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Tennessee Vols: A Deeper Look At Dan Mullen

By Zach Ragan

STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Dan Mullen of the Mississippi State Bulldogs reacts during the second half of a game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Davis Wade Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Dan Mullen of the Mississippi State Bulldogs reacts during the second half of a game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Davis Wade Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Rumors continue to surface that Dan Mullen could be a possibility to replace Butch Jones as the Tennessee Vols’ head coach.

I have my doubts that these rumors have much merit, but Dan Mullen’s name continues to pop up as a potential replacement for current Tennessee Vols head coach Butch Jones.

My general feeling is that Mullen’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, is using the soon-to-be vacant Tennessee job to get Mullen a raise.

Mullen seems to be extremely happy in Starkville. He doesn’t have sky high expectations at Mississippi State and he’s already paid quite well.

There is no indication that Mullen actually wants to leave town. And by the way, it wouldn’t be just Mullen leaving town. He’s huge on staff continuity, so he’d likely be uprooting most of his staff too. This decision wouldn’t come down to just Mullen.

This except from a Clarion Ledger article earlier this year might give you a bit of insight into how Mullen feels about his staff.

"“A lot of it just works and it just kind of rolls,” Mullen said. “It’s a unique situation in college football that not everybody would have. It might be trickier if I didn’t have the staff that I have to get that done.”With the benefit of a long-tenured staff, Mullen’s offensive philosophy as a play-caller and time management plan as a head coach rely on the same thing: balance."

Mullen is currently the play caller at Mississippi State. It’s a unique situation that’s been successful because of the way his co-offensive coordinators work together. It’s not something that would work with just any set of coaches. That’s why Mullen leaving Starkville would have an effect on more than just his family.

But let’s say Mullen decides he wants to head to East Tennessee. Would he be a good option to lead the Volunteers?

Most of the pro-Mullen folks cite the fact that he’s had decent success at Mississippi State as a reason that he’d have even more success at Tennessee.

I’m not sure that’s the proper way to look at this situation. This notion that if you’re a good coach it’s automatically easy to win at Tennessee doesn’t make any sense to me.

Recruiting is the main reason folks feel this way.

There’s no doubt that Mullen could land better talent at Tennessee, but it’s not like he’s landing the 50th ranked classes in the nation on a regular basis.

Here’s how Mississippi State has recruited under Mullen:

  • 2009: 18
  • 2010: 30
  • 2011: 41
  • 2012: 22
  • 2013: 24
  • 2014: 36
  • 2015: 18
  • 2016: 28

As you can see, it’s not like Mullen is recruiting bad in Starkville. If he’s an above average coach, he should have Mississippi State in the top 15-20 on a regular basis.

Mullen’s had the Bulldogs in that area, but not on a consistent basis (his teams have only finished ranked in the final AP poll on two occasions).

I think there a lot of coaches that would’ve fared better with similar talent.

So what about Mullen’s record against SEC opponents?

Well, let’s take a look at that as well.

  • 5-3 against Ole Miss
  • 4-4 against Arkansas
  • 0-8 against Alabama
  • 7-1 against Kentucky
  • 1-1 against Florida
  • 2-7 against LSU
  • 2-0 against Vanderbilt
  • 3-6 against Auburn
  • 3-3 against Texas A&M
  • 1-0 against Tennessee
  • 1-2 against Georgia
  • 1-2 against South Carolina
  • 1-0 against Missouri

I mean, there’s nothing really there that stands out. Mullen’s teams have been below average against SEC competition.

Now I’m not saying Mullen is a bad coach. He’d certainly be an upgrade over Butch Jones at Tennessee. But I don’t see anything that suggests he’d turn the Volunteers into a force in the SEC East, let alone the SEC as a whole.

Maybe Mullen goes to Tennessee, starts landing Top 10 classes and the program takes off under him. That’s certainly possible.

The Vols, however, need a home run hire this time around. They need a can’t miss coach. I don’t think Mullen is that guy.

Could Tennessee do a lot worse than Mullen?

Obviously. It’s kind of what they’ve done the last decade.

But they could also do a lot better.

Tennessee is in a good position, with the talent on the roster, to land a great head coach this time around.

They just need to identify who is great.

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