Whether you were ok with Mullen or hated the hire from day 1, his biggest undoings were the loss to a JV LSU squad (and his laissez faire approach) and a defense that was record-setting in inefficiency and ineptitude. The latter couldn’t be hidden, even with a once in a lifetime potent offense. Barking for some moral victory consideration after what was a better than expected showing against Bama was nulled by the LSU debacle. The coup de grace was the shellacking in the Cotton Bowl that was punctuated by all the opt outs and Mullen’s deflection and profound lack of outward “give a schit.” Any hope and goodwill he had inspired has been wiped away in the course of these final three games.
I would personally feel some better if he’d own it. His reactions, most very deflecting, gives the appearance that he may lack the fortitude for a championship run as HBC in the SEC or that he has lost interest, not invested anymore. To survive as a head coach at that level of college football, it’s not enough to be a great technical coach (which I think he is to some degree) or recruiter (which I don’t believe he is) or a leader of his staff and players (hard no to the first and losing ground on the second), but you’ve got to be a tough SOS...er, SOB. With the shine being gone from the penny, Mullen is not standing tall to face his detractors, so to speak. He’s not showing the toughness needed and expected. In fact, cut and run is what a lot of people are thinking.
Is there a chance he gets this thing turned? I suppose, but the signs are just not there at this point. While I like that there will be changes in the secondary coaching, the fact that Grantham is still the DC of record is not a good sign. There are changes needing to be made and it looks like they won’t be. Worse is that the administrative arm doesn’t seem to care much either. I guess there’s not much more to be done than to say here’s to hoping that things are going on behind the scenes unbeknownst to us. Until we know otherwise, to hell with this past decade, 2020, and how the new year is starting.
