And if he thinks Mullen can be satisfied at UNLV. Bartoo says look for Mullen to be a top 3 candidate next year at North Carolina. And he thinks that is where Mullen will end up. So Chucky asks him about Mullen returning to State if something happens with Lebby. Bartoo said no way Dan should walk back through that door. He said Dan is the best coach ever at State and he doesn’t need to ruin that legacy. Chuck pressed him and Bartoo said Dan should not go back to State in the shape State is in for any amount offered! And he indicated that even though Lebby is considered on the hot seat, he should not be. He said State needs continuity and the time to do a complete rebuild.
So Chuck Oliver asks Dave Bartoo about Dan Mullen
- Thread starter Called3rdstrikedawg
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Good lord, we have a $30 mil roster. At what point are we allowed to have expectations?
is there another $30 mil roster in the sport in which the media thinks the program & team are awful?
Not sure Dan would come back either and it's not because we are poor ole lil Mississippi State. He won't come back for the same reason he left. He wants something bigger.
The second time around is very rarely as good as the first. Mullen is a good coach. But he should mot be a candidate if we are looking for a coach in a few months.
He could get something bigger here- A Natty. At that time, he “won a natty” by what he did here but I truly believe he could win one here if we could just leave him alone. With all of that said, there’s no way I’d leave unlv for something bigger considering the landscape of college football today… too many 
and not enough MEN on the roster.
and not enough MEN on the roster.
Bobby Petrino 2 was good at Louisville. Brought them a Heisman and what would have maybe been a fringe playoff run in 2016. I’d take that.
I’m ok with a 2-10 if a 10-2 is in close proximity. College sports is year by year now. There are no long term builds anymore, that logic is dead.
No. They're everyone's dark horse
41-8 first time, 35-26 second time. And that “fringe playoff run” was a 4-loss season.
Didn’t it end quite poorly for him the second time around?
Also you can make a strong argument that being a 4 or 5 loss team with Lamar Jackson at QB for three years is some serious underachieving.
Everyone bitches about Lebby and yeah, he has had some 17 ups but good luck talking anyone that would be considered at least average into taking the job if we fired him at this point. When he was hired, from the way things were looking, we were having a hell of a time getting anyone to listen. I can’t imagine it would be much easier at this time.
I acknowledged that. And you could also say that with a 12-team playoff, they might not have flubbed those last few games (because they knew they were out of the 4 teamer).
Again, I’d take a flirt with the playoffs all day long right now.
I keep hearing this but the reality is if Lebby is fired a g5 guy gets hired, it’s not like there’s some great list of sitting P4 coaches who are going to turn the job down if a 7-18 coach gets canned. Lol
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If hired, Dan would be 5-6 games better if not more after two years.
The one SEC win Lebby has was horrid. Did any of you watch that game? We tried to lose in so many ways.
I’m hopeful, but his decisions, administrative and in-game have been bad.
If hired, Dan would be 5-6 games better if not more after two years.
The one SEC win Lebby has was horrid. Did any of you watch that game? We tried to lose in so many ways.
I’m hopeful, but his decisions, administrative and in-game have been bad.
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CUSA and Big East vs ACC probably had more to do with that. He was a helluva coach. And a poor motorcyclist.
It could happen.
The energy from the fanbase would go through the roof. It is not a bad idea.
Yes the roster this year is in the 30 million zone...
Who the 17 is Dave Bartoo and why does Bo Bounds treat this jackleg like he’s 17’n Nostradamus?
That argument was valid last year. Three seasons is an eternity in today’s college football. You can’t waste another season waiting for Lebby to “figure it out.”
I don't doubt we are spending some good coin, but do we have a premium factor involved due to recent suck? So is this a $30M of potential roster or did we have to pay $30 for $20 value?
Hey Dan! Here’s $9 million per year. You have 3 years to get State into the playoffs! Or…. You can stay at Vegas for $4 million a year and win 8 games per year. Whadaya say?
Because he's got no interest in coming back. Dan returning is a pipe dream. We offered the man big money to keep him and he wanted out. He's going to land a better job than this if he wants one.
I just love how if Deboer just misses the playoffs at Alabama, he should be "on the hot seat"... yet winning one SEC game in two years at MSU (in an ugly win) should constitute more time. There were morons in the sports media blowing up when Croom was fired.
And in the same interview here, it's fine for North Carolina to fire a multi Super Bowl winning NFL coach, that has worked alongside Saban in the NFL, for subpar results... but MSU needs to continue on with an inexperienced college coach.
At no point in his sports media career has Dave Bartoo been successful enough to justify anyone giving a rat's *** about his opinion.
Pretty sure Bartoo and his CFBmatrix are widely consulted anytime a coaching search begins. So I would say he is pretty knowledgeable. Or at least has a fairly accurate system of stats to predict and grade with. Plus he agrees with me, so that shows he is no dummy. Dan will never walk thru that door. Stop living in the past.
This is your answer:
He's that geeky guy who actually does know things and people, albeit maybe not publicly.
His actual on-field predictions and coach effect stuff aren't as good as they used to be, as he still relies heavily on high school crootin rather than portal, but he admits that. Everyone has had to evolve a little bit.
If Lebby can stay and keep improving that is our best hope to be good sooner rather than later. Why?
It's not about a 7-18 coach getting fired, its that State plays 8-10 teams a year vs teams that spend more money on their roster, pay their coaching staffs more and have better facilities.
Libby better have it figured out now or he will be gone by week eight.
That SEC win might be the first time I have ever said, those refs actually protected us and leaned our way. Without Petrino pissing them off, we probably lose if the calls don't go our way. Even then it took a last minute TD to win.
Sounds like you are running up the white flag saying maybe it is State that doesn’t belong rather then an inexperienced stumbling bumbling head coach who doesn’t belong.
So rather then be the Iranian Air Force using WWI bi-planes, State should hire the guy with the best gimmick offense and spend money full bore on a defense to at least be able to beat 3 or 4 of those Top 25 conference foes.
And go back and watch that TD. It was a workman’s effort to get the first down let alone fight his way into the end zone. It was 4th and the pass was short of the down marker, but Evan’s just shook off the tackler, picked up the first do n and more to make it to the “Land of Milk & Honey”!
Evans could be a superstar receiver this year and in the NFL. He's maybe as good as I've seen at Mississippi State.
Dan does not want to be in Starkville for anything other than a chance to get a pat on the back for being Coach here at one time.
I can't imagine why anyone would want him back.
He was a good enough coach to build a program here that would get him recognized by other better and better-funded program.
He was never going to give the relentless effort to build a national championship program at MSU (he couldn't even do it at UF, for 17 sake).
The moment Freeze showed up grinding at TSUN, Dan was done at MSU and he knew it.
I can't imagine why anyone would want him back.
He was a good enough coach to build a program here that would get him recognized by other better and better-funded program.
He was never going to give the relentless effort to build a national championship program at MSU (he couldn't even do it at UF, for 17 sake).
The moment Freeze showed up grinding at TSUN, Dan was done at MSU and he knew it.
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