Dan Mullen has built Florida into an offensive power, but not yet a complete program

oxrageous

Founding Member
It's Good to be King
Administrator
Jun 5, 2014
36,935
97,630
Founding Member
....yepper....

“I also want to thank Matt and his wife Schantel for the significant impact they both had in our local and campus communities."

In five seasons at ULM, Viator produced a 19-39 record and 15-24 mark against Sun Belt Conference competition.”
And? He'd be a good fit here.
 

oxrageous

Founding Member
It's Good to be King
Administrator
Jun 5, 2014
36,935
97,630
Founding Member
Have I ever mentioned that I despise the response of "so who would YOU hire?" when any criticism of the head coach comes up? Just because there's not an Urban Meyer-type coach available right that moment we should just take it up the ass of mediocrity until the end of time? And there's certainly no young up-and-coming coaches, no....not one. College football is a barren wasteland without a single guy that could help us more than Daniel Buford Mullen.

Next person who pulls that question out gets a 5-year ban.

Auburn didn't have anyone in the pipeline. However, they did the right thing and pulled the plug, knowing it had to be done.
 

soflagator

Senior Member
Lifetime Member
Sep 4, 2014
21,140
78,762
Have I ever mentioned that I despise the response of "so who would YOU hire?" when any criticism of the head coach comes up? Just because there's not an Urban Meyer-type coach available right that moment we should just take it up the ass of mediocrity until the end of time? And there's certainly no young up-and-coming coaches, no....not one. College football is a barren wasteland without a single guy that could help us more than Daniel Buford Mullen.

Next person who pulls that question gets a 5-year ban.

Auburn didn't have anyone in the pipeline. However, they did the right thing and pulled the plug, knowing it had to be done.

Is it predicated on the all-caps "YOU", or just in general?
 

78

Founding Member
Dazed and Confused
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
19,745
27,635
Founding Member
It’s times like this that you think back wistfully on the SOS years.

On moral victories: “If it’s immoral to run up 40 on Bama before the half, I’m a sinner.”

On Marco: “Unfortunately, we had a player in the final few minutes who thought he was trying out for the shot put.”

On the defense: “When I hired the DC, I expected him to stop the other guys, not us.”
 

oxrageous

Founding Member
It's Good to be King
Administrator
Jun 5, 2014
36,935
97,630
Founding Member
Is it predicated on the all-caps "YOU", or just in general?
It was really a shot a Goon, because he always does it. He did it when the Chimp was the coach. He did it when Butters was the coach. He's doing it now. The answer remains the same: ANYONE ELSE.
 

Concrete Helmet

Hook, Line, and Sinker
Lifetime Member
Jul 29, 2014
22,047
23,183
people act like we haven't gotten in the red zone and first and goal and completely failed regularly.

I'm just glad we didn't get stuffed three times and have to kick.
:exactly:

Funny but this was the first season in a long time that I got more nervous when we were inside the 5 yard line instead of anywhere else on the field....
 

Swamp Donkey

Founding Member
7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
78,161
109,977
Founding Member
Honestly I thought Bama's play calling was also pretty silly. They should have run the ball faaar more than they did, as UF had no answer. I think Bama could have held the ball and kept Trask and Pitts off the field for about 50 minutes of that game if they had simply handed off every down.
honestly it's just a question of how quickly they wanted to score.

Not just bama but absolutely anyone could score at will on our linebackers safeties or Wilson paasing the ball.

Probably Mac Jones quarterback keepers the only thing that we had an expectancy of stopping. only Dan Mullens is dumb enough to call play like that.
 

soflagator

Senior Member
Lifetime Member
Sep 4, 2014
21,140
78,762
It was really a shot a Goon, because he always does it. He did it when the Chimp was the coach. He did it when Butters was the coach. He's doing it now. The answer remains the same: ANYONE ELSE.

Signature difference was going 6-6 in our first season, being 4 plays away from 6 losses in 2012 and then the bottom falling out in year 3. Even with JM, it was a much easier train to get off of. There are at least signs of hope with Mullen. As much as some of us here(including me) wanted to believe otherwise, that was simply never the case with either of those two. I would've been ok an "almost anyone else" approach in both of those cases. Not here.
 

oxrageous

Founding Member
It's Good to be King
Administrator
Jun 5, 2014
36,935
97,630
Founding Member
There are at least signs of hope with Mullen.
Can you tell me what those signs are? This is a serious question. Tell me specifically what you see that makes you believe we could win the SEC going forward under Mullen. I'm not even talking NC's, just the SEC.
 

sharkbite

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
Aug 31, 2017
95
164
Two years ago we heard that exact same "the sky is falling" as the Gators will never compete for a SEC Championship as our QB Sucks, WR Suck, and we have a QB that nobody else would ever take.

Since then, the Gators have a Heisman Candidate, several WR that have gone and are going to the NFL.

Nobody, and I mean nobody knew that Trask was going to be the Star he ended up being. Give Emory a chance to show what he can do before jumping all over the "We Suck" campaign. His limited reps do to having Trask has not allowed him to show what he can do since he only had a handful of plays.

I do agree, that the defense has lacked in coaching. Like everyone else on this board, I think that we are all in agreement on this one. However, take a look at ALL the teams that are typically sound on defense and see how they produced this year. They ALL SUCK! Even with the overwhelming NFL talent on that side of the ball for those "Elite Recruiting" "Top 5 Teams". Defense was not played this year by any team. With that said, at least they seam to know what the plays were and were not running around looking lost when the ball is being snapped. I just do not think this year was a "typical year" for any defense.

I hope that Trask, Toney, Grimes, all do opt out for the Bowl game this year. I would love to watch them all one more time but, I also think this would be a great time to see what these other players can do when given an entire game to play running the full playbook. I think we all may be a bit surprised with the ball movement down the field. On defense, it will not matter, if the starters have no idea what the plays are and do not know how to line up, I doubt the 2nd team will either.

Am I a pumper? Nah, just someone who does not think the "sky is falling" with every aspect of this Gator Team. Am I a dumper? Nah, just someone who does see that change does need to take place in certain aspects of this Gator Team.
 

LagoonGator68

Founding Member
mostly peaceful protester
Lifetime Member
Jun 12, 2014
7,115
6,162
Founding Member
It was really a shot a Goon, because he always does it. He did it when the Chimp was the coach. He did it when Butters was the coach. He's doing it now. The answer remains the same: ANYONE ELSE.

:lies: You just like picking on old people....I never said that when those 2 morons were here. Matt Viator, you’ve got to be drunk....he was fired this year after starting 0-10....
 

soflagator

Senior Member
Lifetime Member
Sep 4, 2014
21,140
78,762
Can you tell me what those signs are? This is a serious question. Tell me specifically what you see that makes you believe we could win the SEC going forward under Mullen. I'm not even talking NC's, just the SEC.

We could've won the SEC 3 days ago. We'll start there. We obviously have differing opinions, which is fine. But a week ago we were going to get slaughtered. A year ago our offense was going to take a major step back. Two years ago, we were never going to beat uga or make Atl. Three years ago we were going 6-6. On and on. None of those things have happened. Instead, as we move the ball forward, the argument shifts and the goal posts are moved. We are closer today than when he took over. And what's worse, every single alternative HC we looked at has crashed and burned. We'll see what happens going forward. But so far, most of the naysaying has been disproven.
 

oxrageous

Founding Member
It's Good to be King
Administrator
Jun 5, 2014
36,935
97,630
Founding Member
We could've won the SEC 3 days ago. We'll start there. We obviously have differing opinions, which is fine. But a week ago we were going to get slaughtered. A year ago our offense was going to take a major step back. Two years ago, we were never going to beat uga or make Atl. Three years ago we were going 6-6. On and on. None of those things have happened. Instead, as we move the ball forward, the argument shifts and the goal posts are moved. We are closer today than when he took over. And what's worse, every single alternative HC we looked at has crashed and burned. We'll see what happens going forward. But so far, most of the naysaying has been disproven.
You didn't really answer the question. At no time was Bama in danger of losing that game on Saturday, we both know that.

I'll give you one sign of progress: we did finally beat UGA. However, can that be sustained? A great QB covers up a lot of warts.

However, I'm not arguing with you that we are far better under Mullen than under Butters. That still doesn't get us to our goals, though. I'm certainly of the belief that this team will take a large step back next season, largely due to a severe lack of talent. The subpar recruiting is the primary reason I want Mullen gone. He's been given enough time now, raised our brand back up, and yet it's still unacceptable. How the hell can you say the future is bright for the Florida Gators if recruiting isn't where it needs to be?

I asked this question in the chat box and no one could even come up with an answer. What player do you expect to be our best defensive player next year? Give me a name.

Hell, who was our best defensive player THIS season?
 

Gatorbait25

Founding Member
H.E. Pennypacker, wealthy American industrialist
Lifetime Member
Jun 12, 2014
3,536
5,322
Founding Member
Three days later i'm still ticked about that timeout. No way on Earth can anyone argue it made sense.
Jesus himself could come down from heaven and explain the timeout was a good idea, and it still would not be.
I remember my jaw dropping when it was announced ''Timeout Florida'. I can't recall a worse timeout in the history
of sports. Even worse than Webber's timeout.
 

neteng

Fuga!
Lifetime Member
Oct 15, 2018
6,084
16,194
Mullen made several mistakes in this game as he does in every game. Just about every coach out there at his level makes some mistakes. But this game he made some Kirby Smart type mistake. Had this been UGA and Smart screwing up the end of both halves the Georgia in Shambles thread would be about 10 pages longer right now.

With that said, our defense is so atrocious it is hard to really blame anything else for the loss. If we just play1% better on defense then we probably could win and those mistakes by Mullen are meaningless. But we lost and they aren't meaningless. They are things that happened that directly caused us to lose. Its like blaming Davis for the loss against aTm. Yes, without that fumble, we probably kick the game winning fieldgoal but he did fumble and aTm kicks the game winner. Davis's fumble is a direct reason we lost that game too. But in both games, defense is the bigger reason.

So, when we zoom in on Mullen, clock management has to be mentioned. It is a direct reason we lost. It could be argued that a total of 10 points was spotted to Bama because of Mullen's end of halves coaching.

But I haven't given up on him yet. Im close though. I see the positives he has brought to UF while also seeing the negatives. Can he learn from his mistakes? I think like most here, if we don't see any changes with the defensive staff during this offseason then I am not so sure Mullen can learn from his mistakes. That is about where I am at this time.
 

oxrageous

Founding Member
It's Good to be King
Administrator
Jun 5, 2014
36,935
97,630
Founding Member
All the speculation is moot because Mullen isn't going anywhere. Those who think Mullen is taking us to the Promised Land will get to see if it happens over the next few years. Guys like Matt Viator will have to remain a dream.
 

BMF

Bad Mother....
Lifetime Member
Sep 8, 2014
25,399
59,221
You didn't really answer the question. At no time was Bama in danger of losing that game on Saturday, we both know that.

I'll give you one sign of progress: we did finally beat UGA. However, can that be sustained? A great QB covers up a lot of warts.

However, I'm not arguing with you that we are far better under Mullen than under Butters. That still doesn't get us to our goals, though. I'm certainly of the belief that this team will take a large step back next season, largely due to a severe lack of talent. The subpar recruiting is the primary reason I want Mullen gone. He's been given enough time now, raised our brand back up, and yet it's still unacceptable. How the hell can you say the future is bright for the Florida Gators if recruiting isn't where it needs to be?

I asked this question in the chat box and no one could even come up with an answer. What player do you expect to be our best defensive player next year? Give me a name.

Hell, who was our best defensive player THIS season?

I expect Diabate to be our best defensive player next year. If Cox comes back, and figures out how to hold a block or not over pursue, he'll be our 2nd best. Elam will be 3rd best.

The recruiting has been terrible along the OL & DL. I've used the word several times, but it's been irresponsible. To bring in 1 heavy DL in two consecutive classes combined is a fireable offense. To continue to whiff on OLs is Butters-esque. After 4 recruiting cycles the excuses have run dry.

I agree with practically everything you've said about Mullen, he's probably hit his ceiling, and we're a perennial 9 win team (give or take a win). BUT.....if he makes a DC change and replaces at least 1 other assistant, I'll have hope. I think it's unfair to bash him for Miss State (I just don't understand why any competent coach would stay there so long). He also needs to stop making excuses in his losing press conferences - he's embarrassing himself and the program.
 

neteng

Fuga!
Lifetime Member
Oct 15, 2018
6,084
16,194
All the speculation is moot because Mullen isn't going anywhere. Those who think Mullen is taking us to the Promised Land will get to see if it happens over the next few years. Guys like Matt Viator will have to remain a dream.

Are you confusing Matt Viator with somebody else?

97-72 record as head coach.
19-39 record as head coach in his last 5 seasons
0-5 in playoff games.
Only head coaching experience comes from McNeese St and Louisiana Monroe.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Help Users

You haven't joined any rooms.

    Birthdays

    Members online

    No members online now.

    Forum statistics

    Threads
    31,642
    Messages
    1,615,698
    Members
    1,642
    Latest member
    fishermb