There are good observations throughout this thread. Mullen was not my preference when he was hired. His overall W-L record and this year's insane offense are pleasant surprises. He has shown "Xs & Os intellect" to tweak things to put a QB he didn't recruit and whose style he does not prefer in a position to be wildly successful. And yes, it is a bit troubling that he was forced to play Trask by the Giraffe's injury - though I bet he learned something from that that will make him a better HC as he goes forward.
I agree that he inherited a program clearly on the rocks - unlike SOS and CUM. As for his shortcomings: recruiting has to improve and he does need to make some changes on his staff, starting with the DC. But I've come to be glad Mullen is here - especially when you look at how the other, sexier names we all preferred during the last search cycle are doing.
Yes, he
must win SEC and national championships here. That is the standard. But we are far ahead of where I thought we'd be 3 years in with him. It feels to me we are close and have closed the gap on the unholy trinity of today's top tier programs - Clemmy, the Gumps and the Bucknuts - especially on offense. We are not there yet, but the thought catching them is no longer absurd. Still difficult and with a long way to go? Sure. But catching them is no longer a silly notion. And I do think Mullen can get us there - if he makes some staff changes and those changes help on the field and with recruiting.
For the record, I don’t like the constant compare/contrast with previous coaches.
This is an important point when comparing coaches of different eras. Football has been on a mission to neuter defenses since the '70s. Some of the rule changes have been commonsense player-safety related and many of them were/are to increase scoring, which the poobahs believe builds paying fan bases. SOS put up the numbers being compared to Mullen's numbers against rules that were more in favor of the defenses than rules today. Hell, just look around you at the scores we see today - totals in the 80s, 90s and higher. Do all of those teams have genius offensive coordinators?
A good example is the hit the Humper safety laid on Pitts last week. When I played in college, that hit would've gotten you three helmet stickers: for the brutal hit itself, for separating the receiver from the ball and for putting the receiver out of the game. Today, its a personal foul and you get ejected and everyone shames you for hitting a "defenseless receiver". Contrast that with the shot Lawrence Wright laid on Joey Kent back in SOS's day.
I am taking nothing away from Mullen's offensive production as our HC, especially this season. He's having success in today's game with today's rules and he is to be commended. But compared to previous eras, he's doing it against defenses that are much different that even just a few years ago. I often think the SOS of the '90s would average 80 PPG today....