That's certainly possible. But as the Only Gators article points out, in many respects Mullen’s frustration is due to a flawed approach by our entire AD. He wants to compete and they aren’t allowing it, or have prioritized completely differently. That’s the part the concerns me. Are there better coaches out there? Yes. But this would be the second coach in 5 years that has called out UF’s commitment to football and is essentially scolded for doing so, while fan expectations continue on undeterred. That’s a toxic recipe. I’m not saying we’re wrong, or putting it all on that. But at some point, how desirable does the job become when you knowingly inherit less support and yet expectations as high as those that have more.
Kind of a wordy way of staying the obvious, that we need a massive wholesale change from the top down. But do we really know exactly what we have with Mullen given the garbage approach we’ve employed since the mid-00s? And does that approach have a lot to do with why he was “chosen” in the first place as two top tier candidates chose other jobs? Yes, the behavior is frustrating and I didn’t like the end of this year, nor the idea of him looking elsewhere every few years. But we have a major issue that runs way deeper than Dan Mullen, and whether it’s a firing or the replacement of a leaving HC, especially with how he’s largely viewed by many of those within Gator Nation, compared to those outside it, it’s simply not a good look. Like Mullen or not, he’s basically pushing the same argument as virtually all of us here, and both parties have acknowledged that until that changes, we’re at a significant disadvantage.