Is Dan Mullen's perceived substandard recruiting what is keeping him

[Seinfeld]

from landing on other schools' wish lists? I mean... for a guy that walked into Starkville, beat Ole Miss in year 1, will have taken State to 5 straight bowl games this season, and led MSU to #1 in the country during the last year, all signs would point towards him being one of the hottest commodities in the country. That just doesn't seem the case, though

 

[was21]

No news is good news

 

[RocketDawg]

It's fine with me that other schools don't seem to be after him at the present time. And his recruiting isn't all that bad ... if it was, we wouldn't be where we are today. Perhaps one could say that if he had Freeze's recruiting classes our team would be a super team. I don't really think that's the case ... a team can have too many prima donnas.

I think he deserves a substantial raise when contract talks come up along with the assistants (particularly the DC). He should be making at least as much as Freeze. Given MSU's success with our recruiting classes vs. Freeze's, Dan must be a much better coach ... makes more with less.

 

[121Josey]

Where would he go that's not a lateral move? Maybe he knows that he doesn't have to play the agent game to get a raise.

ETA: And don't think that the possibility of Mullen leaving wouldn't be used against him on the recruiting trail.

 

[57stratdawg]

He's got a top 20 job already, maybe higher. He's probably about to get a raise to $4+MM, he's got a newly expanded stadium, new football only practice facility, Heisman contending QB returning in 2015 (hopefully).

Why leave? I'm sure if Notre Dame, Texas, or someone came calling; he'd probably go. No harm there. But we're as good of a job as Nebraska right now.

 

[DirtyDog]

I agree. Our facilities, his salary, the fan expectations/pressure and internal freedom within the MSU AD would be hard to beat except by a very few schools. Nebraska, Michigan, and even Florida (as they are right now) are less appealing jobs. You can add the "look what I built" pride factor to that and I think he stays for a long time unless there is just an itch he has to scratch at some school that has nothing to do with facilities, expectations, pressure, salary or recruiting base. The only other thing that seems to tempt some coaches at some point is a leap to the NFL just to see what its like there, but that's a different curiosity.

 

[Seinfeld]

Point taken, but I'm not really talking about whether or not he has a personal desire to leave. I'm more curious as to why more teams and ADs don't seem to be highly interested in him. Of course, when you have a situation where a coach explains that he's not interested in your job, ADs do typically tend to have a "we didn't really want him anyway" mentality

 

[57stratdawg]

Well, you never really know. He could be getting calls every day from the Nebraskas, Michigans, and Oregon States of the world. I'm pretty sure Minnesota offered Mullen their job a few years back.

 

[was21]

Schools approach vacancies in different ways. For example, Greg Byrne's policy of record was that no coach whose name was leaked in the search process would get the job. Of course, he changed his mind. Just because it doesn't make the news doesn't mean it's not happening. I don't know who Mullen's agent is. Not to pick on him, but we really don't know if the OM coach was ever seriously considered by Florida although a spin was put on it. As of now, ain't but one job possibility open and that's Michigan and they're in no hurry to hire a coach.

 

[FQDawg]

I think the only time you believe something in a coaching search...

is when the AD is at the podium introducing the new coach.

I'm sure Dan's been contacted over the last few weeks. But as others have said, I think the list of schools that would represent a step up is getting smaller each year.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

How do we know? Most of this does not take place in the open and I'm sure the parts we hear about in the open have more to do with jockeying for a raise (see Jimmy Sexton). Much of the speculation around these jobs have Mullen listed as a candidate. He (or more likely, his agent) may be getting calls about these jobs, but we aren't going to know. If Mullen has told his agent that he's only interested in jobs X and Y, but is getting calls about jobs A, B, and C, he's not going to have his name out there as a viable candidate for those jobs.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

I found that policy to be incredibly short-sighted, but I imagine he learned that too. Don't let the media (or anyone else) dictate the terms of your personnel search.

 

[Sack N City]

Dirty Dog" Our facilities, his salary, the fan expectations/pressure and internal freedom within the MSU AD would be hard to beat except by a very few schools. Nebraska, Michigan, and even Florida (as they are right now) are less appealing jobs. You can add the "look what I built" pride factor to that and I think he stays for a long time unless there is just an itch he has to scratch at some school that has nothing to do with facilities, expectations, pressure, salary or recruiting base. "

Great summary of where we are. A lot of people think Michigan may be a better job because their frame of reference is still the 1980's . Michigan with a big budget may still be a better job on paper. But not that much better.

 

[Sack N City]

Profiles In Heroism: Dan Mullen.

The link below is to an article from a Michigan blog which has a thorough analysis of Mullen.

http://mgoblog.com/content/profiles-heroism-dan-mullen#more

 

[was21]

Fairly interesting blog...pretty much runs the gamut between fact, fiction and stereotypical perceptions of Mississippi State and the state of Mississippi. At any rate, Michigan is in no hurry to fill their job for a number of reasons, per Detroit Free Press newspaper.

 

[MabenMaroon]

Profiles In Heroism: Dan Mullen.

The link below is to an article from a Michigan blog which has a thorough analysis of Mullen.

http://mgoblog.com/content/profiles-heroism-dan-mullen#more

I resent that title, I don't think *** uses heroin, maybe a little weed every now and then, but not anything hard.

Seriously, reading some of the UM blog comments, they just don't have a clue "inferior facilities", "very little money available". Why is it that schools with UM in their moniker are so delusional. I guess some of those folks commenting have never heard of the SECN or the SEC revenue sharing for the past two decades, am certainly sure they have never set foot in any of our facilities or spoken with anybody who has. Oh well, shucks and darn it all, we just can't make a good impression on those "elite" B1G folks.

 

[Old Fart Dawg]

That was the best analysis of Mullen I've ever read. But one point they totally whiff: would he go. They seem to think they only have to sell Dan on the idea of going to Michigan. The bigger sales job would have to be done on Megan.

 

[thatsbaseball]

I`ll really be glad when we can get past that "Golly if ol Dan can win at State just think what he could do at a REAL football school" mentality amongst our own people. We`ve had the ability to do what Mullen has accomplished (EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE NOT EVERY YEAR) for some time now but we`ve been stepping on our own dicks with these awful hires we`ve made in the past. Mullen is an above average but not great coach when all things are considered but you`ll never ever convince me that he`s done anything at State that another above average coach couldn`t have done. We`ve got money, facilities and great fans. If Dan wants to go we can reload with a another good hire. HAIL STATE

 

[patdog]

My guess is his agent hasn't put his name out as being available.

 

[RickyWadePhilpotDVM]

I think it has more to do with his personality. And the SEC factor.

****** recruiters don't get the kind of talent that let's you end up #1 in the country. His recruiting is fine. I know some of y'all liked the passion in his EB post-game, but I thought it was a douchey spiel.

And besides, isn't he still on Michigan's 'list' anyway? At the end of the day, I think it's hard for any non-SEC school to pry away an SEC coach; this conference is the most financially lucrative and talented one in the country. The facilities in Starkville are solid, the pay is good, and you can't get better competition. Florida may have gone after Freeze, but they're also SEC. Note that you didn't see Michigan or Nebraska so much as glance at him. Michigan could maybe win a bidding war with MSU, but I don't think they would throw the kind of money at Mullen that Stricklin couldn't/wouldn't immediately match.

Look at Miles. He should be Michigan's #1 as he was in the past, but they won't go after him because they know they'll have such a hard time luring him away from Red Stick. Talented coaches go to the SEC, not the other way around. When was the last time that another conference successfully lured away a top-tier SEC coach? The only former SEC coaches in other leagues are the ones that got shitcanned.

 

[FormerlyHighLifeRebel]

I don't know what you mean by "top tier."

When was the last time that another conference successfully lured away a top-tier SEC coach?

However, I think last year would be the answer to this question.

 

[mcdawg22]

Profiles In Heroism: Dan Mullen.

The link below is to an article from a Michigan blog which has a thorough analysis of Mullen.

http://mgoblog.com/content/profiles-heroism-dan-mullen#more

Of course the offense prior to 2014 was run by a square peg running a round offense. Funny how his offense only does well when he has a Heisman Trophy candidate running it, but it's also funny how when he has his style QB running the offense, they turn into Heisman Trophy candidates

 

[AFDawg]

However, I think last year would be the answer to this question.

But Vanderbilt

 

[was21]

Michigan is in no hurry to fill its job. They could be looking at Dan and maybe consider a match up with Ohio State as an audition before they consider offering him the job. There's no way of actually knowing whether he would consider it a tough decision to accept or not accept. Either way it could be leveraged to his advantage salary wise. It's a business.

 

[22yardpunt]

Post.of.the.year.

 

[Dawg1976]

This. Other coaches have no problem doing this to get a pay raise.

 

[BiscuitEater]

I posted this in another thread ...

I'm sure Dan's been contacted over the last few weeks. But as others have said, I think the list of schools that would represent a step up is getting smaller each year.

BUT, the 'business' of hiring coaches has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. Now, coaches are seldom called in person by ADs until their final interview. The ADs get in touch with AGENTS that tell them whether that coach is looking to leave and IF they would consider coming to their school.

McElwain at Colorado State is a perfect example. His name was mentioned for 3 or 4 jobs before Florida even went after him. He was READY to get a better job and pitched in $2M to make it happen. His payment of $2 million is also the largest amount that a coach has ever paid to buy himself out of a contract.

 

[MM4MSU]

My guess is his agent hasn't put his name out as being available.

I tend to believe this is #1 reason his name is not "out there". At every opportunity he has made it clear he wants to win big at State and is very happy. That said, we need to hope the coach at Penn State stays a long time.

Michael M
(MSU '73)

 

[FormerlyHighLifeRebel]

No argument here. However, let's don't act like State was that much better of a job post Croom or OM was that much better of a job post Orgeron or Nutt. Freeze and Mullen like where they are because it's the Devil they've built.

 

[Sack N City]

"My guess is his agent hasn't put his name out as being available."

Does anybody know for sure that Mullen has an agent? And if so, who the agent is?
I realize that a number of head coaches now have agents . But it seems like Mullen possibly negotiated the deals at State by himself. Never heard the name of his agent.

 

[patdog]

I think Mullen knows he's going to get his raise without having to extort it out of us.

 

[johnson86-1]

I found that policy to be incredibly short-sighted, but I imagine he learned that too. Don't let the media (or anyone else) dictate the terms of your personnel search.

What's short sighted about it. If there is a leak with anything specific, it means one of two things: you need to fire somebody in your inner circle, or your coaching candidate (or his agent) is using the interest to negotiate a pay raise (or using a counter at his current school to negotiate a higher amount out of you). If it's the latter, it's probably safe to move on. The only thing you have to be careful about is making sure it's a real leak and not that somebody noticed the coach getting on or off a flight somewhere or some other random information is figured out, not leaked.

 

[johnson86-1]

No argument here. However, let's don't act like State was that much better of a job post Croom or OM was that much better of a job post Orgeron or Nutt. Freeze and Mullen like where they are because it's the Devil they've built.

State and UM were both much better jobs than Vandy, even post Croom and Orgeron/Nutt. State and UM were pretty incompetently managed for a long time and they still occasionally avoided stepping on their dick for long enough to have good seasons and good stretches. Vandy's good stretches before were mixing in a bowl team every once in a while and being competitive with defense even though they rarely won.

 

[KurtRambis4]

So all of the idiots

like worstusernameever that claimed time and time and time and time again that Mullen couldn't recruit for ****, were actually doing State a favor by running off potential future suitors?

 

[GloryDawg]

Maybe the word is out that he's not interested in leaving and they are not trying. It looks like egg on the face when you offer someone a job and they turn it down so they just don't try to go after some of these guys. They go after the ones they feel will accept.

 

[patdog]

Both MSU and UM were ALWAYS better jobs than Vandy. And not by just a little.

 

[Sack N City]

Sexton is doing the work for Mullen

I think Mullen knows he's going to get his raise without having to extort it out of us.

Exactly. After Sexton extorted money from Ole Miss for Freeze, all Mullen has to do is ride piggy back on Sexton's work by telling Stickland: "I certainly should get at least as much as Freeze, since I had a better record and you don't want to suggest to recruits and others that Miss. State program is not as good as Ole Miss by paying me less." And Mullen saves the fee charged by an agent.

 

[FormerlyHighLifeRebel]

Agree to disagree. I can see both sides of this. I just think the expectations are incredibly low at Vandy making it more desireable than people think. The goal is just to get to a few bowl games. Whereas at State and OM there is an expectation of eventually competing with the best programs in the country.

 

[jakldawg]

Yeah, Michigan's facilities sound great.

The stadium did not have luxury suites until 2010, and didn't host a night football game until 2011

Each time I read a comment on the mgoblog post, I found myself thinking "aren't Michigan fans supposed to be smart?"
Someone should point out to them that Mullen's whole "school up north" routine is borrowed pretty much whole-cloth from Woody Hayes. That should tamp down any enthusiasm.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

The only thing you have to be careful about is making sure it's a real leak and not that somebody noticed the coach getting on or off a flight somewhere or some other random information is figured out, not leaked.

That's what I'm getting at. With the amount of attention placed on coaching searches now, it's not hard for someone to get a nugget of information just by paying attention to things (planes, area codes on phones, two people in the same place at the same time, etc.) and run with it. It would also be easy to track down a leak in your athletic department by leaking your own red herring to your staff and seeing if it makes it to the media.