win, that is. With Mullen and Leach in the Pac-12, there would almost certainly be a few more choice quotes emerging from press conferences.
I first noticed him last year
when MSU gave Auburn all they wanted.
But, I’m sure the leadership in the athletic department has no idea he exists.
I don't know much about college football outside the Pac12
But your arguments, if remotely true, get me really excited at the prospect of hiring Mullen. I’ve always wanted UCLA to find a coach that has found a way to deal with the ridiculous athleticism of the SEC. And he recruits? Sign me up.
I think you are overrating Mullen
I live in Georgia & watch a lot of SEC football. If he’s an offensive guru, I haven’t seen it yet. The team is completely one-dimensional-they can barely throw the ball. He’s been at MSU for 3 years, but he’s yet to recruit a good QB (I don’t think much of Chris Relf). The defense is pretty good, but not great. The UGA team they beat last season was a bad one, & they should have lost by much more in this year’s game (UGA had some turnovers in MSU territory). Mullen would be a better option than Cable or Walker & probably Mora, but I don’t think he’s a better coach than Bellotti. He’s younger, but not necessarily better.
Not going to pretend
that i know the In’s and Out’s of every single head coach that MIGHT want to join the UCLA family. What i do know is that it is quite worrying that there’s been way too little chatter about meeting with any interested HC’s. Whoever it is, be it worst case scenario (Cable, Walker) or best (Mullen, maybe Fedora), they need to start with our squad ASAP and reach out to the future recruits AND recruits on the fence so we can start looking forward to a bright future WITHOUT DG!
I still don't get the hype on Mullen.
Plain and simple:
He’s had 3 years at MSU. In his third year, he is 6-6. Everything you said in the post was nice, but in the end, wins and losses matter. And his 6 wins were against:
Memphis 2-10
Louisiana Tech 8-4 (overtime)
UAB 3-9
Kentucky 5-7
Tennessee Martin 5-6
Ole Miss 2-10
That’s not very confidence inspiring. In 37 games, his 3 best wins are against:
(20) Ole Miss 9-4 in 2009.
Florida 8-5 in 2010
Michigan 7-6 in 2010
These are the ONLY wins he has had against BCS conference teams with winning records, and only 1 win against a team ranked in the final top-25.
The guy MAY be a great coach, but he hasn’t proven it yet. And I thought we all said we wanted a proven head coach.
and he lost this year to:
at #25 Auburn
- LSU
at #16 Georgia - South Carolina (by 2)
- Alabama
- Arkansas
That’s an absolute murderer’s row, and they were decently competitive in every game against Arkansas. And he’s at MISSISSIPPI STATE. MSU has never been competitive with those 6 programs
by bucknellbruin on Dec 5, 2011 9:29 PM PST up reply actions
wow that formatted terribly
at 25 Auburn
1 LSU
at 16 Georgia
9 South Carolina
2 Alabama
6 Arkansas
by bucknellbruin on Dec 5, 2011 9:30 PM PST up reply actions
He has played the top teams in the country with no talent
And played them very tough. Last year, he should’ve beaten Arkansas (was jobbed by officiating) and nearly beat Auburn, the national champion, losing by the same margin that Oregon did. These things matter. When judging a minor program with inferior talent to the rest of the conference by far, you have to look not just at the record but at how they competed, and he competed with the very best.
He is the architect of the Meyer offense, so whatever struggles MSU has had (they posted 52 on Michigan, not that UM was that good) are most likely owing to talent + plus the defensive prowess of the SEC which is like no other. You have to look close to find the non-obvious future coaching stars.
by bluebland on Dec 5, 2011 9:46 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
So he's played a lot of tough teams
and beat none of them, but he didn’t lose by a lot of points? I’d rather a winning coach than a coach that wins moral victories.
And as for talent, doesn’t the fanpost say he’s recruited well? So either he has recruited well, and has talent, or he hasn’t recruited well. Either was it goes, this was year #3, it’s all on his shoulders. And as for talent, here are the last several recruiting classes by MSU as rated by scout:
2007 – #27
2008 – #33
2009 – #19
2010 – #38
2011 – #44
Average – 32
So not a massive influx of talent, but more than enough talent to be competitive. As a comparison, Arkansas averaged 26 over the same time period in rankings. If you take out 2011 since most are freshman and not playing, Arkansas (28) and MSU (29) are pretty much neck and neck. Compare the wins and losses of MSU and Arkansas.
I’d be more concerned with the decrease in talent being recruited since he took over.
I just don’t think we should be fawning over a coach that’s lost to a lot of good teams, and beat nobody.
Fair enough.
But, what teams have up and coming coordinators beaten?
The unfortunate truth is our gasbag AD let all the big fish get away and we are stuck here trying to figure out which guy to take a chance on. Every candidate is going to have room to question his ability.
So, who do you suggest?
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
Arkansas is infamous for oversigning guys
then putting them into JuCo, grayshirting them etc etc. They are one of the poster children for abusing the system. Not sure how those things are calculated into the rankings, in terms of which players get counted and which don’t. But I think you might want to double-check that this is an apples-to-apples comparison.
All SEC teams do this
at least the big programs.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Mullen reminds me of Saban
Saban was a coach at Michigan st. in a really tough big 10. His biggest year was only a 9 win season but LSU saw those qualities of a strong head coach in him. The rest is history.
simple dan needs to pull the trigger on mullen and get over this jim mora business
"A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I'm still doing it." Miles Davis
Let's Bombard Donut's office
with calls to Hire Dan Mullen. Wouldn’t it suck to save Donut’s job?
"Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time"
~ John Wooden
Though Mullen would be my first choice, why would he want to work for
our current AD? In fact, why would any competent coach want to work for our AD….Unfortunately, only the Chancellor can trump this and I doubt he gives a sh__.
Have a hard time not believing that
Mullen is going to Penn State
Ah does the Chianti Dan 2011 Food Tour continue into Pennsylvania?
Food Network can have him
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 5, 2011 10:02 PM PST up reply actions
Has anyone said that the next coach has to have HC experience?
I am surprised that the only candidates names I have heard have all been HCs at one level or another. Surely there is a brillian OC or somebody hiding some place. Or maybe you could snatch another Urban Meyer away from a non AQ conference team. Maybe Chianti Dan is thinking more outside the box than you all are………my $0.02.
we can hope that he is thinking this way...
but he isn’t — judging by his track record.
you can hope the third time is a charm
he should have been one step ahead of the game because it was clear that you weren’t going to keep Skippy around. He could have had something lined up with a Rich Rodriguez or other big name.
Excellent Post
Wishful thinking that anyone in the Athletic Department would prepare such a well written and thought out document to put under Chianti Dan’s nose?
Sarkisian for Coach - Molded Heisman Winners - Pair him w/Hundley
Steve Sarkisian would be the best candidate at this point.
He molded Palmer and Leinart into Heisman winning quartertbacks at $c. He doesn’t like Kiffin, is considered the smarter of the two, is a better recruiter and a better communicator, who is very well respected in Seattle at UW.
Pair his record molding Heisman quarterbacks with Brett Hundley – Top 2 QB prospect and UCLA starter next year – and amazing amazing things might happen.
Sark can turn Hundley into Heisman.
If we wanted a QB coach, Mullen's the guy
tutored Tebow, Chris Leak, Brian Johnson, Alex Smith…
and this post
is why the cooling-off period for people joining BruinsNation should be a month.
So far Sark has molded Jake Locker
Into an underachieving bust.
Norm Chow “molded” the same qbs that Sark is now being credited for “molding.” I’m not about get excited that somebody coached 5-star qbs at USC. That’s not what “molding” really means.
And if it's an Armenian coach you really want
I’d rather hire Ara Parseghian.
Please stop posting this BS everywhere!
Saw your post on the FB page too. NOBODY wants Trogan leftovers like Sark as coach.
What is this?
The Armenian promotion factory?
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
He worked there, but he's not a born and bred Trojan like Del Rio or Seto or Fisher.
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 6, 2011 12:03 PM PST up reply actions
I don't either
He’s not much of a Trogan, and we’ll see if he’s a good coach…so far not impressed, so I wouldn’t want him.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
I agree that this is an excellent post...
It gives me hope there are good candidates out there besides everybody who has already passed. I’m grateful that such excellent ideas are coming from here in the absence of thought coming from the athletic department.
Not a bad choice......but at what price?
First of all, I don’t think we should play in the SEC sweepstakes to begin with. All the salaries in the SEC are highly inflated.
Secondly, Dan Mullen is making $2.5 million right now. Realistically, he’s not coming for less than $3 million. Think about that for a second, $3 million or more. There are ONLY 9 coaches in the whole country who make more that $3 million a year. Of those 9, 5 have already won at least one NC. I’m sorry, but when we are talking about this kind of money, the conversation needs to start and end with a coach of that caliber. Dan Mullen is not in that league.
If we were able to get Dan Mullen for say $2.5 to $3 million, I might be on board. There are still PLENTY of coaches better than Dan Mullen who we could get for that type of money or maybe a little less. For instance, Art Briles and Gary Patterson currently make $1.5 million and $2million respectively. Not only do I believe they are better coaches and have had more success than Dan Mullen, but they are probably also cheaper.
We are unfortunately involved in a double edged Catch 22. 1.) Most successful coaches don’t want to leave for a slightly upward or lateral move, when they are comfortable where they are at, and many become emotional about leaving the relationships they have built out of loyalty. They are in demand, because they are successful. Conversely, if they weren’t currently successful, nobody would want them. Look at Greg Schiano. Flavor of the month just 2-3 years ago, now he a has been. 2.) Schools like UCLA, that have lost some of their luster, are looking for a coach because they aren’t as successful as they had hoped. If they were successful, they wouldn’t be looking for a coach. So how do you mesh the two, were and under what conditions do these two parties intersect?
Obviously, there has to be something both want. UCLA obviously wants a top flight proven and successful coach from a major university. Unfortunately, most of those guys aren’t going to want to come to UCLA or almost any other school for that matter. I mean, look at other more attractive jobs that have fallen on hard times. They couldn’t get a top flight coach, for any money. Example #1, Michigan, easily considered one of the 5 best jobs in America, and they couldn’t get a Top Flight coach from a major University. So they settled on a good winning coach from a 2nd or 3rd tier school, after their previous “Top” coach floundered. Florida, went with a “Top” DC. Auburn, took a losing coach from Iowa State in Gene Chizik, and found great success. LSU took a slightly winning coach from Oklahoma St. and has found success. Point is, even the schools considered the Top 5 jobs in America couldn’t or didn’t hire “Top” flight coaches, and some were able to find incredible success and others are still waiting to see.
At this point, if we can’t get a Gary Patterson or Art Briles calber coach, then we should switch gears and go after a Top Notch OC or a proven winning Coach from a 2nd or 3rd Tier school, save money, and hire a Top OC, Top DC, and Top assts. to surround him. Afterall, a HC is nothing without Top Assts. I would rather us go after somebody like:
1.) Todd Monken
2.) Gus Malzahn
3.) Paul Chryst
Pay them $1.5 to $2 million and pay their Top OC and DC $1million each, but only if they are Top 5 OC’s and DC’s. I really like Todd Monken. The guys is fiery, he has skills, experience, and have you seen his offense at Okie St. The guy is a rising star and I guarantee you, he will have a good HC job in the next 2-3 years. Watch!!!!
Well thought out.
rather than a comment, this could have been a fanpost. It would have been much better than the single paragraph’s the new guys are posting recently.
I think you are selling us short by returning to the ‘get someone cheap’ line of thinking. Just because Briles and Patterson make 1.5 and 2 million does not mean they would/should come here for the same or similar pay. This is LA. That kind of money is not going to cut it here. It’s that kind of lowballing that has prevented us from getting a home run hire over the last 3 hires.
I get that there are Football Geniues out there in the Gus Malzahn stripe; guys who are coordinators who just need that chance. But, many of us are gun shy about getting a coordinator, because it has bitten us in the ass so often. There is something to be said for a guy that has been HC and proven they do just that.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
great insights
Aren’t the Florida and Michigan moves more reflective of sports economics, as in both schools are “public” universities (yeah, I know), were approaching the end of their budgetary rope on what they could spend, and decided to choke down and grab a second tier HC, avoiding a long term commitment for some over-priced marquee guy who could wind up not working out after all? Goes along with your point about the SEC coaches club having a highly inflated salary structure, too. Why keep feeding a “market price” in which you have little confidence, and for which you have a spotty budget?
The Mad Bruin
Thanks for all the info on Mullen
He sounds like a far more interesting alternative than the geezers (Bellotti, Jones) and never was’s (Mora Jr.) that are being bandied about. Yet I still have this feeling that Donut Dan the Athletic Ditherer is working on his speech, this very moment, to introduce our new Head Coach Cornholio.
The Mad Bruin
by lostnacfgop on Dec 6, 2011 6:06 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
I am waiting for this introduction...
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for joining us this afternoon as we announce and celebrate a new era of bruin football. After conducting an exhaustive national search, we have found a man that we believe may not be the best coach in the country but is the best coach for UCLA. First, I want to thank Terry Donahue and Bob Fields for all their help in identifying targets. In this coaches’ market, their expertise was invaluable. Second, I want to thank chancellor Block for approving Tito’s Tacos Thursdays. Lastly, I want to thank all the bruins fans out there for being so supportive of me during this process. As I stated earlier, it was a coaches’s market so we feel so fortunate to have signed this spectacular coach to a reasonable 10 year $25M contract… let me introduce you to the man that will lead UCLA out of the wilderness… the man that will take us to the promised land… Coach Karl Dorrell !!!
by beanandcheeseburrito on Dec 6, 2011 6:55 AM PST up reply actions
" . . . and his $2/week and 5 mackerel a day OC
Skeevy the Wonder Penguin."
The Mad Bruin
Tito's Tacos would be the single best thing in this entire process so far
greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com
+1 great post
His mic’ed up piece get’s the blood flowing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXAaAWdOTiY
Nice post
Sounds like a long shot though as MSU has got him pretty tied up for the next few years…
by BruinArts on Dec 6, 2011 7:34 AM PST via mobile reply actions
sign Mullen now
dg either doesn’t give a shit or is a total idiot. probably both!!
UCI athletics have gotten way better since dg left. Since dg got here, UCLA football is the 3rd best program in socal behind suc and SDSU. UCLA basketball is now 3rd behind LMU and Long Beach State. UCLA’s 2 money generating sports have fallen big time. There’s no traffic getting out of the Rose Bowl parking lot anymore, I see a lot of empty seats at basketball games.
But baseball has gone up, cause that’s all dg cares about. does baseball generate revenue or do they just break even?
Baseball does not generate rev at UCLA
and does at very few places in the country.
Ry can probably give precise numbers.
greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com
Baseball sure doesn't generate revenue at Tropicana Field.
Yankee Stadium is another story altogether. I understand that the Yankees are planning a public relations coup, by guaranteeing the debts of the United States. Nice move by the Pinstripers.
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