Orlando was an interesting place to be yesterday. Of course there were the college football awards preview interviews, which is what I'm in town for, but the Dan Mullen to Miss State news turned things upside down. I'm happy for Mullen if this is the job he wants. He's always been a standup guy in answering questions even when people were unhappy with the offense, which I appreciate.
Having said that, I think this is a curious choice on both sides. Mullen's personality is a total 180 from everything that MSU fans are used to. They'll love him until September but I suspect people will get pretty cranky when the offense sputters for the next couple of years, which it will. There's simply not enough talent there to work with. As recently as the Alabama game, Mullen still displayed what I consider his biggest flaw. He does not know what personnel are in the game when he calls a play. That's how, as Florida did, you wind up with David Nelson in the backfield in the same look Percy Harvin gives when he motions in. The Nelson play didn't work so well - wonder why? Personnel matters! I've discussed this with Mullen, and he really believes plays will work with whatever guys on the two deep are in at the spot. At MSU, they won't even work that well with the first group for a while.
I'm surprised Mullen made the move because it seems his star is still rising. Bob Stoops turned down Minnesota's head coach spot after the 1996 season and wouldn't even interview to replace Danny Ford at Arkansas because he believed he could and would do better. To me, even though it was an SEC job, this was Mullen's Minnesota. On the other hand, UF DC Charlie Strong is getting to the point where if he wants to be a head coach he has to take a job and get started. Here in Orlando, the word is George O'Leary is in big trouble at UCF, to the point Mike Bianchi of the Sentinel called for his firing yesterday. The investigation of the latest significant player health problem stemming from a UCF workout is underway - if UCF can use it to rid themselves of O'Leary with the five million dollar buyout, they will. Should that happen, Strong is almost certain to be their next head coach. How quickly could any of this happen? That's unclear, although one UCF site is claiming Friday. It would be a good launching spot for Charlie's head coach career, but obviously having two coordinators gone will put UF way behind the eight ball for the title game.
I probably should have posted yesterday about the absurdity of the NFL letting 150 workers go, claiming the economy necessitated it. That's ridiculous, of course. The NFL is printing money by the bushel, but this way they'll keep even more of it. Still, I let it go. Then I saw Bonnie Erbe of US News and World Report chime in. She's happy people lost their jobs nd hopes more will, because she doesn't like football. Something is seriously wrong with a person who would wish unemployment on people in this economy.
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