Dan Mullen @ Florida...So Far....

[Sec14Gator]

We've seen some head scratchers from Mullen too - the 4th quarter Miami INT Franks threw on 1st down w/ 3 minutes left takes the cake. Anyhow, this myth that Mullen will outcoach Kirby so far is 0 for 2.

I don’t know if Mullen’s X’s & O’s per say are the issue. For instance, his play structures and calls are often good (not always but no one is). He is at least in the top 20% on this front though.

To me the issue is situational awareness and putting the team in the best position to win with overall game management decisions. The example you gave is perfect, as is the 4th and 1 vs the dwags, the slow pace 4th quarter 7 minute drive (w/ 9 to play) in that same game down two td’s, the 5 minute drive (with 6 minutes to play) against LSU down two TDs, or the decision to run the ball vs LSU with 1 minute left (ensuring we lost our crucial timeout or 20 seconds or more of clock if the play is not 100% successful).

All of those were 100% coaching decisions and not on the players (players have proved they can run a faster -not fast per se- tempo against lesser teams all year). They were all in tight games, and each substantially reduced our chances of winning. I’ve noted before, a smart 12 year old who is quick at math would be yelling at him as a sideline advisor to do the opposite.

If not for 2 bad Kentucky penalties and Hammond breaking a 76 yarder, both of which took game management out of Dan’s hands by stopping clock and not forcing him to manage it, you have to wonder how he would have dealt with the clock and game management against Kentucky down the stretch.

Maybe he misses these items because being he head coach and coordinator is too much. He’s too focused on the next “play” to have a calm/clear head about the overall clock/game management.

Oh, plus recruiting.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

Maybe he misses these items because being he head coach and coordinator is too much. He’s too focused on the next “play” to have a calm/clear head about the overall clock/game management.

That's a very plausible theory, and also one that is very easily correctable. Get an offensive coordinator because you're the HC and need to be focused on the big picture. If you cant do both, that's what a coordinator is for. Will it happen? Nope...

 

[SeabeeGator]

I'm not even going to get into it with you (again). The game I watched we were outcoached. The game you watched we were out-talented. Simple as that.

Not trying to get into it with you - went a little heavy on the snark in the last post, apologies. I just don’t understand this disconnect, genuinely. You, among others, rightly point out the extreme gap in talent. I’ll readily admit there was some massively embarrassing game prep issues and a few game management issues. But how does a team that was less prepared (I think we all agree) and way less talented (I know we all agree) hang in there, especially considering there were no turnovers? To the point that one third down stop in the fourth (out of two massive opportunities) gives us the chance to tie or lead? I think that’s coaching, playcalling, game management, whatever. I don’t think it was jimmies and joes as we all agree the talent differential is massive.

 

[aka]

Jeez...some of ya'll just like to piss on anything.

One man's "objectivity" is another man's pessimism.

 

[BMF]

Not trying to get into it with you - went a little heavy on the snark in the last post, apologies. I just don’t understand this disconnect, genuinely. You, among others, rightly point out the extreme gap in talent. I’ll readily admit there was some massively embarrassing game prep issues and a few game management issues. But how does a team that was less prepared (I think we all agree) and way less talented (I know we all agree) hang in there, especially considering there were no turnovers? To the point that one third down stop in the fourth (out of two massive opportunities) gives us the chance to tie or lead? I think that’s coaching, playcalling, game management, whatever. I don’t think it was jimmies and joes as we all agree the talent differential is massive.

It's college football. It's a rivalry game. Every team wants to (or tries to) bring their "A" game vs. the Alabama's, the Ohio State's, the Oklahoma's, etc. It's why you often see a very close game around halftime (and if you're not watching, you say, "Wow! Ole Miss is hanging w/ Alabama!" Then in the second half, after their talent and depth have pounded you for 2+ quarters the more talented team tends to separate (sort of like late in last year's UGA game 4th quarter - they won by a wider margin that they should have). But this year's game Kirby's defense out schemed our offense AND our defense completely sh*t the bed (as you said, the 3rd downs).

Yes, talent has a lot to do with it. But coaching includes preparation (wrong wrist bands? WTF??). It also includes getting your kids emotionally ready to play. Our top 22 (starters) may not have the number 'stars' after their names but they are close talent wise (big exception being their OL).

At some point we have to stop making excuses for Mullen's blunders. They are as glaring as some of Kirby's in the big games. @Sec14Gator pointed out several other head scratching decisions Mullen has made. The 7 minute drive/lack of urgency is another area he showed poor game management as a head coach.

I agree w/ you about the talent, but the game I watched Mullen was out-coached by the other sideline. But because Kirby called one terrible fake punt he'll forever be known as a 'bad coach'?

 

[SeabeeGator]

@BMF I dunno man, I guess we just won’t agree. This wasn’t an Ole Miss/Bama thing - it was in doubt until 0:00, basically. I look at their 15 5*s plus many other high 4*s as a significant advantage across the board, outside of WR. I think if you were a UGA fan, you’d be pulling your hair out about how UGA couldn’t be stopped on 3rd down... except in the RZ. And their one RZ TD was BS - we all know it. Coaching counts down there too. Or when we came back in the 4th - took coaching to comeback but also boneheaded coaching to let the other team hang around when UGA should’ve been up by more. I think someone called Kirby a high functioning Muschamp - that’s exactly right.

 

[TheDouglas78]

@BMF I dunno man, I guess we just won’t agree. This wasn’t an Ole Miss/Bama thing - it was in doubt until 0:00, basically. I look at their 15 5*s plus many other high 4*s as a significant advantage across the board, outside of WR. I think if you were a UGA fan, you’d be pulling your hair out about how UGA couldn’t be stopped on 3rd down... except in the RZ. And their one RZ TD was BS - we all know it. Coaching counts down there too. Or when we came back in the 4th - took coaching to comeback but also boneheaded coaching to let the other team hang around when UGA should’ve been up by more. I think someone called Kirby a high functioning Muschamp - that’s exactly right.

They were also running a prevent defense that basically handed us the short stuff, which allowed for the 7/8 minute drive to effectively kill the game.

 

[Sec14Gator]

@BMF I dunno man, I guess we just won’t agree. This wasn’t an Ole Miss/Bama thing - it was in doubt until 0:00, basically. I look at their 15 5*s plus many other high 4*s as a significant advantage across the board, outside of WR. I think if you were a UGA fan, you’d be pulling your hair out about how UGA couldn’t be stopped on 3rd down... except in the RZ. And their one RZ TD was BS - we all know it. Coaching counts down there too. Or when we came back in the 4th - took coaching to comeback but also boneheaded coaching to let the other team hang around when UGA should’ve been up by more. I think someone called Kirby a high functioning Muschamp - that’s exactly right.

I’ve repeated ad naseum my thoughts on Mullen’s game/clock management in close games this year, but some of this regarding Kirby being Muschamp 2.0 is also accurate. Florida put 9 guys in the box defensively and Kirby had them continue to run into it. We didn’t stop the run because our d-line played lights out, we just committed the whole team to doing it. If they had any more killer instinct, they could have started gouging us on first and second through the air.

But, they didn’t because that isn’t the Kirbchamp way. Near the goal line, when we had to defend more constricted space was the limited time we blitzed them most of the game (also astounding).

It’s possible they let us hang in that game due to Kirby not being a great coach and that Mullen & Grantham also screwed up the opportunities the dwags gave us with their choices (or didn’t optimize our chances). It was like they volunteered for 3rd and long over and over again. Yet, we didn’t capitalize until the field shrunk.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

One man's "objectivity" is another man's pessimism.

talking to yourself again old man?

 

[Sec14Gator]

They were also running a prevent defense that basically handed us the short stuff, which allowed for the 7/8 minute drive to effectively kill the game.

Their running prevent allowed us to move the ball, but it was our runnning of the play clock down 30 seconds a play that caused it to take 7 minutes. You just can’t defend Dan on this (and seem rational) as though Kirby baited him into that.

If you want to argue the defense forces it to take 3-4 minutes due to short plays allowed, fine. Not half a f@#king quarter.

 

[TheDouglas78]

Their running llayclock allowed us to move the ball, but it was our runnning of the play clock down 30 seconds a play that caused it to take 7 minutes. You just can’t defend Dan on this (and seem rational) as though Kirby baited him into that.

If you want to argue the defense forces it to take 3-4 minutes due to short plays allowed, fine. Not half a f@#king quarter.

I'm not, we played into the Dawgs game plan... going short, taking up playclock, no urgency... I'm doing just the opposite, we were outcoached all game.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

I'm not, we played into the Dawgs game plan... going short, taking up playclock, no urgency... I'm doing just the opposite, we were outcoached all game.

yep, it was combo of kirby coaching smart (no pun intended) and mullen playing right into it, then going even dumber by going at a snails pace between snaps - something mullen is in complete control of and kirby has no influence over. pathetic in every way you look at it. i was absolutely beside myself that last 9 minutes, pure disgust oozing from my pours.

edit - its also why i made a post shortly after the game saying the only possible way to explain that scenario is that mullen is either a complete fcking retard or he wasnt even trying to win. just bleed the clock and go home, then talk about the moral victory - which he did with that "we're 7 points from where we want to be" chickensht.

 

[Sec14Gator]

i was absolutely beside myself that last 9 minutes, pure disgust oozing from my pours.

We had guests at our house with kids so I had made a self pact to control myself during the game. Despite being down two Td’s and all the 3rd and long’s, I held on to not swearing or raging at the TV. Then that drive was about 5 minutes old and we were still burning clock like we had the lead ...

They may not come back next year.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

We had guests at our house with kids so I had made a self pact to control myself during the game. Despite being down two Td’s and all the 3rd and long’s, I held on to not swearing or raging at the TV. Then that drive was about 5 minutes old and we were still burning clock like we had the lead ...

They may not come back next year.

I have thought long and hard about that 7 minute drive with 9 left and down 14. The first few days I figured my feeling was clouded by the recent emotion over the situation, but its a few weeks since and I'm over it but still have the same feeling. That 7 minute stretch of gator football was the most poorly coached and poorly managed 7 minutes of gator football I have ever witnessed in my life.

Mullen lost me with that 7 minutes. I'll continue to watch and pull for the team, and raise my son to be a gator, but I have no misconceptions about what this team is, will be, and who we have running the show.

 

[Sec14Gator]

I have thought long and hard about that 7 minute drive with 9 left and down 14. The first few days I figured my feeling was clouded by the recent emotion over the situation, but its a few weeks since and I'm over it but still have the same feeling. That 7 minute stretch of gator football was the most poorly coached and poorly managed 7 minutes of gator football I have ever witnessed in my life.

Mullen lost me with that 7 minutes. I'll continue to watch and pull for the team, and raise my son to be a gator, but I have no misconceptions about what this team is, will be, and who we have running the show.

It’s like you’ve looked into my soul.

Just like against LSU, I’d rather live with a game losing play that is trying to win (think of an interception on either of those eventual TD drives that left us in such as bad spot) than watch what we did. That we had done something so similar against LSU two games earlier did not help my acceptance of the decisions against uga.

Edit - I almost forgot, then he came out running a faster pace all game against Vandy. It was the play callling equivalent of proving you were an idiot the prior game and telling the fans/media to F off.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

It’s like you’ve looked into my soul.

Nah, its not bro. We're all just coming to terms with the reality, because we all see it plain as day. We hired dopey dan... he's been that way for 10 years. he aint changing. It is what it is.

 

[SeabeeGator]

I keep seeing this “way less team hung until half” argument but it doesn’t equate - we were a way less talented team that was there until the end. Depth comes into play in the second half. UGA has way more depth but 1 of 2 things happened: 1) they let us make a game out of it (not good coaching) or 2) we outplayed them (credit to our guys).

 

[SeabeeGator]

I'm not, we played into the Dawgs game plan... going short, taking up playclock, no urgency... I'm doing just the opposite, we were outcoached all game.

On the last drive but we were down 6 the drive before when they scored on a busted coverage/beautiful play action. He coached exactly like Muschamp would - get a 2 or more possession lead and bleed clock. Its playing not to lose, a Muschamp special.

That said, I said it earlier but I’ll reiterate: I’m not defending Mullen’s game prep or management completely. I’m just throwing the BS flag on the folks who scream about the widening talent gap and who also say that we got significantly outcoached. It can’t be both. Something kept that game close and it wasn’t “heart” or whatever. It was a hyperconservative defensive coach relying on his defense to not F up and it was danger close to biting him in the butt. If our $1.8M DC could’ve found a way to generate one stop, we might not be having this conversation.

 

[SeabeeGator]

I have thought long and hard about that 7 minute drive with 9 left and down 14. The first few days I figured my feeling was clouded by the recent emotion over the situation, but its a few weeks since and I'm over it but still have the same feeling. That 7 minute stretch of gator football was the most poorly coached and poorly managed 7 minutes of gator football I have ever witnessed in my life.

Mullen lost me with that 7 minutes. I'll continue to watch and pull for the team, and raise my son to be a gator, but I have no misconceptions about what this team is, will be, and who we have running the show.

That near extremely difficult pass was caught with 2:45 left. I wish he wouldn’t have taken so long to score too but it’s not like he ran it below two minutes or there wasn’t some merit to the thought process - ensure you get points, use the timeouts to get to third and long and pray your overpaid DC can pull out just one stop (that made them 12 for 17 at that point on 3rd).