Dan Mullen greatly enjoyed watching two of his former college football programs square off in a battle of SEC basement dwellers on Saturday afternoon. The 52-year-old head coach stayed perfectly petty as Florida and Mississippi State continued to struggle without him.
He made sure to rub it in!
Mullen, currently an analyst with ESPN, went 69-46 during a nine-year stint in Starkville. The Bulldogs were at one point ranked No. 1 in the country during the first-ever College Football Playoff rankings and finished below .500 in just two seasons. If you know anything about Mississippi State, that is an incredibly difficult feat. It is extremely hard to get top high school recruits to want to play for a historically irrelevant program in the middle of nowhere.
As a result of his successful run in the SEC West, the Gators hired Mullen to replace Jim McElwain in 2018. However, they pulled the plug after just four (fairly successful) years.
Mullen won 10 games and a Peach Bowl in Year 1 at Florida. He went 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl in Year 2. Back-to-back seasons of 8-4 and 6-7 led to his ouster in 2021.
Billy Napier has been significantly worse as Mullen’s successor. The Gators are 13-16 through his first 29 games as head coach.
Boosters in Gainesville have raised the money for his $26 million buyout and they are fully prepared to fire him as soon as possible. It is a matter of “when,” not “if.”
Dan Mullen is enjoying the collapse!
He first made his thoughts clear when Miami put a whoopin’ on Florida to begin the regular season. Mullen reposted a not-so-subtle jab at athletic director Scott Stricklin for letting him go.
The Florida coach that got fired went to three consecutive new years six games in his first three years. And was let go in his 4th season.
— Matt Barrie (@MattBarrie) August 31, 2024
He did it again on Saturday while his two former programs squared off in the Magnolia State. ESPN asked its Aflac trivia question of the game during the first half.
When was the last time Florida and Mississippi State finished a season with double-digit wins?
The answer is 2019 and 2014, respectively, and Dan Mullen was the head coach at each of those two schools during each of those two seasons.
Matt Barrie posted the question and answer to X. Sure enough, his ESPN counterpart also shared the post to his profile.
The pettiness is very real. And to be fair, entirely warranted.
Billy Napier lived to fight another week with a win in Starkville but the eventual ouster remains inevitable. Meanwhile, Dan Mullen is at home on his couch with a big smile on his face. Who is laughing now?