Dan Mullen was one shoe away from playing for a chance at the College Football Playoff last year.
Now, he’s fired.
The Florida coach was relieved from his coaching duties on Sunday following the Gators’ 24-23 loss to Missouri one day earlier.
There’s no denying that it has been a disappointing season for Florida. The Gators have lost four straight conference games, two months after giving Alabama a scare in the Swamp. Current recruiting rankings also suggest Florida might be on a downswing. In Florida’s last 11 games against Power Five opponents, it has a 2-9 record.
Mullen might’ve been seen as a villain by fans in the Southeastern Conference for his statements during the COVID-19 season, but should one bad season really be enough to get a coach fired?
He was 34-15 in his four seasons at Florida. That .694 winning percentage was the highest of any coach other than Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer since 1924.
Last season, the offensive trio of quarterback Kyle Trask, tight end Kyle Pitts and wide receiver Kadarius Toney led the Gators to an 8-1 record heading into the final game of the regular season. But after getting a late fourth down stop against LSU, cornerback Marco Wilson tossed the opponent’s shoe 20-yards down the field and was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. LSU ultimately won the game on a game-winning field goal.
Florida’s playoff hopes were over.
Now, Mullen is out and Florida joins a list of storied programs looking to fill a head coaching vacancy. LSU, USC, Miami and Washington are among the schools who will enter the market. But that also means they will have to compete with them for the top coaching candidates around the country.
Will Florida’s replacement coach be better than Mullen? Although Florida might be atop that list of schools as a target coaching destination, they’ll still need to find a coach who wants to leave. As of now, it’s unclear if they have a top replacement choice.
There’s something to be said for having faith in a head football coach. Four years doesn’t allow a coach to have his first full recruiting class graduate. Mark Stoops went 2-10 in his first year at Kentucky and didn’t have a winning season until his fourth year. Now, he’s had six consecutive winning seasons for a program that was once thought of as an afterthought in the SEC. Kentucky is obviously in a different position than Florida, but Stoops is now thought of as one of the top coaches in the conference. Many fans wanted Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh fired after a losing season in 2020 and now he has the Wolverines one win away from the Big Ten Championship.
Florida has the money to continually revamp its football program to try to get back to National Championships. But after being so close in 2020, this move seems premature.
Max Baker can be reached at max@chathamnr.com and @maxbaker_15.