Thoughts of the Day: November 15, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning:

“YOU GOT FINS TO THE LEFT, FINS TO THE RIGHT …”

The sharks are schooling and we can only speculate what is next for Dan Mullen. Some very well-intentioned people seem to think he’s got one foot out the door already. There are claims of booster money raised to pay for the buyout and many in the media say it will be impossible for Mullen to be the head coach next year even if the Gators win their next two games to finish 7-5 in the regular season.

Only a handful of people know for sure whether Mullen will be coaching the Gators next year or if he’s the football coaching equivalent of dead man walking – Dan Mullen, Megan Mullen, Scott Stricklin, Dr. Kent Fuchs, Jimmy Sexton and maybe two or three others.

For everyone else, it’s a matter of speculation.

This is a real dilemma and no matter how strongly you believe Dan Mullen needs to go or how much you believe he should be given a year to fix the mess that has his signature on it, there isn’t an easy answer. Here are a few of the suggestions that have come to me via phone call, email or text message since the Florida defense laid such a gigantic egg in the Gators’ 70-52 win over Samford.

Fire him and announce it at the Monday morning press conference: My response to that is Dan Mullen is 34-14 and has gone to three straight New Year’s Six bowls. Do you think firing him with two games to go in the regular season is going to send a message to the kind of coach you want to hire if and when Mullen is gone?

Fire him and announce it the day after the Florida State game: My response is that if he’s going to be fired, then that would be the time to do it and not before. Secondly, don’t fire Dan Mullen unless there is a short list of candidates who have indicated a serious interest BEFORE Mullen is canned. This is why God invented agents, so contacted coaches could have plausible deniability when asked if they’ve been contacted by a school and their season is still going on.

Hire Bob Stoops: Really?

Hire Mark Stoops: I like Mark Stoops. I really do. I think he’s a fine football coach but I think he’s Les Miles all over again. Les won a lot of games but was boring. Really boring. Weren’t the seven years pre-Mullen enough?

Hire Mel Tucker: If Mullen has to go, he would be my first phone call. He knows the SEC, has coached in the SEC, knows how Nick and Kirby tick, knows how to recruit, deals with the transfer portal the way an NFL GM deals with free agency and unless his mother dropped him on his head too many times when he was an infant, he has to know it’s easier to get to the SEC Championship Game at Florida than it is to the Big Ten Championship Game at Michigan State.

Hire Mario Cristobal: I wonder if he is willing to coach in the SEC when Uncle Phil will throw all that Nike money at him to give him whatever he needs. The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams. Easier to make the playoff as the Pac-12 champ than it will be from an SEC that not only includes Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and Auburn but will soon include Texas and Oklahoma. But, if Mullen were to go and Mario wanted to be a Gator, he could be a big time hire.

Hire Billy Napier: He’s turned down SEC jobs already. He’s got a job that pays well at Louisiana, very little pressure, and may be wanting to see what Nick is going to do at Alabama in the next 2-3 years before leaving Lafayette. But, a great hire if the UF job were to open.

Give Mullen another year, but tell him he has to gut his staff completely: I can see him being given another year. Dr. Fuchs likes him. Scott Stricklin likes him. I’ve talked to a number of high powered boosters who like him and an equal number who liked him until the Samford game. I don’t think anyone has to tell Dan that he’s got a whole heap of changing to do if he intends to be the long term solution at UF. If he doesn’t (a) make significant staff changes and (b) find some people who are better recruiters, then another year will be wasted. Without changes you might as well can him now. But, I think it’s worth Dr. Fuchs, Stricklin and the boosters to ask now for a detailed plan on how the ship can and will be righted.

Give Mullen another year, but encourage him to take another job if he’s offered: You might find it surprising, but there are a lot of folks in the coaching profession that think that Mullen has been operating at a handicap, has to deal with the worst fans in America (I can vouch that this is the reputation UF fans have with a lot of prominent coaches) who haven’t taken into account he’s had a serious facilities deficit that is only now being addressed, and that he should take another job elsewhere. There are jobs out there to be had by Dan Mullen. You may find that hard to believe but it’s true. Under this scenario, if he doesn’t think UF’s issues can be solved in a single year and there will be little patience beyond that, then perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to encourage him to go if a good job is offered.

The Associated Press Top 25 poll: 1. Georgia 10-0; 2. Alabama 9-1; 3. Cincinnati 10-0; 4. Oregon 9-1; 5. Ohio State 9-1; 6. Notre Dame 9-1; 7. Michigan State 9-1; 8. Michigan 9-1; 9. Oklahoma State 9-1; 10. Ole Miss 8-2; 11. Baylor 8-2; 12. Oklahoma 9-1; 13. Wake Forest 9-1; 14. BYU 8-2; 15. Texas-San Antonio; 16. Texas A&M 7-3; 17. Houston 9-1; 18. Iowa 8-2; 19. Wisconsin 7-3; 20. Pittsburgh 8-2; 21. Arkansas 7-3; 22. Louisiana 9-1; 23. San Diego State 9-1; 24. Utah 7-3; 25. North Carolina State 7-3

The Coaches Top 25 poll: 1. Georgia 10-0; 2. Alabama 9-1; 3. Cincinnati 10-0; 4. Ohio State 9-1; 5. Oregon 9-1; 6. Notre Dame 9-1; 7. Michigan 9-1; 8. Michigan State 9-1; 9. Oklahoma State 9-1; 10. Ole Miss 8-2; 11. Oklahoma 9-1; 12. Wake Forest 9-1; 13. Baylor 8-2; 14. Iowa 8-2. 15. BYU 8-2; 16. Texas A&M 7-3; 17. Houston 9-1; 18. Texas-San Antonio 10-0; 19. Pittsburgh 8-2; 20. Wisconsin 7-3; 21. Louisiana 9-1; 22. Arkansas 7-3; 23. San Diego State 9-1; 24. North Carolina State 7-3; 25. Utah 7-3

SEC FOOTBALL AFTER WEEK 11

Alabama (9-1, 5-1 SEC): Jameson Williams had five catches for 158 yards and three touchdowns in the win over New Mexico State. He has 50 catches for 1,028 yards and 10 touchdowns. He didn’t even crack the top three receivers at Ohio State … With five TDPs Bryce Young has thrown 33 for the season. Next week: vs. Arkansas (7-3, 3-3 SEC)

Arkansas (7-3, 3-3 SEC): Cam Little kicked a 37-yard field goal in overtime for a 16-13 win over LSU, the Hogs first win over LSU in six years. Next week: at No. 2 Alabama (9-1, 5-1 SEC)

Auburn (6-4, 3-3 SEC): Bo Nix is done for the year with an ankle that will require surgery. LSU transfer T.J. Finley will take over as the starting QB. Next week: at South Carolina (5-5, 2-5 SEC)

Georgia (10-0, 8-0 SEC): Georgia just bludgeoned the Tennessee defense for 274 rushing yards. James Cook ran for 104 yards and two TDs and was 3-43 receiving with another TD. Next week: vs. Charleston Southern (4-5)

Kentucky (7-3, 5-3 SEC): Chris Rodriguez ran for 114 yards and a TD. He has 1,032 yards for the season. Next week: vs. New Mexico State (1-9)

LSU (4-6, 2-5 SEC): LSU’s top two replacement candidates for Coach Oeaux are Jimbo Fisher, who signed a 10-year extension with the Aggies and Mel Tucker, who’s expected to get a bump in pay to $7.5-8 million to remain with Michigan State. Next week: vs. Louisiana-Monroe (4-6)

Mississippi State (6-4, 4-3 SEC): After falling behind 28-3, Mississippi State scored the next 40 points. Will Rogers threw for 415 yards and six touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 43-34 win over Auburn. Next week: vs. Tennessee State (5-5)

Missouri (5-5, 2-4 SEC): Tyler Badie ran for 209 yards, his fourth 200-plus game of the season, to lead Mizzou past South Carolina. Badie leads the SEC with 1,239 yards. Next week: vs. Florida (5-5, 2-5 SEC):

Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC): The Rebels sealed with win over Texas A&M with an interception by Ashanti Cistrunk to set up a Snoop Conner TD run and a pick six by AJ Finley. Next week: vs. Vanderbilt (2-8, 0-6 SEC)

South Carolina (5-5, 2-5 SEC): A week after running for 284 yards on Florida, South Carolina managed 57 (1.63 per carry) against Mizzou. Next week: Auburn (6-4, 3-3 SEC)

Tennessee (5-5, 3-4 SEC): In the loss to Georgia, wide receiver Cedric Tillman caught 10 passes for 200 yards and a TD. Next week: vs. South Alabama (5-5)

Texas A&M (7-3, 4-3 SEC): The Aggies had given up 242 rushing yards in their three previous games. Ole Miss ran for 267 to go with 247 passing yards. Next week: vs. Prairie View A&M (7-2)

Vanderbilt (2-8, 0-6 SEC): Mike Wright came off the bench to throw for a couple of touchdown passes to make the loss to Kentucky more respectable. Next week: at Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC)

FOOTBALL IN THE MINOR LEAGUES ACC: Wake Forest (9-1) outlasted North Carolina State (7-3) to remain on top of the Coastal Division despite three Sam Hartman interceptions and only 20-47 passing … Clemson (7-3) won its third straight game. Okay, so it was UConn ... Pitt (8-2) The Deacons will travel to Clemson (7-3) in a game … Pitt (8-2) beat North Carolina (5-5) 30-23 in overtime to stay in the Atlantic Division lead … Jordan Travis scored from one yard out with 26 seconds left as Florida State (4-6) rallied to beat Miami (5-5), 31-28.

Big Ten: Ohio State (9-1) is unbeaten in league play and wins the East by beating Michigan State (9-1) and Michigan (9-1) in the next two weeks. Wisconsin (7-3) and Iowa (8-2) are tied in the West but Wisconsin owns the tiebreaker.

Big 12: Oklahoma (9-1) went down for the first time this season at Baylor (8-2) when the Bears held the OU offense to 260 yards and 14 points Caleb Williams threw two interceptions and ran for only 17 yards before he was benched in favor of Spencer Rattler. Baylor ran for 296 yards on the Oklahoma defense … Oklahoma State (9-1) is now tied with Oklahoma on top of the Big 12 after an easy 63-17 win over TCU … Texas Tech (6-4) got its first win for new coach Joey McGuire when Jonathan Garibay kicked a 62-yards field goal as time expired to knock off Iowa State (6-4), 41-38.

Pac-12: Washington (4-6) has fired Jimmy Lake. He’s owed $9 million … Oregon (9-1) could see its College Football Playoff hopes go down the chute this weekend at Utah (7-3), which is on a 3-game winning streak and is unbeaten in Salt Lake City.

Independents: Notre Dame (9-1) caught a break when Virginia (6-4) QB Brennan Armstrong couldn’t go due to a rib injury. The Irish held Virginia’s normally high-powered offense to 278 yards for a 28-3 win … Army (6-3) hammered D1AA Bucknell to become bowl-eligible.

Group of Five: Cincinnati (10-0) beat South Florida (2-8) 45-28 to set up a showdown game with SMU (8-2), which blew out injury-riddled UCF, 55-28. Houston (9-1) lurks for the winner … UTSA (10-0) scored the last 17 points to rally past Southern Miss (1-9), 27-17, and remain unbeaten … Billy Napier has Louisiana sitting pretty in the Fun Belt with a 9-1 record.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: A retired head football coach I know told me this Sunday afternoon: “It’s more than Dan Mullen. Georgia has better facilities, boosters who are heavily involved in NIL, and Kirby inherited a program that already had 16 years of really good recruiting under Mark Richt. Dan inherited bad facilities, seven years of bad football that saw everybody else start recruiting the state of Florida well, and he’s got boosters who are clueless about NIL. Yeah, he’s made some mistakes, too, like keeping Grantham, but not everything is his fault.”