Dan Mullen vs. Those In the Parallel Universe

Photo by Chris Spears

The physicist Brian Greene theorizes because there are only so many ways matter can arrange itself within an infinite universe, eventually it has to repeat itself and arrange in ways that are quite similar. Translated, it is entirely possible for there to be such a thing as a parallel universe, perhaps sharing the same space in which we currently occupy.

You don’t have to see a film like “Men in Black” or the television series “The Man in the High Castle” to believe it is possible for there to be such a thing as a parallel universe. You simply have to be a football fan of the Florida Gators.

The late, great Dan Jenkins wrote that Florida fans “have the arrogance of Notre Dame and the tradition of Wake Forest.” Okay, the Gators have more tradition and far more success than Wake Forest will ever have, but ever since Steve Spurrier awakened Florida’s inner sleeping giant (See Bear Bryant theory of Florida football from back in the 1960s), Florida fans have become more and more like Notre Dame fans every year.

For 12 years, Spurrier dominated the Southeastern Conference and turned Florida into a consistent national power. He went 122-27-1, never won fewer than nine games in a season, won six SEC championships including four in a row from 1993-96, and he won the 1996 national championship. During Spurrier’s glorious reign, Gator fans ditched their decades old “Wait ‘til next year” rallying cry in favor of a sense of entitlement.

Following the three-year glitch that was the Ron Zook Error, Urban Meyer came along to go 65-15 with 13-1 national championship seasons in 2006 and 2008. The sense of entitlement grew exponentially.

Notre Dame fans have the arrogance to believe that any season in which the Irish aren’t in the thick of the national championship race is a profound disappointment. They have become experts in disappointment since their last national championship was 1988, but at least they played for the national championship in 2012 and made the College Football Playoff in 2017 and 2020.

The Gators haven’t won the SEC since 2008 although they did make it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game in 2009, 2015-16 and 2020. Following Meyer’s resignation after an 8-5 season in 2010, the Gators have gone through four coaches (Will Muschamp, interim DJ Durkin, Jim McElwain and interim Randy Shannon) to get to Dan Mullen. That hasn’t stopped a good many Florida fans from showing their Notre Dame arrogance,

In the seven years prior to Mullen, the Gators went 52-36 (Muschamp 28-21; Durkin 1-0; McElwain 22-12; Shannon 1-3). In the three-plus years with Mullen leading the Gators, UF is 33-11. Although the Gators made it to the Sugar Bowl once under Muschamp (2012) and to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game twice under McElwain (2015-16), Florida fans bemoaned the lack of consistency and abysmal offenses during that seven-year run.

In Mullen’s three-plus years, the Gators are 33-11. They’ve made it to three consecutive New Year’s Six Bowl games and at the SEC Championship Game last December, the Gators were the only team in the country that didn’t get their doors blown off by eventual national champion Alabama. Florida’s 52-46 loss to the Crimson Tide was the only game in a 13-0 season that Alabama failed to win by 17 or more points.

In 2018, when the Gators went 10-3 playing mostly with the leftovers from a McElwain team that had a losing record the year before, Florida fans nearly went into apoplexy when the Gators lost to Kentucky for the first time in 31 years. Kentucky won 10 games in 2018, but Florida fans were already questioning the hire of Mullen. It got worse with back-to-back losses to Georgia and Missouri, although it did quiet down a bit when the Gators won their final four games, including a stomping of Florida State (41-14) and a Peach Bowl destruction of Michigan, 41-15 that got the Gators to a final No. 7 ranking in the Associated Press poll.

Florida’s only two losses in 2019 were to eventual national champ LSU (No. 1 at the time) and No. 4 Georgia. Because the offense took off when Kyle Trask led the Gators to a come-from-behind win at Kentucky in game three when Feleipe Franks went down with a season-ending injury, Florida fans questioned how it was that Mullen didn’t see how much better Trask was all along. The season concluded with another four-game winning streak including a 40-17 blasting of Florida State and a 36-28 win over Virginia in the Orange Bowl. Florida finished ranked 7th in the Associated Press poll.

Mullen is still hearing it from a contingent of Florida fans about the 2020 season. They bemoan those three losses at the end of the season and nobody seems to take into consideration that (a) the entire schedule had to be reshuffled at mid-year due to COVID-19; (b) the team didn’t know from week-to-week who would be able to play or who would be quarantined because of the virus; (c) games were played in partially-filled stadiums; (d) everybody’s defense nationally was down considerably, not just Florida’s, and (e) the Gators were three plays away from an 11-0 record that would have earned them the top seed in the College Football Playoff. The Gators blew the doors off Georgia, led the nation in passing, and had three All-Americans in Kyle Pitts (first team, Mackey Award winner as the top tight end in the country), Kadarius Toney (first team) and Trask (second team). Florida finished 13th in the final AP poll after spending most of the season in the top seven and getting as high as No. 3.

Photo by Chris Spears

And now here we are in 2021. The Gators are 4-2 with losses to then No. 1 Alabama, 31-29, and now 11th-ranked Kentucky, 20-13, in Lexington. Mullen has been catching it from that same contingent of Florida fans, who seem convinced that the Gators will never win a championship as long as he is the head coach. They’ve questioned his acumen as a developer of quarterbacks because Emory Jones is still the starter six games into the season and that Anthony Richardson has been slow to come back from a hamstring injury in game two after a number of electric plays that had the whole country buzzing. They ask why is Todd Grantham still the defensive coordinator even though the Gators are improving every week and now rank in the top 30 nationally, 5th in the SEC.

Photo by Chris Spears

It's almost as if these fans live in a parallel universe. One has to wonder which games they have been watching since Mullen took over. The numbers don’t lie so for comparison’s sake, here is where Florida ranked (wins and losses) in the Muschamp, McElwain and Mullen eras.

Muschamp (2011-14): Florida’s 29-21 record ranked 52nd nationally and was the 9th best record among SEC teams. In the previous six years under Meyer, the Gators had the 4th best record nationally, best in the SEC.

McElwain (2015-17): Florida’s 23-15 record was ranked 44th nationally and was the 6th best record in the SEC.

Mullen (2018-Present): The Gators are 33-11, which is tied for 9th nationally and is tied for the 3rd best record in the SEC. Here are the teams ahead of UF in the Mullen era: 1. Alabama 43-4; 2. Clemson 42-5; 3. Ohio State 38-4; 4. (Tie) Notre Dame 38-6 and Oklahoma 38-6; 6. Cincinnati 37-6; 7. Georgia 37-7; 8. Appalachian State 37-8; 9. (Tie) Florida 33-11 and LSU 33-11.

Let’s take things a step further. From 2011-17 Florida fans were constantly begging for points on the scoreboard and decent offensive production. Here is a year-by-year comparison of points per game, rushing yards per game, passing yards per game and total offense per game.

Muschamp (2011-14)

2011, 7-6: 25.5 points per game (71 nationally/8 SEC); 143 rushing yards per game, 3.96 per carry (73/8); 189.7 passing yards per game, 7.5 per attempt (89/5); 328.7 yards per game total offense, 5.42 per play (105/10)

2012, 11-2: 26.5 points per game (78/10); 187.69 rushing yards per game, 4.53 per carry (39/3); 146.3 passing yards per game, 6.6 per attempt (118/14); 334 yards per game total offense, 5.25 per play (104/12)

2013, 4-8: 18.8 points per game (113/14); 145.75 yards per game, 3.63 per carry (88/13); 170.9 passing yards per game, 6.6 per attempt (109/12); 316.7 yards per game total offense, 4.79 per play (115/12)

2014, 7-5: 30.3 points per game (56/8); 187.67 rushing yards per game, 4.36 per carry (43/7); 179.9 passing yards per game, 6.7 per attempt (106/12); 367.6 yards per game total offense, 5.24 per play (96/12)

McElwain (2015-17)

2015, 10-4: 23.2 points per game (100/11); 126.93 rushing yards per game, 3.48 per carry (113/13); 207.1 passing yards per game, 7.2 per attempt (86/8); 334 yards total offense per game, 5.11 per play (112/12)

2016, 9-5: 23.9 points per game (107/12); 128.23 yards per game, 3.69 per carry (113/14); 215.8 passing yards per game, 6.8 per attempt (79/6); 344 yards per game total offense, 5.19 per play (116/14)

2017, 4-7: 22.1 points per game (108/13); 156.36 rushing yards per game, 4.3 per carry (75/9); 179.5 passing yards per game, 6.3 per attempt (102/11); 335.9 yards per game total offense, 5.19 per play (110/13)

Mullen (2018-Present)

2018, 10-3: 35 points per game (22/5); 213.15 rushing yards per game, 5.27 per carry (27/4); 213.5 passing yards per game, 7.6 per attempt (83/10); 426.7 yards per game total offense, 6.23 per play (42/6)

2019, 11-2: 33.2 points per game (28/3); 129.77 rushing yards per game, 4.24 per carry (107/13); 300.8 passing yards per game, 8.4 per attempt (16/3); 430.5 yards per game total offense, 6.47 per play (45/4)

2020, 8-4: 39.8 points per game (13/2); 131.25 rushing yards per game, 4.29 per carry (96/11); 378.6 passing yards per game, 9.6 per attempt (1/1); 509.8 yards per game, 7.28 per play (9/3)

2021, 4-2: 33.2 points per game (40/7); 273.67 rushing yards per game, 6.67 per carry (3/1); 230.3 passing yards per game, 7.9 per attempt (68/8); 504 yards per game total offense, 7.17 per play (10/2)

The numbers tell quite a success story because Florida under Mullen has been vastly superior on offense. Excluding last year, which can only be described as an aberration, Todd Grantham’s defense has been good. The Gators were sixth in the SEC in 2018, second in 2019 and they’re currently fifth … and getting better.

Too many Florida fans fail to take into account that the entire power structure in the SEC has shifted since Urban Meyer left after the 2010 season. Nick Saban and Alabama have won six national championships, five since 2011, the same year former Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, for the second time in his career elected to hire a coach with zero head coaching experience (Ron Zook was the first) to replace a championship-caliber legend. Neither Zook nor Muschamp were adequately prepared to keep the Florida program going at a championship level. Florida was fortunate to replace Zook with Meyer, but neither Muschamp nor McElwain were able to compete with the Alabama juggernaut.

Saban is recruiting at an unprecedented level, particularly since Meyer left (No. 1 recruiting class in the country at UF in 2010). Saban is getting recruits in Florida that he wouldn’t have gotten prior to 2010 and in the void of an outstanding coach at UF from 2011-17, Florida no longer gets the 5-star recruits. Georgia and Ohio State have made great headway in the state since 2011.

It has taken Mullen three years to rebuild a Florida roster that was pockmarked with holes when he arrived. Thanks to judicious use of the transfer portal combined with targeted recruiting to solidify the depth chart, Mullen has a top-to-bottom SEC caliber roster for the first time. Currently, the Florida recruiting class for 2022, is ranked 14th and continuing to climb the national rankings.

The 2022 recruiting class will once again be supplemented by transfers, which will help the Gators close some of the talent gaps with the likes of Alabama, Georgia and LSU in the SEC. Currently eight transfers either start or are in the regular rotations on both sides of the football for UF. With new recruiting rules that allow a first-time transfer immediate eligibility, the transfer portal will be alive with plug-and-play types who can step and contribute from day one. It’s not exactly a secret in the recruiting industry that Mullen’s phone has been ringing off the hook with transfer prospects.

For anyone but those predisposed to a rather jaded opinion about the job Mullen is doing as Florida’s head coach, the future looks very good. Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi even took those living in the parallel universe to task earlier in the week when he opined:

“Now, with the playoff-ification of college football, Gator Nation can’t even get juiced up about going to major bowl games such as the Peach, Orange or Cotton. Those are the three New Year’s Six bowl games Mullen has taken the Gators to in his first three years on the job. Pretty freaking good if you ask me.

“It’s true, Florida is not Alabama, but guess what? Nobody else is either. It’s also true Florida has been a notch below Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma in recent years, but other than Bama, Georgia, Clemson, Oklahoma and Ohio State, has anybody else really been better than the Gators since Mullen took over?

“Florida will probably finish 9-3 this season and go to another New Year’s Six bowl game, which, of course, will not satisfy many Gator fans.”

With six games remaining, 9-3 is entirely possible. While 10-2 is considered unlikely since it would mean finishing the season 6-0 and beating No. 1 Georgia, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility. Back in 2014, for example, Florida was an overwhelming underdog to 9th-ranked Georgia. That Florida team with Treon Harris at quarterback threw only six passes but ran for 418 yards on the Bulldogs as Florida scored a 38-20 upset. Strange things can and do happen in college football, so could the Gators beat Georgia and finish with 10 regular season wins?

Of course, they could.

Would that silence the Mullen critics who regularly take to message boards and social media to voice their displeasure? Probably not.

We would all like the Gators to get back to the consistent level of excellence enjoyed during the Spurrier and Meyer years. It hasn’t happened yet, but that’s not to say Mullen isn’t chipping away. Only those living in a parallel universe can’t see the progress of the last three-plus years. Only those living in a parallel universe can’t understand that where the Gators are now compared to where they were when Mullen became the head coach is fairly close to light years distance.

Photo by Chris Spears

One final thought to ponder: Back in 2017 in the two weeks prior to Florida landing Mullen as the head coach, fans were frothing at the mouth over the possibility of Chip Kelly or Scott Frost taking over at UF. Mullen was viewed by many almost as a consolation prize. Well, he’s 33-11 since taking over at Florida and that’s playing in the SEC, the toughest conference in America. Kelly is 14-23 at UCLA since 2018 and that is playing in the ever-so-weak Pac-12. Frost is 15-24 at Nebraska while playing in the consistently weak Western Division of the Big Ten.

You have to be living in a parallel universe if you don’t see that Dan Mullen wasn’t exactly a consolation prize.