Ok so we have clearly established using advanced analytics that Dan Mullen has not outperformed Nick Saban...he of 5 national championships. Of course no one else has either.
Given that Nick is not inclined to come to UF...and an extended period where the most elite coaches have all declined any overture to coach here....we might just have to sit back and see if DM with a greater talent pool to recruit from than MSU can improve on his performance. Maybe a Dabo like resurrection. Dabo was regularly taunted by SOS and was his bytch early on. His early performance was not entirely impressive to say the least. He’s now considered an elite coach and even beat the vaunted Saban for a NC.
I’m going to give DM the opportunity to show what he can do at Florida. At this moment in time it just does not matter what he did with MSU players. He seems to making good moves. He seems to be doing things right. I just want to see him coach them up now. I want to see what he puts on the field, what their intensity is and what the results here will be. If we were still in the selection process we should rightfully be disecting his MSU performance. But he is ours now....not the guy I wanted. I’d like to give him at least ONE season of support and positivity before we meltdown.
As I said...I’m predicting 9-3 followed by a bowl win. A solid start to a new era.
Right on the money, yet again. There are a couple of points that people have tried to make over and over, which you address here very well. Allow me to pile on a little more. The job at UF, for whatever reason, is not everyone's dream job. The two most successful coaches in school history left "prematurely" and both went on to success elsewhere. I know there is plenty of room for argument about why they left, but both left long before actually retiring and there is no arguing that. While I'm at it, how many times did Stoops turn us down? Now I personally think that many of our hiring issues were a direct result of Foley's consistent failures as a CFB AD, but that was then and this is now. The underlying fact is that UF is a pressure cooker, due to the conference we play in, and the presence of at least two other in-state heavyweights. And I'm not even going into fan expectations. And like it or not, not everyone cares to deal with all that. These are not excuses, these are facts.
CK was my first choice, but he apparently had so many demands or conditions, and was so "off-putting" during the great NH excursion to kiss the ring, that we decided to move on. Frost was NB bound come hell or high water. Exit little piggy numero dos. That brings us to where we are today. I wasn't thrilled with crapping out on CK and SF - I'm also one of those who was not thrilled with the DM hire, certainly not at first. I looked at the poor record against ranked teams AT MSU, and had the same reaction some others have had. But the idea that there are lots and lots of high quality HCs out there who are just clamoring to come to UF is total BS. Especially with the mess left behind by Foley, Muschamp and MC Numb. Now add all that to the good staff hires, the very strong TRANSITIONAL CLASS, and the energy and hard work DM has brought to a program that was on life support. At this point, DM seems likely to succeed at pulling us out of the ditch - at the very least. After a good strong start, he deserves a chance to do what he came here to do. The self-defeating, insatiable rage for "perfection" is never going to end for some. Me, I prefer living in the real world - glories and warts included. Go Gators!